Ignored by govt,tourism ministry plans own bailout

With none of its big ticket demands finding a place in the two economic bailout packages announced by the government so far...

With none of its big ticket demands finding a place in the two economic bailout packages announced by the government so far,the Tourism Ministry on Thursday came out with its own set of measures to boost the tourism sector.

Roping in various stakeholders like hotels,airline companies and tour operators,the Tourism Ministry,which,too,has been badly hit by the global slowdown,announced incentives aimed at attracting more foreign tourists to the country.

The incentives include a buy-one-get-one-free offer on international air tickets,one night complimentary stays in hotels and complimentary sightseeing tours.

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Three airline companies Air India,Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines the Hotel Association of India,and tour operators affiliated to the IATO (Indian Association of Tour Operators) have aligned themselves with the Ministry in offering these incentives.

The Ministrys move comes in the wake of a sharp decline in tourist inflow over the last few months,largely due to global meltdown. The foreign tourist arrival in India grew by only 5.36 per cent in 2008 as compared to the 14.5 per cent growth in 2007. While this was much better than the global average of about 2 per cent,it has definitely upset the calculations of the Tourism Ministry which had set a target of 10 million arrivals in 2010.

The Tourism Ministry had suggested a number of steps like grant of deemed export status to the tourism sector,cut in luxury tax and extension of tax holidays for hotels,cut in service tax for tour operators and delinking of hotel projects from real estate projects to be included in the bailout packages. None of the suggestions,however,figured in the bailout packages as most needed clearance from various Ministries.