Tourism minister to meet PM on tourism sector’s taxes
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
Union tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahay is meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today to seek his intervention in reducing taxes in the tourism sector. PTI said Sahay, along with senior officials including four secretaries from the ministries of finance, civil aviation, external affairs and surface transport would be at the meeting.This was to ensure rationalisation of the tax structure for development of the tourism sector in a coordinated manner with the involvement of all ministries concerned.”Currently the taxation on tourist packages is about 27% which include luxury tax, services tax, road tax and air ticket tax in the country which is one of the highest in the world,” a senior tourism ministry official was quoted saying.There is a constant demand for reduction of various taxes in the tourism sector as the higher tax structure is adversely affecting the industry, he had said.The report said Sahay would also seek for more funds for the sector.Besides senior officials, a delegation of stakeholders in tourism including hoteliers and tour operators are also accompanying Sahay to seek the PM’s intervention to give a boost to the tourism industry in the country.The minster would also point out the need to attract more tourists to India and create more tourist destinations with active private participation.In the last few years, the tourism sector has witnessed significant growth. Foreign tourist arrivals hit 5.58 million in 2010 from 3.92 million in 2005. Domestic tourist visits have also gone up to 650 million in 2009 from 392 million in 2005.However, though the growth in tourism has been impressive, India’s share in total global tourist arrivals is quite insignificant – a mere 0.59%.
Comments are closed.