The Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) recently wrote to the honourable Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi & Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, to bring their attention to the upcoming Budget 2023, requesting certain consolation and permit for the Outbound Tour Operators.
The Association in its letter clearly stated that the “Outbound tourism as a sector is contributing immensely in creation of Airport Infrastructure in our country, bringing in a lot of business and making India a lucrative market for the global aviation Industry. Further, outbound tourism is inherently linked to revenue generating inbound tours. The letter also highlighted that, in the business of Outbound Travel, competition is huge, margins are very thin and there are a lot of uncertainties which can be seen from the global impact of the scare of coronavirus leading to large scale cancellation of bookings.
The Requests made to the Minister included –
1. Amendment of TCS
2. To not make Pan Card mandatory for foreign remittances
3. Include Outbound Tours under the LTC Scheme so that business avenues can grow for Outbound Tour Operators