Budget 2023: Travel, Tourism & Hospitality industry's expectations

Budget 2023 After facing rough waters in the last two years due to the covid pandemic, the tourism and hospitality industry experts feel that sector needs some relief from the upcoming budget in order to expand various segments of the industry.

GST on rooms: Experts say the current 18% GST is too high. The industry can generate more demand, provide more employment and garner more revenue if charged only 12 per cent uniform GST across every room category.

RBI Infrastructure lending norm criteria According to Ritesh Agarwal, founder and group CEO, OYO, under the RBI infrastructure lending norms criteria, hotels built with Rs 200 crore investment, get the infrastructure status. “We urge the government to bring down the same to Rs 10 crore to give a boost to budget segment hotels. This will help hotels avail term loans at lower rates of interest and also benefit from longer repayment periods."

Free e-visas for tourists: 2023 is a crucial year for the travel industry as it expects to witness strong growth after lockdowns. Therefore, the industry expects the government to announce a free e-visa scheme for five lakh international tourists similar to what has been done in the past.

Policies to incentivise new hotel openings in remote regions: The sector also hopes that the Union Budget will introduce policies that will incentivise new hotel openings, especially in remote regions and areas in the North East. A new tourism policy is also expected to be announced.