Budget 2023-24 Expectations: What's on travel and tourism sector's wishlist this year

The budget of a country decides the fate of its economy, and hence, holds a great amount of importance for every sector in the nation. The Union Budget 2023-24 is going to be announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 February. With the Budget’s announcement just around the corner, experts from various industries have already begun to state their expectations from it. The tourism sector of India has huge hopes for the upcoming budget. The travel industry was adversely impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 and 2021 but is now bouncing back. However, the sector has yet to reach the pre-pandemic levels. Here are the expectations of the travel and tourism sector from the Union Budget 2023-24: Removing the disparity between offline and online bookings Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder and Group CEO of MakeMyTrip told ET TravelWorld, “Travel contributes significantly to the services sector in India and generates employment for millions.” He added that in order to recognise this contribution to the economy and society, tourism exports must be treated at par with other exports and services. Magow said that the disparity between offline and online bookings needs to be removed to encourage all travellers to embrace digital India at the grass-roots level. He further said that customers presently pay a 5 per cent GST charge for booking a non-AC bus via an online platform while this charge is zero for an offline booking. Magow went on to add that this disparity is similar in the case of an online booking of unregistered hotels and homestays. Removal of the inconsistency will be beneficial for the sector. Redeveloping heritage sites and monuments Andita Purohit, Founder of TraWork, stated that there are monuments and heritage sites in the country that can help in boosting the tourism sector. She added that however, these places remain under the radar because of poor infrastructure. Vandita advised that the Union Budget 2023 can work towards redeveloping these heritage sites to make them more accessible. Implementing e-visa fee waiver Nishant Pitti, CEO and Co-founder of EaseMyTrip stated that more emphasis on the travel and tourism industry’s revival is needed. This can be done by implementing an e-visa fee waiver for tourist visas, and domestic income tax travel credit for Indian citizens and companies. Offering incentives to corporates According to Vishal Suri, Managing Director of SOTC Travel Limited, corporates should be given incentives to organise meetings and conferences in India via partial or full tax exemptions on the incurred expenses. He added that this will help in boosting domestic travel and tourism. Push for sustainable travel Nitin Raj, CEO and Co-Founder of Riverum, suggests that moving towards more sustainable forms of travel is the need of the hour. This has to be done while ensuring that the industry remains profitable. According to Raj, launching green tax incentives or offering subsidies to travel firms that are investing in green technologies would be good initiatives in this matter. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .