Commenting on the proposed Union Budget for FY2018-19, Chander Baljee, Managing Director of Royal Orchid Hotels. Said- “This is an inclusive budget with prime focus on agriculture, healthcare, education and infrastructure sector. Though there is no direct mention of hospitality sector in the proposed Union Budget, however, various measures to enhance disposable income and the government’s plan to increase the airport capacity to handle one billion trips a year will augur well for mid-segment hotels.
The conversion of ten prominent tourist destinations as iconic and model destinations will boost the hospitality and tourism sector in India. The scheme to magnify the visitor experience at 110 Model Monuments under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) under the National Heritage City Augmentation scheme of the government will help develop properties in these destinations by keeping their heritage in mind. We at Royal Orchid Hotels have started expanding our properties to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Increased investment in infrastructure will help boost travel among the masses thus increasing the business for hospitality and tourism sector.
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From a tourism standpoint, the government’s move to develop 10 prominent tourist sites as iconic tourism destinations is welcome as it diversifies our product offerings and creates tourism clusters. Along with this, the move to upgrade tourism amenities at 100 ASI managed monuments will enhance the visitor experience. All this will generate huge economic activity as it also involves infrastructure and skill development in the region. Tourism is the largest employment generator in India and this will open up huge employment opportunities.
The move to expand the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik), to over 56 unserved airports and 31 unserved helipads will open up huge opportunities for the travel industry as connectivity will improve and people in these areas will be able to travel seamlessly within India and overseas, thereby giving a boost to domestic and outbound tourism.
Overall, the thrust of this budget is on infrastructure development, which is what the tourism industry has always represented to the government. New tourism circuits can only come up if there was adequate development and this budget lays emphasis on it. Finally, giving a boost to the rural economy will also enhance the purchasing power amongst those living in rural areas and this in turn will stimulate travel. We have observed this over the last couple of years.