Relief package for travel agents ‘miniscule’: TAAI

Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced a new loan guarantee scheme for tourism sector

The impact of the relief package announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for travel agents would be “minuscule”, as it covered only those who were registered with the Ministry of Tourism and left out a vast majority of those who were affiliated with State tourism boards , the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) has said. The Minister on Monday announced a new loan guarantee scheme for the tourism sector, under which tourist guides recognised by the Ministry of Tourism and State governments can avail a loan up to ₹ 1 lakh each and Travel and Tourism Stakeholders (or tour operators and organisations) recognised by the Ministry of Tourism can get a loan up to ₹ 10 lakh each. “We had expected that the government undertakes our suggestions for more direct relief for our member stakeholders, rather than limiting it to 904 Travel and Tourism Stakeholders (TTS) registered with the Ministry of Tourism. It is pertinent to note that out of the 3,000 members of TAAI alone, only those registered with the Ministry of Tourism shall benefit. Most of the members engaged in domestic tourism are registered with State Tourism (Boards). The outreach of this relief is minuscule. Less than 10% of the actual stakeholders only shall benefit as per the FM’s package,” the TAAI said in a statement issued on Tuesday.