Hospitality and Tourism & Travel market reactions on Budget 2022-23: As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday made an announcement outlining the economic growth for India over the next 25 years.
Here’s what the Hospitality and Tourism & Travel sector are saying about the Union Budget 2022:
Sarbendra Sarkar, Founder, Cygnett Hotels and Resorts:
Extension of ECLGS scheme with additional allocation for the hospitality sector is a welcome move. As we all are aware the hospitality sector has been one of the hardest hit sectors because of COVID. This will help the small and mid sized hotels overcome liquidity issues and to return to growth. The big focus on infrastructure development will also help the tourism and hospitality sector. We also welcome the announcement of the National Ropeways Development Programme.
Prashant Kumar, Co-Founder & CEO, Zingbus:
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman laid down the Union Budget for FY 2022-23, laying the blueprint for India’s growth for the next 25 years. The promise of inclusive growth in the Travel and Tourism sector prioritizing the PM Gati Shakti initiative to grow India economically facilitating faster movement of goods and people. 400 new Vande Bharat Trains to be manufactured and launched in the next 3 years to upgrade the Railway sector. It will help in setting the tone of the travel sector-leading towards growth.
Vedavyas Komara, CEO, TrackEx:
During the pandemic, the domestic travel and tourism industry saw a spike due to factors like international travel restrictions, increasing disposable incomes, revenge travel, etc. The industry feels that the Union Budget 2022 offers the government a significant opportunity to create a stimulus towards revival. The last two years have highlighted the power of the domestic market and towards unlocking the full potential of domestic tourism, we look forward to budgetary focus on infrastructure development, technology and health-safety across airports/aviation, road, rail and waterways.
We are seeing the true bounce-back potential of domestic tourism which saw a sharp rise in tourist flow in 2021 due to pent-up demand, vaccine roll-out, and revenge tourism. We have noticed the rise of domestic air travel from tier 2 and 3 towns and budgetary focus on the development of infrastructure, technology, and safety measures of existing and new airports in Tier 2 & 3 cities will help boost tourism by improving connectivity with those cities where trains or buses may be the only connectivity today.
The pandemic has created awareness about the digital world among the masses and people started using contactless modes for almost every activity, from payment to e- boarding. The budget has focused on using the maximum benefits from the new age technologies.
Madhav Kasturia, Founder, ZFW Hospitality:
As company owners, we’re gaining a lot from this budget, including a reduction in the corporate surcharge from 12% to 7%, which will help keep our spending in check. This budget also includes a cut in the surcharge on unlisted shares from 28.5% to 23%, which will facilitate exits from startups and unicorns.
We look forward to hearing more about the GATI Shakti programme. The Central Govt’s decision to standardise transportation infrastructure will benefit retail & ecommerce businesses. If our country’s connectivity improves, world-class travel facilities, tourism, & enterprises will begin to grow outside metropolitan areas- generating employment.