It is a known fact that the tourist transport segment is one of the most important vertical within this multi-sectoral industry. Keeping in mind, the Indian Tourist Transporters Association (ITTA) organised its fourth convention themed ‘Enhancing Capabilities: Meeting National Tourism Target’ from September 7-8, 2012 in Delhi. The convention witnessed 80 exhibitors, 350 participants on the first day and 300 on the second.
Subodh Kant Sahai, minister tourism, Government of India; Ramakant Goswami, minister of Transport, Government of Delhi; R H Khwaja, secretary, Ministry of Tourism; and Girish Shankar, additional secretary, Ministry of Tourism (MoT) inaugurated the event. The convention took off with the opening remarks by Krishan Yadav, secretary, ITTA who informed that the association is going to complete 25 years with 350 active and allied members. Rajesh Loomba, chairman convention committee’s welcome address highlighted the fact that at a time when the economy is slowing down, the opportunities with road transport still lie unexplored. Loomba informed, “We need to further build our capacities according to tourism targets. ‘Hunar Se Rozgar’ and driver training programmes, and learning on the knowledge of the new norms in the sector are some of the key initiatives we are constantly focusing on.” He stressed on the fact that tourist transport is the point of contact for tourists to be able to reach destinations. “And, it becomes a matter of stress when we are not only levied multiple taxes under different names, resulting in the loss of not only budget conscious travellers but also high end tourists. Service tax and interstate taxes on tourists vehicles are points of major concern,” he added.
Sarabjit Singh, president, ITTA stressed on the fact that there is a dire need to keep the rates competitive by rationalising the taxes, which otherwise makes India 25-30 per cent costlier than other destinations. “There is an urgent need to carry out a detailed tax competitiveness study and its impact on our economies,” he added. It is a well known fact and has been addressed a number of times that tourism sector is the largest employment generator and tourist transport forms a large part of this sector. Speaking about the current situation, Singh said, “We emphasise that the growth the government envisions cannot be achieved as long as the issues are related to different sectors, and especially the tourist transport sector, is not addressed.” “This is also evident from the feedback that we have received from tourists as well as foreign tour operators, who have time and again highlighted issues like long wait at the borders and poor condition of the roads in the country. The widespread impression is that it is easy to travel from one country to another in Europe than interstate travelling within India. If developed in the right manner and supported accordingly, tourist transport segment can create unprecedented economic activity and generate jobs in millions. We never forget to talk about the 7,000 km long coastline, but unfortunately tend to overlook the tens of thousands of km of road network, alongside which lives the true India, the rural India, that tourists come to experience. No segment of tourism can create that demand for the rural tourism clusters, as envisaged by MoT, better than we, the ITTA members can,” added Singh.
Shankar urged the audience to aim at doubling the FTAs and in return, the job opportunities. He stressed on the need to focus on skill development, safe and honourable tourism which even the government will be ready to lend a helping hand. Khwaja jotted down the breakthrough achievements — initiatives taken by the Uttar Pradesh government, golden triangle seamless travel, and much more. “The only concern is that developments are not happening at a faster pace. Insurance is the new issue that has come to our knowledge.
Sahai proposed the idea of taking tourism as a business model. “In these times, when India is the current target for all the economies, there is a need that we develop our strategies and promote India as a long haul destination in every sector. For instance, target the Middle East market for wellness tourism,” he said. Acknowledging the fact that tourist transport is the only key to last mile connectivity, he also encouraged all the private players to double their business so that the national target can be achieved.
In a nutshell
The second day of the business sessions clearly stated the fact that the sector does not have good infrastructure like quality roads, wayside facilities, anti-investment environment in tourist vehicles because of multiple taxation, interstate taxes and other related logjams.
Anand Kumar, joint secretary, MoT, addressed the audience on the benefits that can be drawn by ITTA members from Hunar Se Rozgar and capacity building programme scheme. He stressed on the fact that the schemes can explore the opportunity to join hands with the government in providing training and to the transport workforce of India. Singh highlighted that ITTA anticipates a huge surge in demand for skilled manpower in the tourist transport segment, and there is tremendous scope. “Therefore, ITTA has already taken the lead and formulated the syllabus and submitted to the ministry for approval,” he said.
The next course highlighted on the potential and road blocks in road tourism. There is no denying to the fact that there is an increase in the road infrastructure both in length and quality — the latest being Yamuna Expressway (extendable to eight-lanes) that has significantly benefitted the transport operators. They are able to now increase their offerings, do more round trips and increase cost efficiency. The discussion stressed on the fact that there is a need for state tourism boards to promote develop and market highway tourism, more development on the rural tourism front with better last mile connectivity, reduce harassment for permits, and easy import of economical vehicles. Loomba requested the ministry for a PPP model and different departments to come together to act on it so that it leads to more road tourism, economic growth and job creation.
Singh added, “Caravan tourism, self drive travel are products that not only will create unprecedented job opportunities but will also generate new demands such as those for hotels and motels along the highways, wayside facilities and host of new demands earlier unheard of that can be stimulated in its wake.”
Insurance was one of the major issues that came into picture. There is a proposal to limit the third party insurance cover to Rs 10 lakh that we see as a potential dampener to our effort of building a robust tourism economy in the country. “The move, if implemented, will seriously jeopardise the survival of thousands of operators. The proposed rule is highly partisan in nature and says that any claim in excess of Rs 10 lakh owing to accident will be borne by the transporter and the vehicle will remain impounded for long as the money is not paid to the claimant. We sincerely request MoT to take up this issue with the department of Insurance, ministry of Finance, so that this step which will have adverse effect on tourism growth is averted,” said Singh.
