It’s a bit tricky to pen down your thoughts few days before the big date, in this case July 1, 2017. The three letter word called ‘GST’ (goods and services tax), has certainly made its mark. It has turned out to be the hotspot of most discussions across businesses. From serious debates and deliberations to some tongue in cheek comments, there seems to be discrepancy across sectors, with hospitality and tourism being no exception. Chartered accountants to legal and tax experts, have in general their own respectful understanding of the subject. Though travel associations have done their bit to invite experts to address the industry, the general consensus is still of ambiguity on the topic and its implementation. Whether its five per cent or 18 per cent, to be charged with or without Input Tax Credit (ITC) is still in a limbo. Amidst all the confusion and lack of clarity, there was some good news that came in for the hospitality sector. The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) welcomed the revised GST slab on hotel room tariffs that widens the slab of 18 per cent to tariffs ranging between Rs 2,500 and Rs 7,500. With the revision, the highest tax rate of 28 per cent is assigned to tariffs of Rs 7,500 and above.
We also recently received news from the new secretary tourism, Rashmi Verma, ministry of tourism, Government of India, that they have set up a GST cell under the economic advisor so that the genuine concerns of tourism industry can be easily solved. They intend to assist professionals within the trade through smooth transitioning to the GST regime. The secretary also offered everyone to submit their problems, queries and suggestions to the council so the same can be taken up by the revenue department. So far so good, however, there are certain challenges in the tourism business that still need to be addressed. For the benefit of our readers, ETW has brought in expert opinion from a law firm on the GST story, which can be referred to on page 18 of this issue.
Further, MoT has recently taken a decision to finally took into the performance of their overseas tourism offices. The Government of India has 14 designated tourism offices in prominent destinations like London, Australia, Los Angeles, New York, Dubai, Toronto, Beijing, Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Singapore, Johannesburg and Milan and their revival is crucial for providing inbound tourism a fillip. The central government recently announced another list of 30 cities for development as Smart Cities, taking the total cities picked up so far to 90 under Smart City Mission launched on June 25, 2015. According to the government, 45 cities contested for 40 available Smart City slots but only 30 were selected. Please refer to our website for the complete story. Also, our cover story this issue on the niche sports tourism segment is another interesting read.
Reema Lokesh
Editor