Category: India

With the hospitality sector facing a complete shutdown due to the corona virus pandemic, the Association of Tourism Trade Organisations India (ATTOI) is placing a special emphasis on online refresher courses to keep tourism and hospitality employees productive and engaged. ATTOI is looking at the possibility of every job in the industry having a set protocol to follow and a handbook that will list down the processes that need to be adhered to. ATTOI President Vinod CS says such an initiative will help the employees update themselves during this period of inactivity. “Today everyone has access to smart phones and ... Read more

The hospitality sector has been ravaged by the corona virus pandemic, with booking cancellations at a record high. In an interview while detailing the impact that the outbreak is having on the sector, UDS Hotels CEO Dr.Raja Gopaal Iyer says it’s important for hotels to control the costs going forward. Iyer says the strategy should be to depend more on technology and reduce manpower costs. Excerpts: Q: The hospitality industry is going through probably its worst ever phase in history. Did you think that the crisis would end up having such a devastating effect on the industry? A: I am ... Read more

International flights will remain banned till April 14, the government announced on Thursday amid a complete national lock-down to fight corona virus. A week long ban imposed last week has been extended, the civil aviation ministry said. The ban will not apply to cargo flights or those specially permitted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviaion. Domestic flights have been banned till March 31. Trains, metros, inter-state buses and all public transport has been banned to check the spread of the disease.

Delhi is all set to get a tourism boost. The Delhi government wants to build the city as a tourist destination and launch new festivals to add to the wave of interest shown by tourists. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has proposed to launch a ‘Branding Delhi’ scheme for transforming the national capital into India’s tourism capital and bring more visitors to the city. Presenting Delhi budget for 2020-21, Sisodia, also the finance minister, has granted Rs 100 crore to achieve this goal. In his budget speech, Sisodia said though the possibilities and resources are available within Delhi to become ... Read more

Hyatt Hotels has announced furloughs and pay cuts as the hotel industry reels from the corona virus pandemic. Hyatt on Wednesday said the pay cuts would affect all of its employees from April 1 through May 31. The company did not provide details on the amount of the pay cuts. The company will also impose temporary furloughs or significantly cut the schedules of two-thirds of its U.S. corporate employees. The chain had about 55,000 employees at the end of 2019, according to its annual report. Given the financial impact on our business, we have had to make difficult decisions that ... Read more

Indian-American hoteliers have come to the rescue of Indian students in the US. Many Indian students are left stranded following lockdown measures in the country, following the coronavirus pandemic. The hoteliers are providing a great help to these students by offering them free accommodation and meals. Many of the students have been asked to vacate their hostels and with India banning international flights for a week from March 22, more than 6,000 rooms in nearly 700 hotels were offered to them by Wednesday following a call from the Indian Embassy. The Indian Embassy have been running a round-the-clock helpline since ... Read more

The Rajasthan government has decided to reimburse the state tax, due and deposited, by hotels and tour operators registered under the Rajasthan Goods and Services Act. The order for reimbursement of state tax (SGST) will come into effect from April 1 and will be in force till June 30. The order will be applicable for taxable entities registered under the category of hotels, resorts and tour operators. However, it will not cover standalone restaurants and clubs. The corona virus outbreak has broken the backbone of the travel and tourism industry and all stakeholders have been requesting the central and state ... Read more

The Indian hospitality sector will suffer losses of over Rs 600 crore this year, a research report prepared by a hospitality consultancy firm has said. The branded hotel chain together with the standalone hotel segment is facing losses of over Rs 150 crore. The alternative accommodation segment, dominated by bed and baths (B&B), guest houses and small lodges, is likely to make losses of over ₹420-470 crore, the report by Hotelivate said. Layoffs of ‘casual staff’ or ‘contracted staff’ is likely, the research noted. This will amount to a weak Q4 FY20 and a weaker Q1 FY21. According to the ... Read more

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the deadline for filing returns of goods and services tax (GST) for the months of March, April and May has been extended to June 30. The last date for filing belated income tax returns for FY18-19 has also been extended to the same date. But the move to extend the GST filing deadline cannot in any way provide sufficient relief to some of the hardest hit sectors in the economy, most notably the travel and tourism segment. The tourism sector had asked for a GST holiday for a period of 12 months, ... Read more

Private vehicles of employees working at the Bengaluru airport were obstructed on Tuesday while they were traveling to their workplace. Buses were also prevented from going to the airport with employees. Hari Marar, MD & CEO of the Bengaluru International Airport Ltd (BIAL) said these employees perform tasks that are critical for the functioning of the airport, including security, airlines, immigration, customs, fire services, air traffic control and technology support. In support of the Government’s decision to bring the situation under control, the airport will remain closed to passengers from March 24, 2359 hours IST, to March 31, 2359 hours ... Read more

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has said that all domestic commercial airlines will cease operations from the midnight of March 24. Airlines have to plan operations so as to land at their destination before 11.59 pm. The decision will not apply to cargo airlines. The government has not decided when to restart operations. India had already stopped international flights into the country. Airlines around the world are taking measures to curtail flights in a bid to control the spread of the virus. With flight schedules in disarray, airlines are expected to bear massive losses. Most carriers have requested their respective ... Read more

Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group, has offered to convert Mahindra Holiday Resorts as temporary health care facilities. “Going by various reports from epidemiologists, it is highly likely that India is already in stage-3 of transmission. Cases could rise exponentially with millions of casualties, putting a huge strain on medical infrastructure,” Mahindra said in a series of tweets. He further said, “A lockdown over the next few weeks will help flatten the curve and moderate the peak pressure on medical care. However, we need to create scores of temporary hospitals and we have a scarcity of ventilators.” Mahindra plans to make ... Read more

The Passport Seva Kendras located in Aluva, Alappuzha, Kochi, Kottayam and Thrissur will be closed till March 31, in a bid to control the spread of the corona virus. The Kochi regional passport officer has said the Post-office Passport Seva Kendras at Chengannur, Kattappana, Olavakkode, Nenmara and Lakshadweep will also be shut during this period.

Just a few days ago, Association of Tourism Trade Organisations India (ATTOI) secretary Manu PV received an emergency call from French Embassy, Pondicherry. The caller briefed Manu about a lady sitting somewhere in a restaurant in Thiruvananthapuram. All the hotels in the vicinity had denied her entry and she was distraught. There was no place that she could go to. So, this was clearly a distress call. Manu immediately knew that this was a question of the sector’s reputation. He told the Embassy that the lady can call him for any help. “I was sure I could arrange accommodation for ... Read more

India should introduce hygiene protocol to tackle epidemics The impact created by the corona virus may last up to a year and the tourism sector may face the biggest financial crisis in its history as a result. In an elaborate interview, ATTOI President Vinod CS says this is the time to take initiative and control the situation to reduce the damage, even as he looks for support from the state and central governments. Excerpts: Q: Corona virus has impacted Kerala’s tourism fortunes to a very large extent. Can we attach a value to the loss incurred to Kerala tourism due ... Read more