05 January 2021

To All Members,

Dear All,

Please find attached the Record note of discussion of the All Members Interactive Meeting at 4.00 pm on 18^th December 2020.

Thanks & regards

Rahul Chakravarty

COO

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Record Note of Discussion of IATO Interactive Meeting on Friday, the 18^th December 2020 at 4 pm on Zoom

Mr. Rajesh Mudgill called the house to order and welcomed all to the interactive meeting. He said that there was positive news from the government by way of incentives for participating in Domestic Travel Marts/ Fairs under new MDA Guidelines for promotion of Domestic Tourism, new category of Green Shoots, option to operate from home and staff employment in revised guidelines for recognition by MOT for the tour operators. The International Tourism MDA case is under consideration and will be known soon and on SEIS there is no further news. He requested Mr. Pronab Sarkar to welcome the members.

Mr Pronab Sarkar hoped that everybody is safe and in good health.  He expressed that SEIS is being followed diligently with MOC, PMO, MOF and MOT. Department of SEIS have been explained in detail, Special Secretary and JS MOC have been contacted. There is hope for some news in January 2021. SEIS is the one-point agenda. There may be lack of manpower if tourism takes a V Shape recovery. IATO has offered its inputs to SEPC for the new guidelines for the next 5 years and that is 10% SEIS during season and 15% during off season. DG Tourism has been requested to release the guidelines for MDA for Inbound Tourism. It is pending with the Hon’ble Minister for Tourism. There is positive news on the vaccine front, countries are opening up, on our request Hon’ble Tourism Minister has requested Home Ministry to open up Visas on reciprocal basis and give a possible date on the same, to further air bubbles from respective countries to open up regular International flights, a committee has been formed in FAITH to pursue the government on key issues like opening up of Visas and flights  

Mr Homa Mistry asked for MOT recognition, if the application for Inbound also covers Domestic, MICE and Adventure?  Once we apply for Inbound does it cover the other aspects also as an Inbound Tour operators also do MICE and Adventure and is the approval for All India or it has to be taken for branches elsewhere in the country also?

Mr Mudgill said that the category is only one and that is Tour Operator, only in case of Adventure there are certain additional requirements to be met.

It was clarified to Mr Mistry that for Branch Office one has to take separate approval, there is no change in that and that you have to take approval as a Tour Operator, there is no separate thing as Inbound or Domestic, for Adventure one has to fulfil additional requirements which have been circulated to the members in the highlights of the scheme.  

Mr Sarkar said that a new MDA scheme is coming separately for Inbound soon. So Domestic is covering within India and Inbound will be covering out of India. 

Mr Mistry said that when you look at Domestic Tour Operators it does not define cut off of revenue but for International earlier MDA was given to those whose turnover was less than is Rs 5 Crore. He hoped that the cut off for inbound will be taken out of from the new Inbound MDA policy so that it does not discourage those who do more than 5 crores.   

To this Mr Sarkar said that we can take but in Domestic it is not mentioned and once we get the complete detail on Inbound then only we will know. The criteria is to support the small tour operators and MOT also has a budget restriction in place. So we need to wait and watch    

Mr Mistry wanted to know what kind of Insurance policy is the government looking at for Inbound? 

Mr Sarkar said that this is for covering the Covid patients I presume  

Mr Mistry wanted to know if the insurance policy for Inbound will also cover

cancellations on Flights, Safaris, Railways as that would really help the industry as Medical Insurance is mandatory and a person has to bring on his/ her own. 

Mr Sarkar said that for this insurance is available 

Mr. Debjit Dutta wanted to know how does MOT GOI differentiate among the sub categories of Domestic, MICE and Inbound Tour Operators.

Mr Mudgill said that we should provide provisional recognition to members who are starting in the field on their own but have experience of working in an organisation before. Starts ups initially will not be eligible for International benefits till the time they are properly recognised. This is a grey area and we will follow up. 

Mr Sarabjeet Singh said that revenue criteria of Rs 5 Lakhs for Green Shoots and the turnover requirement of only Rs 20 lakhs for a tour operator to have MOT Recognition will bring in player who may not be able to offer quality service and thus bring bad name to the country. IATO needs to be concerned about this. 

To this Mr Mudgill said that we cannot say that small tour operators will not provide good service, it is the Fly by Night Tour Operators that bring bad name. Those recognised by Ministry of tourism follow the law of the land.

Mr Sarkar said that Green Shoots are added as the Government campaigns for Atmanirbhar Bharat, plus it will encourage tour operators from small town to come to the main stream. Once MOT recognition is there, bad service may not be there .

Mr Sarabjeet said that where to complain if a tour operator is not providing proper service.

Mr Mudgill said that we shall speak to the Government to put a mechanism in place.    

WC JS Nayal wanted to know if the rules framed by MOT GOI takes precedence over the State Government guidelines. There may be clash of opinion. We need to speak to the state Governments. 

To this Mr Sarkar said that most of the state Governments do not raise objections if the Central Government lays down rules. If an issue comes we can write to the Ministry of Tourism and seek their guidance.  It is the criterion of Office Space that permission may be sought like in Delhi it is the DDA or the MCD depending on the area of control. If there is an issue, we can take it up 

Mr. Rajiv Kohli said that it is time for MOT GOI to introduce new LOGOS for Start Ups and Experienced Tour Operators respectively. Secondly for Companies that have done well, it is unfair to make a distinction on the basis of Turnover. The MDA scheme is a Ministry of Commerce Scheme where there is no cap on turnover.

To this Mr Mudgill said that he agrees to both the points raised and that MDA should be available to all.      

Mr. Philip Thomas asked if the Covid vaccine can be used to attract tourist to India.

To this Mr Sarkar said that first the vaccine will be given to the residents of that country. Thus Indian Government will use the vaccine for Indian Citizens first and in any case the tourist originating from a foreign country will be vaccinated there only.  

Mr Rohit Kohli said that there should be some eligibility criteria by MOT GOI for giving recognition as a Tour Operator.  

To this Mr Sarkar said that for Green Shoots / Start Ups it is for 3 years only. The LOGO concept put forward by Mr Rajiv Kohli will be very valid as it would show the recognition of a Green Shoot and Green Shoot only. We can seek clarification from MOT GOI on this and give our suggestion also.

Mr Sarabjeet said that only a recognised tour operator should be allowed to accept Foreign Remittances.

To this Mr Sarkar said that we will discuss this with MOT.  

Mr Lally Mathews said that what happens when a staff leaves the organisation of a tour operator and starts a Green Shoot company and gets recognition from MOT also, how do we tackle this?

To this Mr Mudgill said that there is no mechanism to stop this.

Mr Sarkar said ours is a democratic country. There is freedom to work anywhere.

Mr. Mohan Narayan Swamy said that it is an opportunity to organise our industry. IATO to filter the thought, have a meeting and take it to MOT GOI.

Mr James said that the existing system to continue, additions can be made like Green Shoots, Covid relaxations should be for a period and capping on Turnover basis is very unfair

Mr Amaresh Tiwari said that a tour operator should be recognised by one of the associations and thus be a certified member before being considered for recognition by the Ministry of Tourism. This way we ensure checks and balances and the onus comes on the private sector to verify the credentials first.  

Mr Sarkar said that in that case the responsibility will come on the associations if there are any issues/complaints.  

Mr Mudgill said we need to take legal opinion on this

Mr Rohit said that we need to have a policy on this. 

Mr Navneet Arora said that there should be voting right for allied members also, may be on a weightage basis. 

To this Mr Sarkar said that why you want to remain allied? Become Active if you are so interested for voting. 

Mr Arora said Allied do not involve themselves in these meetings. 

Mr Sarkar said why this talk of Voting. We want that all Allied in due course should come and join Active Membership and follow a set of norms and rules. Everybody should come forward on this thought as we are all growing.

Mr Mudgill said there was a healthy discussion, a lot came on the table, President to take cognizance of these and we will move forward  

Mr Gagan Sarangi raised a question on the classification by MOT GOI as the requirement of Rs 20 Lakh in Foreign Exchange Earning as a criterion may not be met by Tour Operators 

Mr Mudgill said that the criterion of Rs 20 Lakhs has not changed it only the office and staff requirement that has changed.  

Mr Sarkar said that the foreign exchange criterion may be over looked this year due to Covid. Any difficulty please contact IATO office we shall try to help you out.

Mr Lally Mathews said that KTM has filed a writ against the government as the latter has not offered any support to the demands of the tourism industry facing the pandemic. Do we support this? IATO should actively participate in this. 

To this Mr Sarkar said that we are talking to various ministries, there is a dialogue going on, when they are giving some assurances if we go to the court their attitude will change. We have to have a soft approach as they are talking to us.  

Mr Sejoe said that it is not filing a case, it is a prayer for faster action on the part of the government, court to interfere and ask the government to expedite action at their end.

Mr Sarkar said that MOT has written to MOF and MOC, SEPC chairman has taken personal interest, all are positive steps and we have to wait and watch. Criteria of SEIS for the service providers is being changed hence the delay, when a dialogue is going on between IATO and the ministries we should have patience.  

Mr Harish Mathur asked when does the new norm of tourism recognition start? 

Mr Mathur was informed that it would start from 1^st January 2021 and tour operators who are already recognised, need not to take any action. 

He also added that our single point agenda is the pursuit for SEIS.

Mr James said that what KTM has done is a prayer to the court. RBI has directed the banks to restructure the loans but no banks are doing it. Banks are saying unless the business begins how can we get back the money? How can we restructure? We need to open up Visas only then the banks will be confident to restructure the loans. SEIS benefit to come in now and we need to open up the borders. On 21^st December is the next hearing of the court and IATO could have joined. 

Mr E M Najeeb said that FHRAI South India Chapter has supported. We are only telling the government about the crisis that we are going through. We are not going against the government. All the sectors have all opened up. Nothing wrong in joining in a soft manner, IATO and even FAITH. Government will understand the seriousness of the issue. Let them give a direction to RBI to restructure our loan and give us time to repay instead of making our account as an NPA. 

Mr Rohit said that IATO should join. What do we lose? It is just a prayer; we are not going against the government.

Mr Sarkar said that court takes a lot of time, let us hope January gives us some good news. We will take up the issue with the Hon’ble Tourism Minister and ask him, take his views on the subject, let us see what he says – to go to court or not, we are open to talk to the Ministry in this regard.

Mr Rohit said that we should have an outer limit for the decision from the Ministry on this and then decide to join. 

Mr Subhash Goyal said that let us give MOT the last chance, call an EC Meeting and decide.

Mr Sarkar said that we have taken up the banking situation with MOT & MSME. MSME has not passed any instruction to banks that do not give loans to the tourism sector . So it is purely the decision of the banks.

Mr Najeeb said if one has a relationship with the authorities in the bank one can get some loan, if not then the authorities will avoid giving loan or postpone. We should request the MOF to give a direction to RBI to restructure the loan. 

Mr James said that there is no benefit for the tourism industry in the ECGL scheme. This is where IATO should step in

Mr Mudgill said that after the meeting with the Hon’ble Minister of Tourism we shall take a call on this.  

Mr. Sarab Jit Singh was not favour of going to court as this may not yield any result.

Mr Sanjay Basu said that a confrontation with the government on SEIS at this point when we know that something will come up in next couple of months is not advisable. We need to escalate the issue to the senior level in the banks for restructuring of loans with a 24 months restructuring on interest and principal. We need to be more aggressive with the banks. 20% is mandatory for the banks to give, FAITH had given a representation to the MSME ministry that this 20% is not sufficient for the tourism industry and should be raised to 40 / 50% as it is in the 26 stressed sectors and the worst hit out of that. This is what IATO should take it up with MSME ministry. ECLGS 3.0 to be brought out to give a bigger amount to tourism and if possible loan as on date should be taken into account and not as on 28^th of Feb 2020 as in the latter everybody was rich in cash flow and the CC and the OD limits were not utilised.   This representation should go in as along with SEIS. This restructuring of loan would be a big relief to the industry.  

Mr Najeeb thanked all attending the meeting and for giving valuable, very productive and valid suggestions. President will definitely consider the sentiment of the members.  

The meeting concluded with thanks to the chair