19th June 2017
 
To, All Members,
 
Dear Colleagues,
 
IATO this Fortnight – 5th to 17th June 2017
 
  • GST issues were in focus last fortnight and IATO invited senior officials of the Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC), Mr. Pramod Kumar, Mr. G.D. Lohani, both Commissioners (CBEC), Mr. Sachin Jain, Additional Commissioner, CBEC and Ms. Aarti Saxena, Dy. Secretary, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India at the IATO interactive meeting on 14th June 2017 at The Ashok Hotel. It was an opportunity for the members to interact directly and raise their queries and get clarifications. After the meeting, IATO had sent its recommendations to the Government and have requested for following:-
             1) Applicability 5% GST on Tour Operators should only be on Value Additions
 
            2) There should be no GST on services provided by Tour Operators to Tour Operator to avoid double/multiple  taxation
 
            3) GST should not be applicable on Outbound Tourism on services provided outside India except for air ticket, transport and
                 insurance which are provided in India.
 
            4) There should be no GST applicable on foreign exchange earning earned by the tour operators
 
  • After meeting with officials of CBEC, IATO felicitated Mrs. Rashmi Verma, new Secretary Tourism and Mr. Vinod Zutshi, former Secretary Tourism, Govt. of India. Mr. Suman Billa, Joint Secretary and Mrs. Meenakshi Sharma, Additional Director General (Tourism) were also present. Secretary Tourism informed that in the Ministry also a GST cell has been created which will look into problems of tourism industry. Our above recommendations have been sent to GST Cell in Ministry of Tourism also.
  • IATO had written to Hon’ble Union Minister of Finance to reconsider the 28% Tax put on hotels above Rs 5000/- and how this is going to have negative impact in tourism business operations. We understand from FAITH who had been representing all associations in meetings with GST council members, concerned Ministries and attended GST council meeting, the rate of Rs 5000/- and above on which GST @ 28% was applicable, has now been revised and for the room rates between Rs 2500/- to Rs 7500/- GST will be charged @ 18% GST. Similarly, the rates on AC restaurants in 5 Star hotels has been brought down to 18% from 28%. We must thanks to our Tourism Secretary Ms. Mrs. Rashmi Verma and Joint Secretary Mr. Suman Billa who strongly pleaded our cause positively. (Official information from the government will follow).
  • IATO also organized a training programme at Ethiopian Cultural Centre on 9th June and on popular demand the topic was kept GST implications. There were 50 participants in the training programme. More training programme will be organized in due course.
  • EC members attended two important meetings in the Ministry of Tourism (related to Niche Tourism, Golfing in India and Golfing events to be sponsored by the MOT) and Media Publicity (Domestic Campaigns).
  • President, Mr. Pronab Sarkar, IATO was one of the invited speakers at the Odisha Tourism Conclave held on 17th June 2017 at the temple city of Bhubaneswar and addressed the delegates on the subject tourism the driving force of Odisha economy in the coming years. Earlier on the day President called on Hon’ble Governor of Odisha alongwith our Regional Chapter Chairman Mr. J.K. Mohanty, who held a special meeting to discuss the ways and means to boost tourism and place Odisha in global tourist market.
  • Mr. Rajiv Mehra, Vice President, IATO attended the global Employment skill partnership programme called by the MP Government on 1st June, 2017 in Bhopal. The objective of the conference was to identify the requirement of the stake holders and Government intends to impart the skills to the youths in the state in accordance with the needs of the employers. Mr. Mehra focused his talk on the future employment opportunities in tourism and Hospitality sector.
  • Executive Director represented IATO in the National Skill Development Council meeting on Hospitality and Tourism Services at Mahindra Tourism, Bhikaji Cama Place on 5th June, 2017.
 
Shall keep you update with the development on GST
 
With regards,
 
Gour Kanjilal
 
Executive Director