India international flights: extended suspension devastating

1. The IATO President pleaded that it is time for the government to step in and help the travel and tourism industry.
2. Mr. Mehra has been pushing for the opening of the e-Tourist visa for some time now.
3. Additionally, his association are all behind the resumption of international flights and have outlined how it can be accomplished.

He said that the members of IATO are very much depressed and disheartened by this decision taken by the government. Mr. Mehra stated: “It is time for the government to help the tourism industry by reviving inbound tourism to India,” outlining the following requests that have been made to the government.

– To open the e-Tourist Visa for all those foreign tourists who have been vaccinated and wish to come to India. Let foreign tourists decide whether they want to travel to India or not. We should not restrict them to travel to India, when other countries have opened their doors for tourists.

– Similarly, normal international flight operations should be resumed, and let the airlines decide whether they want to operate or not if there is any constraint of load factor. But government should allow the resumption of flights.

All other sectors have revived their business with the support from the India Government, and it is only the travel and tourism industry which has been struggling for survival for the last 18 months without any relief at all. The IATO President pleaded that the government should support the tourism industry especially the inbound tour operators who have had zero business since March 2020.

A few days ago, Mr. Mehra, participated in a meeting called by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, to get input from the exporters on required measures to be taken on the Prime Minister’s call to increase exports

At that meeting, Mr. Mehra suggested the same measures of allowing e-tourist visas and resuming normal international flight operations. He also made clear to the Minister about the precarious financial condition that the tour operators had undergone during the pandemic and how the release of long-overdue SEIS (Service Exports from India Scheme) for the financial year 2019-20 is vital for their survival.

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