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Lok Sabha
Some of the bottlenecks which are a deterrent in attracting foreign tourists to India are lack of tourist infrastructure, restricted air seat capacity, multitude of taxes levied by the Centre/State Governments and limited accommodation at major tourist destinations. This was stated by the Minister of State for Tourism, Smt. Renuka Chowdhury in a reply to a question by Shri Raghuveer Singh Koshal in Lok Sabha today. She said that the Ministry of Tourism has undertaken two studies namely taxes levied by the State/Central Governments in the India Tourism sector and the impact of Civil Aviation Policies on Tourism in India.
The study on taxes has highlighted the problem of high rate of taxation and multitude Central and State level taxes leading to high cost of packages. The study has recommended that rationalization of taxes like expenditure tax, service tax, customs duty and taxation on Aviation Turbine Fuel, need for introduction of new incentives to increase tourism expenditure and volume and the promotion of investment in the industry.
The study on Impact on Civil Aviation Policy on Tourism in India has highlighted issues like high cost of air travel to India, shortage of air seat capacity, lack of air connectivity from major tourism generating markets etc. the Ministry of Tourism is making concerted and continuous efforts to remove the above bottlenecks in cooperation with the concerned Ministries and the State Governments/Union Territories, she added.
NCJ/DT
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