India

AP Government gifts Restart package to the Tourism industry

In a welcome move, the Andhra Pradesh government has approved a restart package to the tourism sector of the state. Through this, the state government has offered a restart package to the tune of INR 198.5 crore with interest subvention for assisting tourism establishments to restart their operations and support their fixed expenses and wage liabilities.

The AP state government has noted that stakeholders of the tourism and hospitality industry were under severe stress since the Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown followed by restrictions for travel. This stop in tourism activities has caused severe financial strain to all the stakeholders in the Tourism field.

It is estimated that there are about 900 hotels, 350 MICE & function halls, 160 service providers, and 2500 standalone restaurants in the state. With business coming to a standstill, all these establishments have not been able to pay salaries to their workers, owing to which more than 30 percent of workers have lost their jobs.

“On behalf of the Tours and Travels Association of Andhra we would like to thank our chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy; special chief secretary (tourism and culture) Rajat Bhargava and managing director, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC), Pravin Kumar, for considering the bailout request of the tourism and hospitality stakeholders who are suffering as a result of Covid-19,” said K Vijay Mohan, President of the Tours and Travels Association of Andhra Pradesh (TTAP).

In a circular, the AP state government mentioned, “During the consultations with tourism industry stakeholders, they submitted their difficulties and losses suffered by them and requested for certain incentives on electrical charges, discounts in interest on loans, SGST reimbursement, Property Tax, an extension of licenses, support for working capital, support for salaries of employees and Provident Fund.”

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