The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has sought the support of the government of India to resolve key issues hampering the growth of the inbound tourism sector.
Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO in his recent communication to the Ministry of Tourism has requested the government to withdraw requirement of submission of self-declaration form on the online Air Suvida Portal for foreign nationals, saying that the move is creating troubles for international tourists.
Presently, all foreigners who intend to visit India need to submit a self-declaration form and attach documents which many of them especially the elderly ones find very cumbersome process. Moreover, reportedly many foreign tourists have been offloaded for not meeting this requirement which is giving negative publicity to the country. As a result a section of tourists are skipping travelling to India, said a recent press release issued on the behalf of the association.
“On one hand we are looking to bring more foreign tourists to India and on the other hand, we are making it difficult for tourists to consider India as a destination by creating hindrances. Globally, many countries are making it easier for foreign tourists to travel. This is high time that same is done in India too as pandemic situation has improved in the country,” said Mehra.
In a separate letter to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), the IATO President has highlighted the challenges being faced by foreign travellers due to the compulsory web check-in process being forced by all the domestic airlines.
In his letter to the MoCA, Mehra has mentioned that basic purpose of web check-in is to avoid rush at the baggage counters but the very purpose of the same is defeated as all travellers have to stand in queue for handing over their check-in baggages as there are no separate counters for those who haven’t web checked-in. Also, airlines are charging Rs. 200 per traveller in case web check-in has not been done.
IATO has requested that directives should be issued to all the domestic airlines, not to make it compulsory for the travellers to do web check-in. The facility of issuing boarding pass should be available from the airline check-in counters at the airport for those who have not done web check-in without imposing any additional charges.
IATO has also raised the issue of pending refunds of the travel agents from Jet Airways for over two years. While welcoming the resumption of Jet Airways flight operations in the next quarter of this year (July-September 2022), Mehra has written to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that refunds of the travel agents in the wake of the airline’s closure in the past are still pending. “In addition to this, advance deposits towards group bookings made by the travel agents are also lying with Jet Airways,” added Mehra.