NTAC Expert Member Seeks Moratorium on Tourism Sector Loans

KOCHI:
Expert Member of the National Tourism Advisory Council (NTAC), Abraham George, has urged the banking sector to declare a moratorium on the tourism sector loans in view of the deep crisis faced by the stakeholders due to the devastating floods that hit Kerala.
George, a leading player in tourism industry in the country, also wanted the banks to slash the interest rate on loans and extend fresh credit to the sector on a war footing to repair resorts, hotels and allied projects which have suffered severe damage during the floods.
George, who has submitted a memorandum to the Parliamentary Committee on Tourism requesting to declare Kerala as a destination for Leave Travel Concession (LTC) for employees for two years, noted that Jammu and Kashmir was declared as an LTC destination when floods damaged the tourism there and this had helped the northern state to overcome the crisis.
Around 50 lakh Central Government employees utilised the opportunity to visit Jammu and Kashmir and extending such a facility to Kerala will help revival of its tourism, he said .
It is also important to find out new markets around the world and operate chartered flights to Kerala from various countries. For instance, chartered flights should be arranged from China, which is the largest market for Kerala. There should also have sufficient number of properly trained tourist guides who can speak Chinese language, said George.
Noting that it is important to popularise cruise tourism in India, he said Kochi should be declared as the Home Port and developed as the country’s cruise hub. Pointing out that cruise tourism is yet to become popular in most parts of India, he said Kochi has all the potential to develop as the cruise hub.
Other urgent steps to give a boost to tourism include introduction of special tourist trains connecting the tourism spots of South India at a reasonable fare , giving incentives to domestic travellers and simplification of rules for online facilities and providing incentives to domestic travellers, he said.
He said sustainable development in the tourism sector could be achieved with the spread of organic farming to various areas with public- private participation. For this, the government should establish an online platform for agriculture.
As in the case of industry, there should be public- private participation in agriculture too and organic farming could also be a part of the tourism sector, he said.