Three Positive Takeaways from Budget 2021 for Travel & Tourism

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2021-2022 on Monday. While many in the travel and tourism sector believe that the budget spoke very little of the sector and most of the concerns of industry stakeholders remained unaddressed, Additional Director General, Minister of Tourism Ms Rupinder Brar&nbspbelieves that the budget announcements would definitely help in the revival of tourism in the country in the long run.

Speaking to Outlook Traveller, Brar said that the most important thing that the budget brings to the tourism sector is the renewed and reinforced thrust on the capital expenditure. &ldquoAnd out of the capital expenditure, what is exciting for the tourism sector, is the focus on road infrastructure,&rdquo she said.

Brar added that roads and the highways have been allocated an expenditure that has never been done before. &ldquoEconomic corridors that are coming up along new highways are set to be a huge boost to tourism,&rdquo she asserted.

&ldquoIf we see the Madurai Kollam sector, Mumbai Kanyakumari sector, then there is something in so many other parts of the country also,&rdquo she added.

The other very important component for value addition to the sector of tourism, Brar thinks is the Swatch Bharat Swasth Bharat. &ldquoThe focus on a cleaner and healthier India has once again been reiterated with a focus on the urban Swatch Bharat Mission 2.0,&rdquo Brar said.

&ldquoThese two to me are game-changers as far as tourism and hospitality sectors in India are concerned for times to come and should stand our sector in very good stead,&rdquo she added.

The third and also an existing product, Brar thinks are the recently introduced vistadome coaches.

READ Why you Must Book a Vistadome Coach for your Next Journey

&ldquoWe already have the vistadome from Vishakhapatnam, Vizag to Araku, from Mumbai to Goa and recently from Kaveriya to Ahmedabad. Apart from these three, the government has mentioned the need to bring up more such vista dome coaches to tourist places, and the success of the existing three, does show that this is a great step forward for tourism,&rdquo Brar said.

Brar concluded by saying that the budget aims at the creation of large infrastructure in the country, which will eventually assist in the growth and revival of the tourism sector in post-pandemic India.