Consumer Travel Unaffected By GST; Hospitality Sector Expresses Concern

TRAVEL BOOKINGS are noted to have not been affected post GST implementation, according to key industry players.

- Saloni Bhatia and Mohit Rathod

However, the hospitality industry has voiced concerns over the newly implemented tax regime. "The GST for tour packages, both domestic and international, has seen a marginal increase from 4.5 per cent to five per cent, and as such we do not anticipate any impact to holiday demand; in fact, this is seen as a relief by consumers as it compares extremely favourable against the current service tax which saw a doubling of the rate from 4.5 per cent to nine per cent (applicable from January 22, 2017). Again, the increase from 1.5 per cent to 1.8 per cent on international air tickets is marginal and we do not foresee impact; and this applies to domestic air tickets too with a change from 0.75 per cent to 0.9 per cent," said Debasis Nandy, chief financial officer and president – commercial, finance and accounts, Thomas Cook India.

In the OTA market, Cleartrip has observed a sharp increase in queries around travel related GST since the day of the implementation. While travellers are keen to understand the impact on fares, this has not affected their travel plans. Balu Ramachandran, head – air and distribution, Cleartrip, commented, "GST implementation has been positive on Air demand as we see a week on week increase of volume increase by seven per cent for domestic and nine per cent for international in the week after GST implementation, which is concurrent with an average dip in prices by on per cent and three per cent for domestic and international respectively."

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