Visakhapatnam, June 18, 2021: : With the pandemic battering tourism in Andhra Pradesh, the industry is seeking a relief package to bail out travel agents through a grant of up to Rs 5 lakh for each travel company and Rs 50,000 to each employee or a loan model of up to Rs 20 lakhs with State Finance Corporation with interest to tide over the crisis.
It is estimated that the tours and travel industry in the state has suffered losses over Rs 425 crore till May 2021 due to the pandemic according to the reports published in timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
Representatives of Tours and Travels Associations of Andhra Pradesh have submitted a proposal to chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy through Rajya Sabha MP V Vijayasai Reddy seeking a relief package for the industry, which contributes around 10% to the GDP. Travel agencies in Andhra Pradesh employ about 6,000 workers but with no revenue for over 17 months, almost all tourism businesses have run out of capital and are unable to pay salaries to staff. Around 95% of employees would have lost their jobs by now, said president of Tours and Travel Association of AP, K Vijay Mohan.
The association added that without business, each travel agent in the state would have a loss of over Rs 25 crore. Even after the situation comes under control, recovery could take at least two years, they added.
The virus has also claimed the lives of three travel agents, while over 13 are hospitalised and over 50 infected in the past few months.
Apart from financial assistance to stakeholders, the representatives also sought waiver of electricity bills, exemption on renewal of trade licence fee, advertisement tax exemption and inter-state road taxes and intra-city tax exemption for tourist buses.
