No-frills carrier <keyword id="11252024" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="go-first" source="Orion">Go First</keyword> filing for insolvency proceedings and cancelling flights is bad for the airline industry as the move will reduce capacity and could push <keyword id="6375796" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="airfares" source="Orion">airfares</keyword> in certain routes, <keyword id="6354692" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="travel" source="Orion">travel</keyword> agents' grouping <keyword id="196742" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="taai" source="Orion">TAAI</keyword> said on Wednesday. Bogged down by an acute financial crunch due to the grounding of more than half of its fleet amid P&amp;W engine supply woes, Go First has cancelled flights for three days starting May 3. Besides, the Wadia group-owned airline has filed for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). "It is bad for the (airlines) industry... It is such a fragile industry... we lost crores of rupees in Kingfisher Airlines, in Jet Airways and we have another one going into insolvency (proceedings)," Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) President Jyoti Mayal told PTI. The developments at Go First, which has been flying for more than 17 years, also come at a time when domestic air traffic is on an upward trajectory. Mayal said that right now there is demand for air travel as it is holiday time and "we do expect fares going up in sectors it (Go First) was flying. In the coming weeks, fares are likely to go up." Regarding booked tickets, she said it is the company that has to provide refunds and if it goes into insolvency, the rules are different. "Those are the challenges we are going to be facing". TAAI has around 2,800 members. In the summer schedule which is on from March 26 to October 28, Go First is to operate 1,538 flights per week. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/go-first-impact-market-capitalisation-of-3-psu-banks-down-by-7500-crore-as-investors-fret-over-their-exposure-to-ailing-airline/articleshow/99953433.cms">Go First Impact: Market capitalisation of 3 PSU Banks down by ₹7,500 crore as investors fret over their exposure to ailing airline</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/govt-is-positive-centre-to-sc-on-social-benefits-for-same-sex-couples/articleshow/99954180.cms">'Govt is positive', Centre to SC on social benefits for same-sex couples</a>

Airfares likely to rise as Go First cancellations reduce capacity says travel agents body

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/55850049.cms" /> The cash crunch, thanks to demonetization, has affected the travel and tour operators in India and that too right at the beginning of the holiday season. 
 "December is an important month for travel as this is the holiday season, especially in the north, but November has taken a 20% hit even as we slip into December,” Rajji Rai, ex-president, <keyword id="642357" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Travel-Agents-Association-of-India">Travel Agents Association of India</keyword> (<keyword id="196742" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="TAAI">TAAI</keyword>), told ET. 
 
Travel operators are frustrated. Though, the airlines have reduced their prices, people aren’t still ready to spend on a vacation. 
 "Even though airlines have reduced their fares, people aren't interested. There's also a sense of panic while travelling abroad. Usually, it's busy this time of the year, but we are hardly getting calls. "If the situation doesn't improve, we might have to resort to costcutting and layoffs,” <keyword id="1628352" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reji-Philip">Reji Philip</keyword>, proprietor, <keyword id="3928963" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="cosmos-agencies">Cosmos Agencies</keyword>, a prime travelling agency in Mumbai,told ET. 
 
Manoj Samuel, executive director at Riya Travels, one of India's largest brick-and-mortar travel agents, echoed similar worries. "Cash component of our business has definitely declined to a large extent,, he said, adding that short-term sentiment will dent overall bookings. 
 "Foreigners are restricted to exchanging currency up to only Rs 5000 per week. They want to spend, but Rs 5000 is way too little for them. So, they are either postponing their trips or are cancelling them. There has been at least a 25-35% decline in both outbound and inbound travel,” <keyword id="356114" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Subhash-Goyal">Subhash Goyal</keyword>, former-president, Indian Association of Tour Operators (<keyword id="707078" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IATO">IATO</keyword>), told ET. 
 
Demonetisation has also thrown up a whole bunch of obstacles for tourists travelling in India. For instance, lack of point-of-sale machines at monuments, long queues for forex at airports due to fewer counters are some of the problems they have to face. Online tickets for monuments have to be scanned, but there are no scanning machines installed in monuments. 
 
However, the situation is expected to get better by February-March.

Indian travel industry won’t be able to flourish much this holiday season, thanks to demonetisation

Kolkata, As the new Tax Collection at Source (<keyword id="6357150" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="tcs" source="Orion">TCS</keyword>) on foreign remittances is set to become applicable from October 1, travel agents' body TAAI has made a last-minute plea to the government, urging them to abolish the decision or defer its implementation until the next fiscal year to allow discussions on overseas tour packages. The government has raised the TCS on foreign remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) from 5 per cent to 20 per cent. This will be applicable to international travel, sending money abroad and other remittances. <keyword id="642357" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="travel-agents-association-of-india" source="Orion">Travel Agents Association of India</keyword> (TAAI) has written to <keyword id="25455" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="finance" source="Orion">Finance</keyword> Minister <keyword id="129243" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="nirmala-sitharaman" source="Orion">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword>, appealing to abolish TCS on overseas tour packages, highlighting the business loss and complexity of its implementation. In a letter to the FM, TAAI President Jyoti Mayal said the TCS is a huge challenge for the travel fraternity and would lead to a lot of business being diverted to overseas tour operators. Further, she pointed out that with GST already affecting the livelihood of Indian tour operators engaged in outbound tours, the introduction of TCS presents a double blow. According to her, Indian tour companies are becoming less competitive when compared to operators outside India, who not only save on the 5 per cent GST but also the TCS, which ranges from 5 to 20 per cent, and they are not required to register in India. The association in its letter also stated that the <keyword id="6354335" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india" source="Orion">Reserve Bank of India</keyword> and banks are not equipped to maintain and monitor the limits of Rs 7 lakh per traveller, and there is no mechanism to track the same. There is still ambiguity on the payments made for such packages through credit cards overseas, it said. The risks associated with these overseas companies could also have a significant impact on passengers in general. The quality and reliability of these companies may not meet the desired standards, leading to potential service delivery issues or even instances of fraud, Mayal emphasised. She lastly urged the finance minister to abolish the TCS as a whole on overseas tour packages or at least defer it until the next financial year so that a detailed discussion can be carried on the subject. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/bajaj-pulsar-n150-vs-yamaha-fz-s-v3-bikes-comparison-of-price-and-features/slidelist/103985134.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/bajaj-pulsar-n150-vs-yamaha-fz-s-v3-bikes-comparison-of-price-and-features/slidelist/103985134.cms" target="_blank">Bajaj Pulsar N150 vs Yamaha FZ-S V3 – The bike to consider under ₹1.25 lakh</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/pixel-8-launch-on-oct-4-from-camera-to-design-specifications-what-we-know-so-far/articleshow/103924696.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/pixel-8-launch-on-oct-4-from-camera-to-design-specifications-what-we-know-so-far/articleshow/103924696.cms" target="_blank">Pixel 8 launch on Oct 4 – From camera to design specifications, what we know so far</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/motorola-edge-40-neo-launched-in-india-specs-features-and-price/articleshow/103832280.cms">Motorola Edge 40 Neo with with vegan leather back hits the Indian market</a>

Travel agents body calls for abolishing TCS ahead of its implementation from Oct 1

New Delhi, Apr 7 ()el agents body on Tuesday alleged that majority of IATA-member airlines have disabled the refunding mechanism on the Global Distribution Services System (GDS-system) for agents and urged the civil aviation ministry to direct the airlines to repay customers for cancelled flights due to 21-day lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus infection. Most of the airlines, including domestic players, have refused to refund customers whose flights either got cancelled due to the suspension of all commercial passenger flights in the wake of 21-day lockdown, or because of the visa and travel restrictions by various countries or they themselves cancelled tickets on account of pandemic concerns. The airlines are forcing customers to accept travel vouchers with their validity, in some cases, as long as one year.Not only this, domestic airlines except the national carrier Air India, have started taking bookings from April 15 onwards. The three-week lockdown will remain in force till April 14, as of now."Due to the travel restrictions placed by governments across the world, customers/travellers want to cancel their bookings and claim back refunds for tickets booked by them. Travellers want their blocked money back for the unutilised travel, which shall not be undertaken by them," Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) Vice President Jay Bhatia said in a statement.The travel agents/tour operators have paid in full to the airlines for all tickets that have been issued, till date."Our member agents are wanting to process the refunds for the tickets issued by them for their customers," TAAI said."But majority of IATA member airlines have disabled the refunding mechanism on the GDS systems for agents, who are now required to manually process refunds through Refund Authority with IATA, whereby the airlines are being non-committal on the date and amount of repayment of airfare," the association alleged.A GDS is a computer network system that allows travel agencies and websites to book tickets on any airline for a passenger. While all full-service carriers avail GDS system for selling their tickets, a few budget airlines also use this platform."Post-April 15, if things come to normalcy, the refund process, if authorised by the airlines, may take from 15 days to at least three months, depending on theairline and how the situation across the globe remains, Bhatia said.Currently, most of the airlines are not giving waivers on the cancellation charges and also not refunding in cash. They are only giving credit vouchers, which are valid for 365 days and a couple of them are offering credit vouchers for up to 760 days, favouring the passenger, whereby name change will not be permitted, TAAI said.Further, according to the Association, additional funds of the agents are blocked with the airlines which have been paid by way of advances in float accounts of low-cost carriers.According to TAAI, most low-cost carriers too are not refunding the airfares and are creating a credit shell favouring the passenger, to be used for future dates.TAAI said it has raised strong objections on this issue with the airlines along with IATA and has asked the Ministry to direct the airlines to refund all refund money," it said."We are working closely wA and IATA on daily basis to find a suitable solution, to resolve the refund issue, in the interest of the passenger, along with support from Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH), said Bhatia. IAS MR

Airlines not refunding for cancelled flights due to lockdown, allege travel agents

Kolkata, Mar 14 () The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) on Saturday said its representatives met Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel and sought the Centre's intervention to revive the sector which has been hit by the coronavirus outbreak. The industry is witnessing about 70-80 per cent cancellation in bookings following the coronavirus outbreak, according to the association. "A complete GST holiday for tourism, travel and hospitality industry for the next 12 months till the time the recovery happens," TAAI president Jyoti Mayal told , detailing the suggestions submitted to the minister on Friday. The association urged the minister to provide funds from the MGNREGA scheme to support the salaries of employees in the industry. The association also demanded six to nine months' moratorium on all principal and interest payments on loans and overdrafts, besides deferment of GST and advance tax payments. They also asked the minister for removal of fees for any upcoming licenses, permits renewal, excise exemption for liquor for the hospitality and travel industry across the country. The association also sought interest reduction or subvention on term loans and working capital loans. Mayal said the industry apprehends large scale job loss owing to the restrictions from the outbreak. Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism &amp; Hospitality, the umbrella body of the sector, has sought to meet the prime minister to apprise him of the situation, she added. Almost 50 per cent of the annual business in the tourism sector takes place during this period, Mayal said. BSM SOM MRMR

Coronavirus-hit tourism industry seeks relief measures from Centre

In an uncharacteristic response from an industry body which tend to be mellow in their take on government policies, the Federation of Associations in the Indian Tourism &amp; Hospitality (<keyword id="6389686" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="faith">FAITH</keyword>), said on Sunday that the Indian tourism industry has "gone into a state of disbelief and shock". This is the policy federation of all the national associations representing the complete tourism, travel and hospitality industry of India. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="75790707" title="Lockdown 4.0 ⁠— India issues new guidelines allowing states to decide the red, green, and orange zones" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> "The industry has gone numb from a lack of any umbrella direction from the government or without any fiscal &amp; monetary support," it said. The industry body said, "Indian Tourism industry goes into a state of shock and disbelief as there were no announcements to support tourism, 10 weeks of constant discussions come to a naught and industry has gone directionless". With no visibility of cash inflows the Indian tourism industry is now looking at large scale bankruptcies, business closures which will lead to job losses across cities, towns and hinterlands of India. This has the potential to set back the Indian tourism, travel and hospitality industry by many years, it said. The body said that the Indian tourism industry was looking forward to deep set of survival measures for tourism from the Rs 20 lakhs crore package announced over 5 days, which however were not addressed. The Indian tourism, travel and hospitality sector impacts almost 10 per cent of GDP through its direct and indirect impact. It has already seen over one quarter of accumulated losses which began from February onwards. There is no cash inflow expected for many quarters over FY20-21 as the key segments of the Indian tourism economy will be down. The international inbound tourists, inbound and VFR - (visiting friends and relatives) and the outbound travel will remain mostly non-performing due to international flight restrictions and tragic impact in most key markets tourism markets of India, the association said. "Domestic travel and corporate travel within the country may slightly ease up post lockdown but will be highly restricted due to fear of travel among elders and children, the new social distancing norms, corporate travel freeze and the closure of the holiday season which will impacting all leisure, adventure, heritage, spiritual, cruise and niche tourism segments," it said. The meetings incentives exhibitions &amp; events segment will be severely impacted due to the meeting size restrictions. Consequently all tourism service providers, the hotels, travel agents, tour operators tourist transporters, restaurants, guides will be compromised and the tourism industry of India will be operating with extreme under capacities making most tourism businesses unviable on a cash operating basis. To prevent this and to ensure survival, FAITH had proposed a dedicated interest and collateral free long term fund for paying salaries and operating costs and for a minimum of 12 months of complete waiver of fixed central &amp; state statutory and banking liabilities without any penal or compounding interest which have not been addressed. The proposed MSME fund with its many underlying restrictions may have a very limited usage. FAITH &amp; its ten member associations (ADTOI, ATOAI, FHRAI, HAI, IATO, ICPB, IHHA, ITTA, TAAI, TAFI) had been constantly dialoguing with all factions of the government over the past 10 weeks the PMO, ministries of Finance, Commerce , Aviation, and Tourism, with RBI, with all 28 Chief Ministers, Niti Aayog and with the Empowered Group 6. Indian tourism travel and hospitality impacts 10-12 per cent of India's employment which covers almost 5 crore plus direct and indirect jobs. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/indian-firms-can-now-directly-list-in-foreign-markets-there-are-a-few-more-big-changes-to-companies-act/articleshow/75785648.cms">Indian firms can now directly list in foreign markets – there are a few more big changes to Companies Act</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/policy/news/india-will-merge-some-government-companies-and-privatise-some-cpse/articleshow/75785709.cms">India will reduce the number of central government companies⁠— some of them will get bigger and some will be sold to private players</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/india-puts-a-pause-on-new-bankruptcy-cases-for-a-year-and-other-changes-that-will-cap-the-rise-in-bad-loans/articleshow/75785508.cms">India puts a pause on new bankruptcy cases for a year ⁠— and other changes that will cap the rise in bad loans</a>

You Searched For "taai" and got 6 results

Airfares likely to rise as Go First cancellations reduce capacity says travel agents body

PTI

Indian travel industry won’t be able to flourish much this holiday season, thanks to demonetisation

BI India Bureau

Travel agents body calls for abolishing TCS ahead of its implementation from Oct 1

PTI

Airlines not refunding for cancelled flights due to lockdown, allege travel agents

PTI

Coronavirus-hit tourism industry seeks relief measures from Centre

PTI

'Indian tourism industry is in a state of shock and disbelief'

IANS