Chennai, June 11(BPNS)
Tamil Nadu government is to constitute a high-level committee of experts to work out revival plans of the tourism sector that is facing the worse period of recession following the first and second waves of the pandemic.
A statement from the state Tourism minister’s office said that the minister, M Mathiventhan who chaired a meeting at the Tourism department headquarters at Chennai on Thursday decided to formulate plans for the revival of the sector which has been hit badly following the pandemic.
The high level committee will formulate a plan that will lead to generation of revenue , creating new jobs and earning foreign exchange for the state, the statement said.
The committee will chalk out plans to ensure the safety of those who travel to the state by putting in place standard Covid -19 protocols.
K Raghavan, a tourism veteran in the field for 30 years in Tamil Nadu while speaking to BPNS said, “Tamil Nadu tourism was doing extremely good following meticulous plans of successive governments to promote the sector and it was providing good revenue for the state exchequer but the pandemic has given a body blow to the sector. It is good that the minister has called up such a meeting to constitute a committee and then find ways for the revival of the sector which is indeed a right step in the right direction. Already Gujarat and Karnataka have classified the sector as Industry and we are expecting something of a similar nature from TN government also.”
The tourism sector is expecting a one-year moratorium from payment of property tax as the state of Gujarat has already provided relaxation to hotels, restaurants, water parks and resorts from paying property tax for a year. The Gujarat state has also exempted the fixed electricity charges for the sector and only actual electricity bills need to be paid.
KR Vinoth Chandran, a tourism operative in Dindugal while speaking to BPNS said,” The tourism sector of our state has been generating huge revenue and the minister must act proactively for the sector. Otherwise, this sector that had earned a good reputation and huge money for the state will not prosper again.”
Along with hotels and restaurants, the pandemic has affected tourist taxi’s, people running travel agencies, truck drivers, guides and even autorickshaw drivers were affected by the pandemic in the state.
