The GST cuts have sparked hopes in the travel and hospitality industry, reeling from weak consumer sentiment in the fiscal first quarter, following the Pahalgam terror attack, Air India crash, and the Israel-Iran conflict which had disrupted international flight schedules.
With eating out and staying at budget hotels set to get cheaper, the industry is expecting a spurt in holiday bookings during the ongoing festive season and the coming quarter.
The GST Council, the apex decision-making body on the indirect tax, late Wednesday approved lowering of the GST rate on hotel rooms with tariffs of less than or equal to '7,500 per day to 5% without input tax credit (ITC), from 12% with input tax credit (ITC) earlier.
Sudeep Jain, MD, Southwest Asia, IHG Hotels & Resorts, said the tax rationalisation will make quality hospitality more accessible to domestic travellers, further boosting tourism demand beyond the metros.
Sidharth Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Treebo Hospitality Ventures, said almost the entire portfolio of the company falls under the '7,500 bracket, and the tax cuts will help offer reduced prices to guests. "The GST reforms take effect from September 22, coinciding with the start of Navaratri, and coming nearly a month ahead of Diwali. The timing is significant for the travel and hospitality sector, as it overlaps with one of the busiest booking periods of the year," said Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group CEO, MakeMyTrip.
Searches for domestic destinations such as Ayodhya, Varanasi, Jaipur, are up by nearly 30% over last year on Yatra, while airfares on Hyderabad routes have already doubled, said Bharatt Malik, senior VP for the flights and hotel business at Yatra.
Manjari Singhal, chief growth and business officer at Cleartrip, said it is seeing an uptick in travel across cities such as Kolkata, Dehradun, Bhubaneswar, and Pune, with bookings rising 5-10% over last year, and airfares on certain routes like Hyderabad, Lucknow, and Pune rising 7-12%.
Scapia is seeing a 50% jump in pre-festive bookings across flights, trains and buses, said CEO and co-founder Anil Goteti.
Airlines are counting on this year's festive season to ignite a rebound in travel demand.
To boost demand, Air India has announced a special sale on business class and premium economy tickets for short-haul select international routes, while India's largest airline IndiGo is looking to add capacity in the second half of this financial year.
With eating out and staying at budget hotels set to get cheaper, the industry is expecting a spurt in holiday bookings during the ongoing festive season and the coming quarter.
The GST Council, the apex decision-making body on the indirect tax, late Wednesday approved lowering of the GST rate on hotel rooms with tariffs of less than or equal to '7,500 per day to 5% without input tax credit (ITC), from 12% with input tax credit (ITC) earlier.
Sudeep Jain, MD, Southwest Asia, IHG Hotels & Resorts, said the tax rationalisation will make quality hospitality more accessible to domestic travellers, further boosting tourism demand beyond the metros.
Sidharth Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Treebo Hospitality Ventures, said almost the entire portfolio of the company falls under the '7,500 bracket, and the tax cuts will help offer reduced prices to guests. "The GST reforms take effect from September 22, coinciding with the start of Navaratri, and coming nearly a month ahead of Diwali. The timing is significant for the travel and hospitality sector, as it overlaps with one of the busiest booking periods of the year," said Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group CEO, MakeMyTrip.
Searches for domestic destinations such as Ayodhya, Varanasi, Jaipur, are up by nearly 30% over last year on Yatra, while airfares on Hyderabad routes have already doubled, said Bharatt Malik, senior VP for the flights and hotel business at Yatra.
Manjari Singhal, chief growth and business officer at Cleartrip, said it is seeing an uptick in travel across cities such as Kolkata, Dehradun, Bhubaneswar, and Pune, with bookings rising 5-10% over last year, and airfares on certain routes like Hyderabad, Lucknow, and Pune rising 7-12%.
Scapia is seeing a 50% jump in pre-festive bookings across flights, trains and buses, said CEO and co-founder Anil Goteti.
Airlines are counting on this year's festive season to ignite a rebound in travel demand.
To boost demand, Air India has announced a special sale on business class and premium economy tickets for short-haul select international routes, while India's largest airline IndiGo is looking to add capacity in the second half of this financial year.
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