Confederation of Hospitality, Technology and Tourism Industry (CHATT) stated that industry status accorded to the tourism sector will go a long way in promoting Assam as a preferred tourist destination and would be a great positive for the state’s progress.
Assam State Cabinet approved the proposal for the grant of Industrial status to the tourism sector in Assam.
“This is a very welcome step taken by the Government of Assam which will certainly give a huge fillip to the tourism sector players as they can avail benefits like power, water tariff and other taxes being levied on par with other industries and no longer at higher commercial rates. Besides, it will also ensure easy accessibility to organised financing for small businesses and also bring in more investments in the sector,” said Anwar Shirpurwala, secretary general of The Confederation of Hospitality, Technology and Tourism Industry (CHATT).
“We at CHATT would be happy to work along with the state government to contribute towards the holistic development of hospitality, tourism and travel ecosystem in Assam, especially micro-entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups in this sector thereby leveraging the strength of the state that would result in higher employment and prosperity for its people,” said Anwar.
He added that Assam holds huge potential for improving its ranking as well as its share in terms of domestic and foreign tourists’ arrivals. “A multi-pronged strategy to further boost infrastructure development, improve existing facilities for tourists, and better coordination among related agencies/bodies together with the promotion of technology adoption, upskilling and mainstreaming of tourism sector businesses majority of which are MSMEs will be the way forward for Assam to emerge as a leading tourist destination.”
