Hotel and travel industry badly damaged by Corona

Bhubaneswar, March 16 (IANS) The state’s hotel and travel industry have been hit hardest by the effects of the corona. The hotel industry is once again in a state of shock following the catastrophic storm. The hotel industry has had to bear the brunt of the loss as Inbound tourists canceled their bookings. Most hotel reservations in the state have already canceled banknote bookings, outings, and large conference bookings. In view of this, the Government of Odisha has demanded that the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha (HROA) extend a helping hand to the hotel industry.
At a meeting on Monday, HROA Chairman J.K.Mohanty said “Most hotel owners are drowning in bank loans, It has been difficult to repay the loan since the storm. In this case, the state government should instruct the banks to adopt a cohesive policy until the situation is normal. The association also demanded that the Odisha government lift the SGGST from the hotel industry to support the state’s tourism and hospitality industries. It has demanded the lifting of the BMC holding tax, barge license fee, groundwater fee, electricity fee, etc. for a while and the full exclusion of GST from the tourism, travel and hospitality industries for the next 1 year. Emphasis is placed on paying employees on time, maintaining transparency and cleanliness. Hotels have to bear the brunt of this. The hotel industry was the worst hit by the storm last May. The association asked the government for help in rebuilding the hotel industry. However, no hotel has yet received compensation.