Rajiv Mehra, President of IATO, has requested the Centre to remove hurdles which are creating hindrances in revival of inbound tourism to the country, and also requested help in getting refunds for travel agents from Jet Airways.
In his communication to the ministry of tourism, Mehra asked the tourism minister to impress upon the government to withdraw the requirement of submission of self-declaration form on the Air Suvidha portal for foreign nationals.
Some foreign tourists, especially the elderly, find it very difficult to fill the form, and due to this reason, many foreign tourists are reported to have been offloaded, it was communicated to the Centre.
Mehra also asked the aviation minister to direct airlines not to force passengers for compulsory web check-in. “It is the responsibility of the airline to issue a boarding pass and baggage tag to air travellers, hence there should not be any additional charge of Rs 200 for the boarding pass,” the IATO said, and raised the issue of refunds of travel agents pending for over two years from Jet Airways.