“It’s smart to holiday this season. Benefit from the new GST rate right away,’’ says the latest ad from SOTC announcing its several off-season packages with lucrative offers.

Salman Mistry, Sales Executive at SOTC, is already advising customers to book their travel packages with a 9 per cent government service tax before July 1. “We are not sure whether GST would be at 5 per cent or 14 per cent but it is advisable to book now since we are willing to give a complete invoice with reduced GST rates and one can also club it with our current offers, ’’ he says.

Travel has already become more expensive from January when the government service tax was increased from 4.5 per cent to 9 per cent. While GST is expected to give a boost to travel at 5 per cent, the travel industry is awaiting further clarity on the rates. They are still unsure whether this would actually get implemented with the possibility of it even getting hiked at 14 per cent. To reassure its customers, players like SOTC are willing to assure them a 5 per cent GST rate even if the rates were to increase later.

Cox & Kings is also offering its ‘magical monsoon’ packages with ‘Just pay GST and get one-night free’ for its domestic packages. “Instead of charging 9 per cent with government service tax, we are willing to give an additional day at ₹99 for our packages from July to September. It is better to avail this offer now since there is no assurance that GST will be at 5 per cent and can go even higher,’’ says Tanvi Kesarkar, Sales executive at Cox & Kings.

However, travel companies fear that domestic travel is likely to get more expensive than outbound travel. “According to the latest notification, there would be 5 per cent GST without input credit for outbound travel. But there is still no clarity about inbound travel as there is fear that it may go up from the current 9 per cent,’’ said Sriram Rajmohan, CEO & MD, Club 7.

Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head - Leisure Travel, MICE, Thomas Cook, is advising customers to wait till July 1st before taking its international packages since GST will lead to taxes dropping from the current 9 per cent to 5 per cent. However, he is urging domestic travellers to book now before GST kicks in as travel within the country is bound to get more expensive.

Thomas Cook is already witnessing 60 per cent increase in domestic holidays this monsoon season.

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