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The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) on Sunday reported a noticeable rise in booking cancellations and rescheduling requests, particularly for sectors connecting India with Europe via major Gulf hubs, due to airspace restrictions arising from the Middle East crisis. IATO President Ravi Gosain told PTI that travel agents across the country are working closely with airlines and overseas partners to minimise inconvenience to passengers by facilitating re-bookings, refunds, and alternate routings. "While there is short-term uncertainty, we expect the situation to stabilise, and travellers are being advised to stay in touch with their agents and avoid panic cancellations, as airlines are offering suitable options in most cases," he said. The conflict between Israel, the US, and Iran has resulted in multiple airspace closures in the Middle East, massively disrupting flight operations.
Domestic tour operators on Thursday welcomed the government's move to defer hike in tax collection at source on overseas tour packages till September 30 calling but reiterated that it should be brought down to 2.5 per cent. In a statement, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) -- the apex body of tour operators in the country with more than 1,700 members -- thanked the government for "giving partial relief of deferring Tax Collection at Source (TCS) on the overseas tour packages till September 30, 2023, and also for withdrawing increase of TCS percentage from 5 per cent to 20 per cent on amount up to Rs 7 lakh per annum". "Though we are happy with this rollback, our long-standing demand is that the TCS should be reduced to 2.5 per cent as the main objective of the government is to bring more people into the tax net...," IATO President Rajiv Mehra said. He further said, "...if the government reduces the TCS percentage on overseas tour packages, a higher number of people will .