 SIHRA seeks extension of bar timings
The South India Hotels and Restaurants Association (SIHRA) executive committee has urged the Tamil Nadu government to extend the bar timings till 2 a.m. daily in view of the demand from foreign tourists and IT professionals.
SIHRA president M P Purushothaman said the association has, in a meorandum to the state government, pointed out that since tourists from abroad entered the city after midnight due to late night arrivals, they needed bars to service them. Presently, the bars have to close down at midnight. This was resented by tourists and professionals from the IT sector who needed to relax after a hard day's work.
Purushothaman said the government had also been urged to reduce the bar licence fees to promote tourism.
There was a boom in the south Indian hotel industry in the last three years but more was required to be done in terms of infrastructure to increase room availability and to attract larger number of tourists, he pointed out.
Earlier, addressing the 55th Annual General Meeting on September 23,, 2006, in Chennai, he said the state governments had introduced many proactive measures for the growth of tourism. The new governments in Tamil Nadu and Kerala were keen on promoting medical and MICE tourism, he said.
The IT, ITES and automobile sectors had generated demand for more rooms and services resulting in many of the hoteliers going in for expansion. The global tourist arrivals in 2005 touched 808 million, compared to 766 million last year and India has emerged as the third fastest growing tourist economy in the world having an annual growth of 8 per cent, against the world growth of 4.2 per cent. All these improvements augur well for the future of the industry and bear testimony to the important role of the hospitality industry towards the economic growth of the country, Purushothaman added.
The association now has four vice-presidents, one from each southern state, to take up issues at the state level and also have interaction among officials and members.
The hotel industry being capital intensive, needs protection and support from the government, Purushothaman said, adding that the association's efforts had started yielding results. The Union government's recent relaxation on FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) by allowing 100 per cent ownership in hotels and reduction in the fringe benefit tax was an example of this. However, much more needed to be done for the healthy growth of the hospitality industry, he added.
Similarly, due to the open sky policy in the aviation sector, many low-cost and foreign airlines have chosen many southern cities as the hub for their operations in India. This will increase traffic not only to lesser known tourist places but also to the secondary cities resulting in more hotels coming up. This was evident from the increased number of project approvals granted by the Department of Tourism.
The association had taken up the issues concerning luxury tax, sales tax, VAT, FSI, concession on electricity tariff, reduction in bar licence fees and extension of bar timings with the governments of the southern states.
Purushothaman was re-elected president of the association at the AGM. K Syama Raju from Karnataka, Suresh Pillai from Kerala, Shankar Menon from Tamil Nadu and Rajiv Narain from Andhra Pradesh were re-elected vice-presidents as also T Natarajan and K Murali Rao as honorary secretary and treasurer respectively.
R Rangachari, secretary-general of the association, said several new hotel projects were in the offing in the southern states in the next few years to cater to the growing demand for rooms.
R Rangaraj |
