BK Gupta talks to Hotelier India about the upcoming Commonwealth Games and their possible impacts on the Indian hospitality industry.
What is your role in the FHRAI? As a past president, I am constantly in touch with the current presidents and the committee members. We all interact at a regular basis. As ex-presidents we have a certain amount of experience and knowledge of the business that the current members can make use of for their benefit.
What were the reforms you brought about during your tenure? I motivated and tried to bring new people from southern, western and eastern regions into the committee. These were youngsters who in my opinion had the potential to become presidents of the FHRAI in the near future.
What was the best part of your tenure? When I was the president, we had a very dynamic team. Our federation was taking part in every event as a joint venture. This I think was the best part of my tenure while I was the president.
What were the challenges you faced and how did you overcome those? The main challenge at the time was to streamline single window systems through the Government of India and the tourism department so that people didn’t have to run about from department to department to get various clearances, subsidies etcetera. We demanded hard for it at the time and after a lot of patience and dialogues we were finally successful.
How healthy is the Indian hospitality industry today? The hospitality industry is doing very well at the moment. Especially now with the Commonwealth games coming up there are new hotels opening in Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, and Noida.
The government wants to get people from across the world to India. Last two years have been really bad but now the situation is improving and we want the hospitality industry to grow like the way it is at present.
We want foreign exchange to flow into the country. Technology has brought many people together and we want foreigners to see the positivity in India and to come, stay and invest in our country.
What kind of impact do you think the Commonwealth Games will have on the hotel industry? Do you think the industry will be able to successfully? They will be 100% successful and the Indian hospitality industry will only go up from there onwards.
What in your opinion is the driving force behind the best hotels in India today? I look up to the The Leela group, Taj and the Oberoi groups in India and I feel the reason that they are doing so well is because they are all professionals, with the best people working for them.
They have over the years built their finances so that they can invest from within and don’t have to depend on government loans. This is what makes them so successful.
Who are your personal icons from the industry? PRS Oberoi from the Oberoi group, SP Jain from the Pride group and Capt Nair are my favourites from the industry. They all are positive thinkers and always look ahead. I also admire Ratan Tata for his style of work. He has given a free hand to people working under him, which I think is a big reason for his and his company’s success.
We have seen 2009 as a challenging year and business is picking up in 2010. What are your expectations for next year for the hospitality industry? With the Commonwealth games this year the hospitality industry will make up for the slowdown in the last two years. In my opinion the event will do a lot of positive marketing for the country.
What would you change about any of the current processes the FHRAI is in charge of? People at the moment don’t want to leave the chair so we are working on making some by-laws. If this comes into force the person would be a member of the committee for a certain period only and would not become the president again. Because then they work only for the post and not the industry.
What is your preferred destination for a personal holiday? Why? Agra is one. Places in the south like Chennai, Hyderabad, Kovalam, Kerala are also coming up in a big way. It is clear that now tourists want to go beyond the Taj Mahal.
Is the government doing enough to support the Indian hotel industry and its needs?
From the last two years the government has helped a lot. They are giving land, lending finances, and conducting training programmes. There is no doubt that they too are preparing for the big boom that is to come after the Commonwealth Games.
We all know that the last two years have been very hard for the hotel industry. They were in a very competitive situation where the rates were cut by almost 50%, so now the government is trying to give better facilities. They are spending a lot of money that should come back as investment.
I feel that the government should look beyond tourism dependent on monuments. I can see that the tourists also want something more than that and India has many things to offer. Like the many upcoming spas that are fast becoming very common and are much sought after.
Government should look beyond monument tourism
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BK Gupta talks to Hotelier India about the upcoming Commonwealth Games and their possible impacts on the Indian hospitality industry.
What is your role in the FHRAI?
As a past president, I am constantly in touch with the current presidents and the committee members. We all interact at a regular basis. As ex-presidents we have a certain amount of experience and knowledge of the business that the current members can make use of for their benefit.
What were the reforms you brought about during your tenure?
I motivated and tried to bring new people from southern, western and eastern regions into the committee. These were youngsters who in my opinion had the potential to become presidents of the FHRAI in the near future.
What was the best part of your tenure?
When I was the president, we had a very dynamic team. Our federation was taking part in every event as a joint venture. This I think was the best part of my tenure while I was the president.
What were the challenges you faced and how did you overcome those?
The main challenge at the time was to streamline single window systems through the Government of India and the tourism department so that people didn’t have to run about from department to department to get various clearances, subsidies etcetera. We demanded hard for it at the time and after a lot of patience and dialogues we were finally successful.
How healthy is the Indian hospitality industry today?
The hospitality industry is doing very well at the moment. Especially now with the Commonwealth games coming up there are new hotels opening in Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, and Noida.
The government wants to get people from across the world to India. Last two years have been really bad but now the situation is improving and we want the hospitality industry to grow like the way it is at present.
We want foreign exchange to flow into the country. Technology has brought many people together and we want foreigners to see the positivity in India and to come, stay and invest in our country.
What kind of impact do you think the Commonwealth Games will have on the hotel industry? Do you think the industry will be able to successfully?
They will be 100% successful and the Indian hospitality industry will only go up from there onwards.
What in your opinion is the driving force behind the best hotels in India today?
I look up to the The Leela group, Taj and the Oberoi groups in India and I feel the reason that they are doing so well is because they are all professionals, with the best people working for them.
They have over the years built their finances so that they can invest from within and don’t have to depend on government loans. This is what makes them so successful.
Who are your personal icons from the industry?
PRS Oberoi from the Oberoi group, SP Jain from the Pride group and Capt Nair are my favourites from the industry. They all are positive thinkers and always look ahead. I also admire Ratan Tata for his style of work. He has given a free hand to people working under him, which I think is a big reason for his and his company’s success.
We have seen 2009 as a challenging year and business is picking up in 2010. What are your expectations for next year for the hospitality industry?
With the Commonwealth games this year the hospitality industry will make up for the slowdown in the last two years. In my opinion the event will do a lot of positive marketing for the country.
What would you change about any of the current processes the FHRAI is in charge of?
People at the moment don’t want to leave the chair so we are working on making some by-laws. If this comes into force the person would be a member of the committee for a certain period only and would not become the president again. Because then they work only for the post and not the industry.
What is your preferred destination for a personal holiday? Why?
Agra is one. Places in the south like Chennai, Hyderabad, Kovalam, Kerala are also coming up in a big way. It is clear that now tourists want to go beyond the Taj Mahal.
Is the government doing enough to support the Indian hotel industry and its needs?
From the last two years the government has helped a lot. They are giving land, lending finances, and conducting training programmes. There is no doubt that they too are preparing for the big boom that is to come after the Commonwealth Games.
We all know that the last two years have been very hard for the hotel industry. They were in a very competitive situation where the rates were cut by almost 50%, so now the government is trying to give better facilities. They are spending a lot of money that should come back as investment.
I feel that the government should look beyond tourism dependent on monuments. I can see that the tourists also want something more than that and India has many things to offer. Like the many upcoming spas that are fast becoming very common and are much sought after.
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