The youngest president of the Federation, Rajesh Mishra talks to Hotelier India about how the FHRAI can improve the workings of the hotel industry.
What is your current role in the FHRAI?
I am the vice president for the Eastern region in India.
What were the reforms you brought about during your tenure?
I released a book called ‘Vision of Indian tourism’, a ready reckoner for central and state tourism policy written by Professor Pujari and Professor Subbarao. In that it covers the central govt tourism policies released during AB Vajpayee’s term.
It helps one to know what is happening in which state. It explored the taxation structure regarding tourism in all states covering excise, VAT, etc. This research work was done during my tenure. I sought a uniform code of taxation for the hotels and restaurants spread all over the country.
Also in the FHRAI Institute of Hospitality Management in Greater Noida, there was a lot of administrational overhauling and it was completely revamped, even the curriculum was changed according to the EHL (Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne) and issuance of degrees according to the Swiss institute was stopped.
We terminated the agreement and Indianised the arrangement as per the Indian scenario, and also reduced the fee structure. As far as the secretariat is concerned, we had a special Rural Bharat program for students who are pursuing a smaller course.
What was the best part of your tenure?
The best part was when we had collaborated with French hoteliers who wanted to conduct an exchange program with our institute. And the second time was when we were given the status of the third-largest association in the world.
What were the challenges you faced and how did you overcome those?
The biggest challenge is dealing with a very slow government. In my opinion, people from the trade should be inducted into the industry because tourism is a big area.
So unless you have a board like the one that Singapore has, we cannot prosper. We are also constantly caught between the State and Central governments, tourism will suffer at this rate if this is not fixed.
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 welcome the tourist inflow?
Such events should be organised more often, it puts pressure on our industry to perform, the last large event we had of this size was in 1982 when we hosted the Asiad Games.
Now years later, we are hosting the CWG and it’s a good thing for the industry. They will manage to accommodate all the tourists at the last moment and even if there is some delay, they will manage to overcome it. Infrastructure needs to improve on a large scale and the CWG will highlight this need glaringly.
What in your opinion is the driving force behind the best hotels in India today?
The driving force is to make a lot of money! Ours is a developing economy and because there is a shortage of hotels rooms, if you build a hotel today, you can recover your money in 7-8 years time.
What does it take for a hotel to succeed where others fail?
Location is important – the hotel needs to either be close to the city or close to an airport. The service is also important. I predict that largely ‘no frills’ budget hotels will succeed since there will be a rising demand for them in the country in the next three years.
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?
Boom, boom, boom! In India anything you do for the next decade, you will definitely succeed. China and India are poised for success. Even the negative things in our economy and our currently faulty ways of functioning will be overshadowed.
What parameters does the FHRAI look for when rating hotels?
Rating hotels is the job of the Government but the guidelines are made by the department of tourism. There is too much bureaucracy currently and there are too many people right now who do not know the subject and very little about tourism.
They should do something positive for the country. They just don’t understand tourism, they have only political priorities. We don’t need bandhs and strikes when we can have a referendum in our democracy.
What are the positive changes the FHRAI can bring about in the hotel industry in the future?
FHRAI can play a very positive role in bringing in good properties at different levels. It also provides the best platform for the government to interact with entrepreneurs.
The Central Government must amend the Industrial Development and Registration Act 1956 to give benefits to the hotel sector. To meet the rising demand for hotel rooms in the country, the Government must adopt public-private partnership model whereby it can take 25 per cent stake in the hotel.
What are your top favourite hotels in the country? Why?
I prefer to name groups rather than hotels. I like the Taj group because they are closely associated with the sentiment, culture and heritage of India. I also like the ITC group’s corporate philosophy because it is palatable to us in a holistic way.
