Neighbourly woes

This is apropos of trying to obtain a visa for Bangladesh recently. Although the official website claims there are no visa fees, I had to pay under-the-table to get my passport back.

A friend of mine in Dubai had to pay some ‘chai’ money to get his passport back from the Bangladeshi consulate based there.

My BP hit unheard-of levels even as my travel agent assured me this was routine, and was rather amused at my naivety for believing in the website.

And Qasim Jafri sahab sitting in the plush environs of his hotel in Lahore, enjoyed a quiet chuckle when he found me madder than a bee with a sting in its tail.
 

So this is what a friendly neighbourhood looks like, huh? How do SAARC or ASEAN or any of the acronyms hope to be successful when the bureaucratic process is as convoluted as it can possibly get?
In view of the SAARC meeting held on 29th April, one would imagine that we would have at least gotten past the fundamentals of trying to promote tourism growth, business opportunities, yadda, yadda, yadda, by streamlining the paperwork.

Crossing over now to a not-quite neighbour, the situation in Bangkok worsened, earlier in May. Most offices and malls were shut, many streets were cordoned off; one literally drove into plumes of dirty black smoke arising from the burning tyres. Tourism has, of course, been impacted majorly; a journalist friend of mine informed me that occupancies across were down to something like eight per cent.

This shocked me into silence for a moment before I managed to sputter that, when hoteliers in India talk about low occupancies, they usually refer to 40-60% – bless them! Hotels such as the Shangri La and Mandarin Oriental were virtually empty. Indeed, the Italian restaurant at the Shangri La was closed indefinitely, due to a lack of custom.

On another note, it’s time to bid adieu; I will be joining an overseas assignment shortly.

Hotelier India has been my passion – and I thank all my friends, well wishers and readers, for being immensely supportive and helping me to realise my dream of placing it on such a high platform. It is you who have made the magazine the success it is today.

A special word of thanks to all the industry veterans who have been extremely sporting at being bullied and chivvied by me into being guest columnists and contributors. May your tribe increase.

I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce Conrad Egbert to you, who joins us as Group Editor for ITP Publishing India. Conrad was earlier Editor of the hugely popular ITP publication Construction Week, based out of Dubai. In this new role, he will be overseeing the Indian portfolio of titles we publish. Do extend all your support to him.