The HRANI intends to argue the case against closure of Chandigarh’s ‘real’ bed & breakfast operators with Ram Niwas, the Union Territory’s home and tourism.
“We support the administration in principle because a number of guest houses were operating as B&B. However, there are some genuine B&B owners who are affected whom we intend to support,” said Ankit Gupta of Himani Hotels and HRANI executive committee member from Chandigarh.
According to Gupta, the city has only 20-25 authentic B&B operators.
HRANI, which has meetings with the Union Territory’s tourism department every other month, intends to push Niwas to restart the programme but with greater accountability to prevent a relapse.
Guest houses in Chandigarh have been an issue for a long time, most of whom were illegal. The administration shut them down in 2005 but they resurfaced in 2008 taking advantage of the new B&B scheme. Many openly flouted the B&B norm of a maximum of five rooms with a tariff no more than Rs1,100.
Ironically, Chandigarh’s B&B scheme is only a year old, having been launched only in October last year.
The whole issue came to a head earlier this month when the Indian Express newspaper ran a sting operation on the guest house-B&B masquerade. Local sources say that the B&B association did not handle the situation well, which led to the blanket revoking of the segment’s licences.
The administration had ordered a special audit of the scheme following allegations of the members turning their houses into guest houses offering luxurious stay at exorbitant prices.
This was contrary to the basic spirit of the scheme, which had envisioned the concept of visitors, especially foreign tourists, staying with locals to get a glimpse of the local culture and lifestyle.
