FH&RAI plans to set up hotel managment institute in Kolkata

Kolkata, Oct 28 (UNI) The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FH&RAI) has proposed to set up a hotel management institute here for promotion of the hospitality industry in Eastern India.

Addressing a joint press conference at the end of the 43rd FH&RAI's annual convention, FH&RAI's outging president Rajesh Misra and his successor Dinesh Khanna said they would request West Bengal Chief Minsiter Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to provide land for setting up the institute in line with its Greater Noida managment institute, set up in 2005.

The proposal was made after Mr Bhattacharjee, on his opening address at FH&RAI on October 26, had said his government would provide land if the FH&RAI, which has 3,300 members across the country, established a hotel management institute in line with the Noida facilities.

Mr Bhattacharjee also said he would talk to state Finance Minister Ashim Das Gupta for lowering the tax structure of hotels and restaurants as demadned by the FH&RAI for promotion of tourism in West Bengal.

The Chief Minister acknowledged that his government could not exploit the tourism potential due to the present tax structure in the state.

The government would also relook at the tariff of electricity for hospitality industries, though this sector was accorded industrial status in 1996, but the facility was yet to be extended, Mr Mishra said.

Mr Mishra and Mr Khanna said for promotion of travelling in the country, the Centre should create infrastucture so that tourist traffic, particularly foreign visitors, could reach the ten million mark from the now 4.5 million mark.

They said there was a huge gap between demand and supply of budget hotel rooms, adding that there were about one lakh new rooms to be built across the country for accomdating the rising demand.

The hospitality industry in the country had registered 37 per cent growth and the trend was ever increasing, they added.

Mr Khanna, who was elected for a year today, said the FH&RAI would also establish two more hospitality management institutes in the south and west zones.

UNI