Global Meltdown: Govt asks hotels to cut tariff

New Delhi, Nov 5 (UNI) The Union Ministry of Tourism today asked the hoteliers to slash room tariffs by 10 to 15 per cent to meet the challenges posed by the global economic meltdown in the tourism sector in India.

Tourism Secretary Sujit Banerjee conveyed the government's feeling about the need for reducing hotel room tariff at a meeting with the Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI) to assess the impact of the world economic crisis on the tourism sector at the direction of Tourism Minister Ambika Soni.

"Some more meetings with stakeholders in the tourism sector are slated in next few days," a spokesman of the Ministry said here.

The five- member FHRAI delegation comprised of Leela Group Vice Chairman Vivek Nair, Mr Rajindra Kumar(Hotel Taj Ambassador, Delhi), Mr Salim Sherwani (Sherwani Hospitalities Ltd), Dr.Sunil Gulati (Uttarakhand Hospitality) and FHRAI Secretary General Major Harish Sud.

The delegation conveyed to the government that they will consider the guidance given by the ministry regarding room tariffs and formulate their response as soon as possible.

The FHRAI delegation also apprised the Tourism Secretary about some of their outstanding demands such as infrastructure status for hotels, delinking of hotels from real estate, external commercial borrowings and the problem of Floor Area Ratio (F.A.R.) that has been extended by the Ministry of Urban Development to the Hoteliers in Delhi at what they called very high development charges.

They also wanted the hotels in Lutyen's Zone in New Delhi to be considered for a higher F.A.R.

They also demanded single window clearance for the construction activity in hotel industry.

The Tourism Secretary assured the delegation that his ministry will extend all possible assistance to the hotel industry for safeguarding its interest and growth in the country.

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