Hospitality forum: A resounding success

Response to South Asia's largest hospitality exhibition reflected the industry boom. Neeti Mehra reports

HospitalityWorld - South Asia's largest business to business hospitality forum, an initiative fully owned and driven by the Indian Express group initiative, was held under the corporate banner of Express Hospitality (formerly Express Hotelier & Caterer) from January 23-26, 2006 at the MMRDA Grounds in Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai.

The industry's most prestigious companies, institutions and leading professionals converged on a common business platform at HospitalityWorld, that featured close to 300 domestic and international exhibitors.

Speaking at the inauguration of the event, Sandeep Khosla, head, Business Publication Division, Indian Express, said that an industry forum that integrated both the sellers and buyers was essential for its growth and HospitalityWorld filled the existing lacuna in this booming segment. "This sector has shown tremendous growth and this has been reflected by the response we have received for HospitalityWorld. This year we have witnessed a 25 per cent growth over the previous year and 95 per cent repeat exhibitors, reinforcing the need of an interactive platform for B2B players."

Sheldon Santwan, editor of Express Hospitality, highlighting the necessity of such an exhibition to showcase the hospitality industry in India and Mumbai said, "It is encouraging to see the way this exhibition is growing and we are happy with the support received from the industry in making HospitalityWorld a resounding success."

Vithal Kamat delivering the keynote address at the inauguration

Vithal Kamat, chairman and managing director, Kamat group of hotels, delivered the keynote address. Addressing the august gathering, he emphasised on the role that Indian youth will play in transforming India into a leading hospitality destination. He said, "In our country there is no dearth of talented and skilled professionals who are passionate about their work, and these qualities can never be replaced, even by modern technology. Media plays a very important role in giving these individuals exposure." He further added, "The platform provided by Indian Express gives us an opportunity to interact with our business partners and will help in the development of the industry."

Strategic alliances

This year HospitalityWorld saw a new model for business exchange with strategic alliances with the Association of Indian Cleaning Industry (AICI), Indian Federation of Culinary Associations (IFCA) and the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). As a result of these strategic alliances there were dedicated pavilions for housekeeping and Energy Zone. Other theme pavilions included commercial catering equipment, food and beverage, interior and design, engineering and technology, housekeeping and hotel management schools.

The highlights

Smart Housekeeping

The highlight of this business platform was the Energy Zone and the Smart Housekeeping seminar. The Smart Housekeeping seminar highlighted the issues faced by the hospitality industry vis-a-vis outsourcing, training and service and the role of engineering. Darshan Singh, the keynote speaker for this seminar, consultant and industry veteran, "It is a great and a re-assuring feeling to know that Indian Express has recognised the importance of smart housekeeping. The recognition coming from other quarters is a great moral booster of this department's importance and its significant contribution to the overall success of any organisation," she said.

Energy Zone

The Energy Zone is an exclusive business platform for organisations offering energy efficient equipment and technologies. K D Deodhar, director engineering of Taj group of hotels, discussed the importance of energy conservation in hotels. He said that today most of the properties are deploying modern gadgets, technology, equipment, etc. towards energy conservation.

The GICC

Chefs judging at the Great Indian Culinary Challenge

Not to be outdone by the serious business of conducting business, the second edition of the Great Indian Culinary Challenge (GICC) roused palpable excitement as leading chefs competed in various categories for coveted titles. S Zacharia, general secretary - Indian Culinary Forum, speaking on the challenge which saw 124 participants across 10 categories competing for the vaunted awards, remarked, "The GICC is very useful for the trade as it provides the professional and upcoming chefs an insight into what the leading hotels are doing in terms of innovation, ingredients, presentation and so on." The four-day event saw industry stalwarts, dignitaries and a full house of visitors from the trade transact business and network at the venue with key institutional exhibitors.

On Republic day the exhibition was thrown open to the public, giving an opportunity to the exhibitors to interact with end users, and marking the end of the most valuable B2B hospitality forum held in India for the year.