Tongue ‘n’ cheek

The masters of bloopers

Whoever said politics was boring wasn't observant enough. It keeps me immensely entertained, so long as I keep safe distance or risk complete disappointment.

For instance, what can one say when the newly appointed Union Minister for Tourism wants to ensure that the hospitality industry gets its much-awaited 'industry status'. All I want to say is, "Welcome to 2006, Mrs Rip van Winkle." I guess the minister's predecessors forget to inform her about it. A Post-it would have helped.

Perhaps we should let it pass as a mistake made by a first-time minister who hasn't taken a crash course on the tourism and hospitality sectors. Yet.

This is not a stray incident. Most ministers do not have a clue about what they're doing. "They are not supposed to," explains a budding politician friend of mine. At most times, portfolios are given to them on the whims and fancies of the party head at all levels of governments.

Let's take the due diligence conducted for disinvestment by the Ministry of Disinvestment for two hotel properties in the country entangled in controversies. Coincidentally, both of them are located in our commercial capital.

Here's a recap on both the properties. Property A, located on the city's beachfront, was sold to a hotelier who exchanged his 'crown' for a 'tulip' at a debatable price of Rs 153 crore. Some years later, he enters into a hush-hush agreement with a consortium of builders who are currently redefining the same city's skyline. (Hint: their penchant for the hospitality industry is worth Rs 350 crore) The government then steps in and seals the hotel.

Property B, located next to the domestic airport, was bought by a company that has links with a former prime minister's family for a paltry Rs 83 crore and then sold it to a powerful business house for Rs 115 crore, making a decent profit of Rs 32 crore. The business house started working on a mammoth project, which was to be the first of its kind in India. But trouble set in and the 'parivar' started losing its share in the market so much so that it had to sell off its airline.

Now here's the interesting bit that the government probably doesn't know. Both these properties are up for sale again.

The beach property, which was allegedly sold to developers, has hit a roadblock and the flower loving hotelier is looking for a buyer for an amount that is even more than what the Centre has alloted to the Ministry of Tourism in the Union Budget this year.

When I heard about this, I was amazed at the profit this hotelier stands to gain by just holding onto the property till the storm calms. The selling price for the airport hotel too is way beyond imaginable but I guess it evens out the deal considering that the 'parivar' has spent huge amounts of money on the project.

There is no denying that both parties have made huge profits. But why is the government playing blind man to this bluff? Or are they partners in the crime?

On a frivolous note, here's one for the road. I was discussing the state of affairs of a particular state with the secretary of tourism of that state. When I asked him if I could get the state's Minister of Tourism's opinion on the same, he replied amused, "I think that will be a waste of your time. He is more interested in his other portfolio than tourism. Moreover, he will not be too informative."

Perhaps, it’s not a wonder that the state of the tourism industry is abysmal. Laugh it off guys, after all they are the masters of bloopers.

Savio Rodrigues
editorial@expresshospitality.com