‘Eastern region is claiming its share of the market’

Rajesh Mishra President, FHRAI

Considered to be the youngest presidents of FHRAI, Rajesh Mishra has done his CA, CS and law and is a qualified hotelier with over two decades of experience. In his first interview after assuming office, he talks to Praveen K Singh of his concerns about the Indian hotel sector and role of FHRAI towards its development

What are your priorities as the new president of FHRAI?

Today, FHRAI has over 3,000 members and has seen investments of more than Rs 50,000 crore in the hotel sector. The time has come when we should get the infrastructure status for hoteliers; this will give us a lot of tax advantages and subsidies. The Ministry of Tourism has also been campaigning for it for a long time now.

Moreover, we want the central government to include big hotels and restaurants under the Industrial Dispute and Regulations Act. Not just the state government but also the central government should include this under IDR 1956 Act. This is a long pending demand and we have been pressing for it for ages now. Today, to set up a five-star hotel one needs at least Rs 200 crore and about Rs 20 to 80 crore for a three to four-star hotel. Other sectors with low capital investments have already got an industry status.

What are your plans for the growth of the eastern and north-eastern states?

The east is lagging behind, but is catching up fast to claim its share in the Indian hospitality market. The north-eastern states are very much under pressure owing to political disturbances. States like West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa are backward in terms of tourism marketing. I had a talk with the tourism minister of West Bengal recently and he was very forthcoming about the state's hospitality industry, as it is getting liberalised like its neighbouring states. So the change in mindset is already happening.

What according to you are the critical issues the industry is facing?

We need more hotel rooms particularly in the budget segment. Also, the entry of foreign brands into India is giving huge competition to the local hotel brands. We need to be innovative in terms of services to compete with them.

Do you feel that the boom will continue beyond the Commonwealth Games?

The Commonwealth Games will affect a certain part of the country but will spread to the rest of it because India is in the development mode right now. Between the FHRAI members we have just 1,06,000 rooms. If we take twice the amount in the unorganised sector including dharamsalas, guest houses, etc we don't have more than 3,50,000 rooms. So in India we still need at least 2,00,000 more rooms in the next two years.