Category Archives: Associations

Referring to the manpower shortage in the Indian hospitality sector at the FHRAI’s HR Summit, Pradeep Shetty, VP, FHRAI said that many skilled employees have exited the industry after the COVID-19 pandemic. “A workforce gap remains, with an estimated need for an additional 100,000–150,000 skilled workers annually,” he said, adding that with projections for India’s hospitality industry to nearly double by 2029, reaching an estimated value of $475.37 billion, we have tremendous growth potential.

Sharing news about expanding SKAL India reach, Sanjeev Mehra, President of SKAL India, shares “We want to expand across India with a focus on eastern India like Guwahati, Siliguri, Patna and Ranchi. We are also looking at cities like Srinagar and Surat which are already registered. Ahmedabad is also coming up. We also have few more pockets in South India where we are coming up with more clubs. We are also looking Amritsar as another point in Punjab.”

According to its secretary general, MP Bezbaruah, the Hotel Association of India is considering asking the government to provide incentives to small hotel operators for adopting sustainability practices. While big luxury and five-star operators are leading the way on this front, the smaller members of HAI are lagging behind due to the cost of taking up the initiatives.

Praising FHRAI’s new Centre of Excellence, Pradeep Shetty, President of FHRAI, says, “This has been a long-standing desire of our federation, as we have often faced challenges when approaching the government regarding policy issues, regulatory bottlenecks, compliance burden, and the overall ease of doing business One of the major gaps we identified was the lack of comprehensive data to support our claims and recommendations. With the Centre of Excellence, we aim to address this gap head-on.”

Speaking about the significance of research and data in the tourism industry, Suman Billa, IAS, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism said, “Being in the sector which is vast and multifaceted, it is essential to have accurate and comprehensive data to inform our decisions. While government data provides a solid foundation, it often captures only one facet of the entire landscape. To truly understand the dynamics of the tourism and hospitality sectors, we must triangulate this data with insights from industry bodies, international organisations like the WTO, and other reliable sources.”

ADTOI successfully concluded its 2024 elections, resulting in the appointment of a new Managing Committee consisting of six Office Bearers and eight Managing Committee Members. Ved Khanna of Tourwala Enterprises has been elected as the new President of ADTOI for the 2024-2026 term, succeeding PP Khanna. After assuming the office, Khanna said, “We aim to organise a special drive to encourage our members to go for MOT approvals, make efforts with authorities for simplified GST structure for better trade practices, open more ADTOI chapters for increased participation, collaborate with State Tourism Boards for promotion of local destinations, and put more emphasis on cultural and culinary tourism. Efforts are underway to have grand conventions, trade shows and tourism conclaves at regular intervals.” Responding about the possible challenges he might face, Khanna said, “I see no big challenges in the process besides minor barriers which I am sure we would overcome.”

Suman Billa, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, inaugurated FHRAI’s Centre of Excellence in New Delhi. Billa, said, “It will create a comprehensive data ecosystem and play a vital role in generating analytical insights that can guide government policy and help us better support the industry.”

Pradeep Shetty, President, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), revealed that India’s hospitality industry contributes 12-13% to the GDP and employs over 12% of the workforce. These figures place the industry ahead of both the automobile and IT sectors in terms of economic contribution.

Focusing on sustainable travel and tourism trends at ITB Asia 2024, Liz Ortiguera, Managing Director for Asia Pacific, WTTC, said, “76% of travellers now seek sustainable travel options, with that figure climbing to 99% in some Asia Pacific markets while emphasising sustainability, community engagement, and Asia Pacific’s pivotal role in the sector’s future.”

The union tourism ministry has instructed online travel agents and industry bodies to create transparent refund policies and standard operating procedures to handle air ticket cancellation refunds, following numerous complaints from travellers. The ministry has written to companies such as MakeMyTrip, Yatra, EaseMyTrip, Thomas Cook and Cleartrip and industry bodies including Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) and Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), stating there is an “urgent need” to bring in transparency in the cancellation refund process.