Category Archives: Associations

Federation of Hotels & Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI) in association with its Northern Region Chapter HRANI, organised a webinar to educate members about the MSME registration process, the various schemes and policies of the Ministry of MSME, and the means of availing them. Among the speakers were Manoj Sharma, Assistant Director of Ministry of MSME; and Dr HP Kumar, CMD of National Small Industries Corporation, who spoke on how the hospitality industry can jumpstart their businesses with the help of Ministry of MSME, which offers more than 70 schemes for this sector. The Chief Guest for the webinar was Anand Sherkhane, Addl Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME.

The Tamil Nadu Travel Mart Society has elected a new Managing Committee after the AGM in Chennai. D Karunanidhi is the new President while Palani Murugesan and PK Gupta are new Secretary and Treasurer respectively.

FAITH has requested the Government that till the time vaccine is deployed, they should set up a targeted tourism transition fund which can make money available on a direct benefit transfer through Ministry of Finance for Indian tourism & hospitality industry. This drawdown by the tourism enterprises may be adjustable over 5 years against their GST & income tax liabilities.  

IATO and TravTalk are organising motivational session by Roshan Suhail, the renowned communication coach and keynote speaker today at 11:30am. The session titled, ‘Staying up’ would help the trade to sail through these tough times and prepare ahead. To register, mail Jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call 9650196532.

The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has stated that nearly 25% of businesses will permanently shut down before the end of this financial year. “The industry anticipates poor business for at least another year. Until then, it needs working capital. If we are allowed to wind up, rebuilding it will prove to be an even bigger challenge,” says Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, its VP.  

IATO and TravTalk are organising a motivational session by Roshan Suhail, the renowned communication coach and keynote speaker on Friday 27th November, 2020 at 11:30am. The session titled, ‘Staying up’ will be fruitful in helping the trade to sail through these tough times and prepare ahead. To register, call Jaspreet 9650196532 or email: jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com.

In its pre-budget recommendations, FAITH demanded that industry status is required for hotels and tourism across all states and export status critical to double India’s share of inbound tourism.

Madan Prasad Bezbaruah, Secretary-General, Hotel Association of India (HAI), has said in a statement that Government should immediately open online applications for hotels to claim the benefits under SEIS for FY 2019-20. “We appeal to the Government of India to make the online application process available to hotels. These benefits are offered to hoteliers as a fixed percentage of their annual net foreign exchange earnings. The incentive enables hotels to subside input costs of imports and facilitates Indian hospitality to match global standards of hotels that a foreign tourist is accustomed to.  Given the hardship that hotels are going through since March, this delay may prove to be a crippling injury to an industry that is struggling with a force majeure scenario. The request to allow the hotels to avail the SEIS benefits that have already accrued to them for the year 2019-20 is fair and legitimate and should be acceded to. It is not a concession,” he said. HAI has urged the government to look into the matter urgently and has submitted a representation to Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to this effect. They claim that the process will go a long way in providing some relief to the hospitality sector which has been heavily burdened with high fixed costs of salaries, utilities, and licenses, etc.

Sharing an update on the association’s convention that it had planned to conduct virtually, Pradip Lulla, Acting President & VP, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), says, “We were planning to conduct our virtual convention in November 2020. However, we realise that people do not enjoy attending virtual events, especially when there is high possibility of technical glitches during the event. We will revisit our convention next year.”

When it comes to hospitality no country comes closer to perfection than Thailand offering something for everyone of diverse interest, every age and every budget. From pristine sandy beaches to lush jungles, bustling busy cities to traditional villages, Michelin star menus to roadside noodle stalls, historic Buddhist temples to 21st century sky scrapers, Thailand is truly amazing! Amazing Thailand also has Amazing Golf facilities. Ideally located more than 250 golf courses throughout the country, by the sea, by the mountains, by the lakes, inside the cities even besides the airports. Top quality courses, reasonable green fees, friendly caddies. From the beach resorts in the south such as Phuket to the mountainous surroundings in the north or the bustling cities of Bangkok and Pattaya, there are golf courses to suit every preference. To promote the Amazing Golf Experience, SLW, the leading Golf Management company had launched the first ever loyalty program for a country in 2017. ‘Thai Golf Passport was launched in India to offer Indian golfers a seamless golf experience in Thailand. Indian golfers can be a part of this Amazing reward programs whenever they tee off in Amazing Thailand’ said  Anil Dev, Managing Director, SLW.’ More than 250 quality service providers like Callaway and a number of Golf Courses, Resorts and hotels are on board as partners. While travel business took a hit due to Covid19, we are gearing up to make Thailand the destination of choice when travel resumes’ he added. Vachirachai Sirisumpan, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) New Delhi Office commenting that “Golf is one of the important segments which we focus on and continue to promote Thailand as Indian Golfer’s favourite destination. In fact, destination …