Tag Archives: Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India

The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has reached out to the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) regarding the hotel industry’s ongoing dispute with Goibibo, MakeMyTrip and OYO requesting its urgent intervention for redressal of hoteliers’ grievances. After a month of failed attempts to amicably resolve issues with the Online Travel Aggregators (OTAs), the apex hospitality body has written to KJ Alphons, Union Minister of State (I/C) Tourism, outlining the major issues of concern to the industry because of the OTAs’ unfair and arbitrary business practices. A number of FHRAI’s members are experiencing hardships due to the OTAs’ business ethics which are exploitative, unethical and divisive, leading to predatory pricing and other market distortions. The letter to the Ministry states that the hotel industry in the country is going through a very challenging phase which is threatening the livelihood, business, investments and entrepreneurial initiative and spirits of the hospitality industry, and thereby eroding the viability of the sector. “The hotel industry, especially the budget and mid-market hotel segment is reeling under the adverse business tactics of the OTAs. The OTAs’ malpractices are affecting the hoteliers’ livelihood and business. These hoteliers who are part of the local and city hotel Associations across the country have approached FHRAI seeking consultation and support, and are in solidarity with the Federation. The FHRAI has tried to resolve the issue directly with the OTAs, however instead its CEO has chosen to dismiss FHRAI’s role in the matter. It leaves us with no choice but to ask for the Government to step in and create a norm for the OTAs just as the Commerce Ministry has done for the e-tailers recently,” says Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, …

Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Director, Pritam Hotels has been elected as the President of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) at the 68th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Mumbai. Prior to being elected as the President, Kohli served as Senior Vice President of the association. Prrem Tiwari, former Vice President will now serve as Sr Vice President along with Sherry Bhatia acting as the Vice President and Pradeep Shetty as the Honorary Secretary. Nirav Gandhi will continue in the office as Jt Honorary Secretary with Dilip Kothari as the Honorary Treasurer and Aspi Nallaseth as Secretary General. “The HRAWI has made tremendous progress, and I would like to congratulate my predecessor Dilip Datwani and his team for doing an outstanding job during his term. From here, it is my intent to complement the efforts made so far by the association and maintain the momentum. I also hope to engage with the government, concerned authorities and other trade bodies as best as possible for the benefit of our fraternity. We will focus on resolving issues that are potential hindrances for the industry’s growth and will align efforts to best address and meet our members’ needs,” says Kohli. A second generation hotelier, Kohli is the owner of Dadar’s famous Pritam restaurant and who set up the iconic Pritam da Dhaba and the four-star Hotel Midtown Pritam in the 80s.

The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) has announced plans of hosting its 18th Regional Convention in Colombo, Sri Lanka. HRAWI, for the first time ever, is going to host the Regional Convention overseas. Scheduled to take place from June 27-30, 2018, the convention will integrate business sessions on specially curated topics for hospitality professionals with evening gala over cocktails and dinner. With over 300 participants expected to gather at one place, the convention will offer business networking opportunities for industry players. As an added attraction, HRAWI will also organise post-convention tours for delegates to unwind and relax in the paradise beach destination of Sri Lanka.  

In response to a request made by Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), the State Excise Department has granted permission to hotels and restaurants for extension of operation timings on December 24, 25 and 31. Dilip Datwani, President, HRAWI, says, “The HRAWI thanks the authorities for obliging. This permission allows liquor serving establishments to continue serving patrons until 5 am in the morning of the indicated days. Having received this clearance, now we await the permission from the police. We have submitted a letter to Satish Mathur, Director General of Police requesting for the same and hope that we receive the police clearances at the earliest.”

Lauding the Maharashtra Government’s notification allowing shops and establishments to remain open 24*7, Dilip Datwani, President, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), said, “This is a welcome move and a sign of progress. The biggest benefit of this decision will be employment and it holds the potential to increase employment opportunities by 25 per cent in the State. This is a definite boost to tourism and economy and will help the hospitality sector to emerge even stronger. Although, we would have wished for the act to be extended to bars too. HRAWI appeals to the Government to consider allowing bars operational at least up to 3am, if not 24*7.”

Hotels and restaurants have welcomed the government’s move to reduce Goods and Services Tax on all restaurants from earlier 18 per cent to now 5 per cent. Dilip Datwani, President, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), said, “Reduction of GST rate to 5 per cent for all restaurants has come as a pleasant surprise. This is a big boost for the industry which has been reeling under a slowdown for quite sometime. Now irrespective of whether the restaurant is air conditioned or not, the consumer will have to pay a uniform GST rate of 5 per cent. This will definitely encourage the consumer to eat out again. “However, denying the ITC benefit on the grounds that we have not been passing on benefits is unfair. As of now, none of our vendors have reduced prices and there has not been any reduction of prices in raw materials for us. In fact, post introduction of GST the costs of operations and raw materials have actually gone up. The move to remove ITC amounts to double taxation and is inflationary. It also goes against every tenet of ease of doing business. We wish that the GST Council had considered that rent and interest attract 18% GST. However, overall we welcome the developments. We understand that something as revolutionary as GST will bring some disruptions in the initial stages. We just hope that going forward, Input Tax Credit will be restored,” he added.

The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) certified 13 hotels in Maharashtra under new norms which are more contemporary and global in standards as compared to existing ratings. As per the new norms, hotel properties will be classified, rated or graded under six categories listed as Budget, Classic, Premium, Luxury, Deluxe Luxury and Primo Luxury, and will be uniform for both domestic and foreign tourists. “The objective behind developing the IHQS is to educate our members on modern quality standards as well as reduce the burden of the Ministry of Tourism (MoT). The Government can now focus on improving and promoting tourism, while, we from the industry, are doing our bit to support the initiative,” says Dilip Datwani, President, HRAWI. The Shalimar Hotel, The Fern Residency, Golden Swan Beach Resort, The Emerald, Peninsula Grand Hotel, Sun-N-Sand Hotel, Holiday Inn Mumbai international Airport, Waterstones Hotel, T24 Residency, Hotel Transit, Hotel Meluha, Renaissance Mumbai Hotel and Convention Centre and Hyatt Place are among the first hotels to have been audited as per the new classification standards and have been officially certified as of October 25, 2017.

The Supreme Court has clarified that the ban on sale of alcohol within 500 meters of state and national highways does not apply within city limits, granting relief to the liquor and hospitality industry. The Apex Court’s directive that no liquor shop shall be visible and directly accessible from the highways nor it should be situated within 500 metres of the outer edge of the national or state highway or of the service lane, created chaos in the hospitality industry. While lakhs of people lost their jobs, the MICE business impacted a great deal in the country. Terming it as a landmark order, Dilip Datwani, President, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) says, “This was a much needed clarification as millions of jobs and the very survival of the nation’s tourism industry was at stake. It has been HRAWI’s contention right from the start that the original order could not have been directed at hotels and liquor vends within city limits. We are thankful to the Bench and the Hon’ble Justices for unequivocally clarifying this. The order will bring relief to almost 70 per cent of the affected hotels.”

After close to two weeks of relative uncertainty, many misconceptions, and quite a few incorrect assumptions, hotel and restaurants in Mumbai will have an opportunity to clear the cloud over GST and receive clarity on any doubts regarding the new tax law. For this, the Hotel and Restaurant Association Of Western India (HRAWI) has organised a seminar on ‘GST Law – 2017’ on July 13, 2017, at the Trident, Nariman Point. The seminar, open to both its members and non-members, will be addressed by eminent experts who also will help resolve any queries with regards to the new tax and billing systems. “The GST is a big change to the taxation system for our country and to get familiarized with any change takes time. Over the last one week the association has been trying to identify the most common issues and queries posed by hoteliers and restaurateurs and also by customers. Through this seminar we intend to put to rest any ambiguities and address any grey areas with respect to GST. We have brought on board the best minds and experts on matters of taxation and who would be happy to help us bridge any gaps in our understanding of the GST. We are positive that participating hotels and restaurants will greatly benefit from this seminar,” says Dilip Datwani, President, HRAWI.  

Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), the apex body of restaurateurs and hoteliers of Western India, has initiated a full-fledged social media campaign on the recent issue of liquor ban. “Through the social media we will convey a few facts that, in normal times, would have been apparent. In the current state, unfortunately, facts are obscured by surround sound. The facts to be considered are alcoholism is a disease and a social evil; drunken driving is a crime; and, hotels and restaurants serve alcohol. What is of significance is that these facts are not correlated. Any arrow of continuity that may exist is forced. The compulsive alcoholic will find ways and means for consuming alcohol and he will continue to drive after drinking. Just as locking up girls at home is not a solution for preventing rapes, banning hotels from serving liquor cannot be a solution for ending the menace of drunk driving. Drunk driving is a crime, and it should be treated as one,” says Dilip Datwani, President, HRAWI. HRAWI will run a series of hashtags on Facebook that will try and explain some of the common misconceptions. “One million jobs, Rs. 200,000 crores loss to the exchequer, possible closure of 15,000 establishments is not a small thing. It is a huge social cost to pay. And we would not have minded being sacrificed if the ban were to yield any results. But reality is that all the job losses and other damages would be wasted. Statistics prove that there is a correlation between drunk driving and enforcement; and not between drunk driving and number of restaurants and bars. If true, there would be no drunk driving …