HBI Staff | Mumbai 
The Hotel And Restaurant Association (Western India) – HRAWI participated in a business conclave on “Hospitality/Tourism sector – Challenges and way ahead” held at Advantage Vidarbha in Nagpur on 29th Jan 2024. Nitin Gadkari, Minister for road transport and highway, GoI and Girish Mahajan, Minister for Tourism, GoM graced the occasion and shared insights on challenges faced by the hospitality and tourism sector in Vidarbha and discussed the way forward to promote hospitality and tourism in the region and Maharashtra. Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister, GoM too was part of the day’s event.
The discussion pivoted around the sector’s critical concerns including granting of Industrial Status and recommendations in the proposed Tourism Policy to enable growth of the sector in the State. Pradeep Shetty, President, HRAWI; Jasbir Singh Arora, Convenor, Sanjay Gupta, Co-convenor of the hospitality sector and Tejinder Singh Renu , President, Nagpur Residential Hotels Association partook in the conclave. Subsequent to the conclave, HRAWI submitted recommendations to the Government requesting the implementation of Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) initiative for the industry.
“We extend our gratitude to Shri Nitin Gadkari ji, Shri Devendra Fadnavis ji and Shri Girish Mahajan ji for acknowledging the challenges faced by our sector. We were heartened by the announcement from the Hon’ble Tourism Minister Shri Girish Mahajan, detailing the Tourism Ministry’s plan to unveil the new Tourism policy next month. We are delighted that the Hon’ble Tourism Minister has stated that tourism can no longer be considered a mere travel sector; it is an industry that has a multiplier effect on the economy and creates employment for all sections of the society and therefore, Industry Status must be implemented. The implementation of Industry Status will offer waivers and reliefs which are critical for the growth of hospitality. We anticipate the forthcoming policy will promote the growth of tourism in Vidarbha and Maharashtra at large,” said Shetty.
As infrastructure development progresses and domestic travel trends continue to rise, there is unanimous agreement on the immediate necessity for implementing a robust Tourism Policy and granting Industry Status to hotels.
“We express our gratitude to Shri Nitin Gadkari ji for his support in promoting tourism in Vidarbha. We wholeheartedly welcome the initiatives he has announced, which not only aim to showcase the natural beauty of the region but also hold tremendous potential for the growth of the hospitality sector. The upcoming initiative by the Tourism Ministry to develop a forward-looking and dynamic policy, focusing on green-field and brown-field tourism projects and incentivizing the establishment of hotels and related infrastructure, is a commendable decision, and the industry welcomes it,” added Arora.
HRAWI stressed on maintaining focus on the pivotal role of the hospitality industry in realizing the Prime Minister’s ambitious vision of a three-trillion-dollar economy and welcoming 100 million tourists by 2047.
“Shri Devendra Fadnavis ji has recognized the paramount importance of tourism in Vidarbha’s development, and the Government has outlined a comprehensive plan with Rs. 350 Cr allocated for the region’s infrastructure development. He has also assured the full support of the State to the Tourism Ministry in this endeavour. In light of this, we earnestly request the Government, pending the new Tourism Policy, to implement the existing policy through a streamlined one-window system. Additionally, we advocate for the declaration of a specific timeframe for the disbursement of incentives, enabling entrepreneurs and hoteliers to make informed investments in building hotels and expanding existing projects,” concluded Renu.
