September - October 2015
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MYSTIC EAST unexplored horizon A bi-monthly magazine by HRAEI | Vol 1 | Issue 6 | September - October 2015 COVER STORY SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dear Fellow Members, the best avenue to earn guest satisfac- tion and garner positive reviews. We The year 2015 has been quite good for must develop the required skills in the the hospitality business. The festive housekeeping staff to do so. season has taken off smoothly and is Finally, I would request all of you to expected to make things better. Ac- comply with the additional 0.5% ser- cording to the credit rating agency vice tax for Swachh Bharat for Prime ICRA, the growth of the hotel industry Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s noble in India will rise to 6 per cent to touch cleanliness programme. A clean India $1.8 billion by 2016. will help usher in more international In this situation I request all our guests to the country and its hotels members to improve their standards keeping in tune with our motto ‘Atithi of facilities and services and apply Devo Bhava’ (The guest is equivalent for classification for getting star cat- to God). egories for their hotels. The Ministry And may God bring us more wealth Sudesh Poddar of Tourism has a voluntary scheme and prosperity for approval in six categories and sub-categories for hotels. We at the The festive season HRAEI will assist you in the process. has taken off You can contact us for any help re- quired to go ahead. smoothly and is I would also like to remind you that expected to make to improve the standards of services, housekeeping is one of the key as- Sudesh Poddar things better. pects. In the age of social media it is President, HRAEI According to the credit rating agency ICRA, the growth of the hotel industry in India will rise to 6 per cent to touch $1.8 billion by 2016 MYSTIC EAST | 3 SECRETARY’S MESSAGE Dear fellow members, rive during the holiday season. So you have to make arrangements for the octa- Let me share some good news with you. A genarian grandfather or grandmother as new survey by the US-based travel web- well as the pampered grandchild. site TripAdvisor shows that as many as The survey also indicates a word of 44 per cent travellers from India would caution: online traveller reviews are increase their travel budgets in 2016. cited by 93 per cent of global as well as The key pointer for us in the survey is Indian accommodation owners as being that for Indian travellers, the most im- the most important element for the fu- portant factors for selecting a hotel in- ture of their business. So don’t take any clude air-conditioning, breakfast, room of the traveller reviews lightly as it can service and in-room Wi-Fi. This means make or break business. Try to address we hoteliers need to treat these factors each and every negative review with as a basic necessity for a domestic travel- care. Also don’t forget to thank the trav- ler. To attract more customers and gain eller who posts a rave review. Pranav Singh a positive or word-of-mouth publicity strengthen these basics if you wish to get The key pointer better business. Indian travellers also think of a hol- for us in the iday as a reward that their family de- survey is that serves. The sentiment is also a good for Indian pointer we should keep in mind while moving into 2016. Always keep in mind Pranav Singh travellers, the that an extended Indian family may ar- Secretary, HRAEI most important factors for selecting a hotel include air-conditioning, breakfast, room service and in- room Wi-Fi 4 | MYSTIC EAST Inside Cover Story 24 September - October 2015 Hospitality companies need to harness the power of Internet technology to connect to customers Special feature Interview Some portals manipulate customer reviews of 34 46 hotels unfairly Mr Tejinder MUSICAL JOURNEYS Singh Walia, former Eastern India has a huge President of bouquet of music and FHRAI dance festivals to attract millions of tourists MYSTIC EAST | 5 Inside 48 Special feature RAW TALENT POOL North East India has a pool of skillful youth who can be assets to India’s hospitality industry EDITORIAL BOARD This issue of Mystic East contains 56 pages including SUDESH PODDAR, cover and back cover PRESIDENT, HRAEI NAVIN SUCHANTI, All information in HRAEI’s Mystic East magazine is derived from sources we consider reliable TREASURER, HRAEI and a sincere effort is made to report accurate information. The publisher regrets that he RAVINDRA KUMAR KASHUKA, cannot accept liability for error and omissions contained in this publication that might have MANAGING COMMITTEE MEMBER, HRAEI crept in inadvertently. Similarly, opinions/views expressed by third parties in abstract and/ EDITOR or in interviews are not necessarily shared by HRAEI magazine. However, we wish to advise PROMIT CHAUDHURI our readers that one or more recognised authorities may hold different views than those reported. Material used in this publication is intended for information purpose only. Readers CHIEF DESIGNER are advised to seek specific advice before acting on information contained in this publication SOMU which is provided for general use, and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular circumstances. Contents of this publication are subject to copyright laws. Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern No part of HRAEI’s Mystic East magazine or any part of the contents thereof may be India, 18A/1, Everest , 18th Floor, 46C, reproduced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission of Chowringhee Road, Kolkata- 700 071; the publication in writing. The same rule applies when there is a copyright or the article is Telephone- +91 33 2288-1742/43, 40035993. taken from another publication. An exemption is hereby granted for the extract used for the E-mail: [email protected] purpose of fair review, provided two copies of the same publication are sent to us for our Website: www.hraei.co.in records. Publications reproducing material either in part or in whole, without permission could face legal action. The publisher assumes no responsibility for returning any material, solicited or unsolicited, nor is he responsible for material lost or damaged. ‘Mystic East’ magazine is printed and published by Atikram Gupta on behalf of This publication is not meant to be an endorsement of any specific product or services offered. Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw, amend or otherwise deal with all Printed at CDC Printers Private Limited, No.45, advertisements without explanation. All advertisements must comply with Indian and Radha Nath Chowdhury Road, Tangra Industrial International Advertisements Code. The publisher will not be liable for any damage or loss Estate-II, Kolkata, West Bengal 700 015 caused by delayed publication, error or failure of an advertisement to appear. 6 | MYSTIC EAST NEWS September - October 2015 spective platforms. The largest online HRAEI CORNER player MakeMyTrip is confident of its budget brand Value . “With Value , MakeMyTrip intends to Excise fee structure of star change the game by giving its brand as- surance to the budget segment hotels, category hotels: A paradox and hence, capitalise offline to online shift for hotel bookings. MakeMyTrip’s Value offering is different from that of state to relook in the fee structure. he excise licence fees for star cat- competition,’’ says Magow. But this is The response from the state gov- T egory hotels is extremely high in not deterring budget hotel aggregators. ernment is awaited. West Bengal. The fee for a two-star Kavikrut, Chief Growth Officer, Oyo category main bar is Rs 70,000 and Rooms says, “Even if some of the on- for the additional bar is Rs 30,000. Entrance fee waived for new line travel agents (OTAs) have de-list- The main bar fee for a three-star and members ed us, there are others supporting us four-star hotel is Rs 1,00,00 and for In order to welcome more members like Cleartrip and Expedia. We have the additional bar fee is Rs 30,000. in the HRAEI fold, the association acquired supply of budget rooms and And for a five-star category hotel are has decided to waive the entrance technology to compete with them.’’ respectively Rs 15,00,000 and Rs fee for new members. Amit Taneja, Chief Revenue Officer, 2,50,000. The waiver period is October 1, Cleartrip, says, “As long as budget ag- These fees are immensely high 2015 to September 30, 2016. This gregators add value and give us com- with respect to business generated measure has been undertaken to in- prehensive content, we will continue in the year 2015 in which the state crease the number of members. to have them on our platform. There had observed 13 dry days. is demand for the budget category in In order to facilitate the growth 25 per cent discount on the sub INR 3,000 price range.’’ The of hospitality sector in the state, new HRAEI cards decade-old Cleartrip does not have a preparing to welcome a host of na- The discount on HRAEI card for budget brand of its own, but is willing tional and international delegates, members has been increased to 25 to give more choice to consumers look- the Hotel & Restaurant Association per cent from the existing 20 per ing for budget accommodation. “ Just of Eastern India (HRAEI) sent a let- cent on food and accommodation in about every budget aggregator is on ter to the Honourable Chief Minister member hotels.