MYSTIC EAST unexplored horizon A bi-monthly magazine by HRAEI | Vol 2 | Issue 3 | May - June 2016

COVER STORY MATTERS OF SKILLS The Government of India’s ambitious skill development scheme Hunar Se Rozgar Tak needs to plug certain loopholes to help the youth get jobs, not just certificates

PLUS: Everything you wanted to know about GST

DIRECTOR'S NOTE May - June 2016

Dear Fellow Members, Tourism and hospitality is a significant contrib- MYSTIC EAST utor to the economic growth and employment A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE BY HRAEI generation of India. This is why, five years ago, Vol 2 | Issue 3 | May - June 2016 the Government of India launched 'Hunar se Rozgar Tak' (HSRT) – a training initiative to create employable skills, especially among the EDITORIAL BOARD underprivileged section. SUDESH PODDAR So far the scheme has had an overwhelming PRESIDENT, HRAEI response and thousands of youngsters took RAVINDRA KUMAR KASHUKA short-term courses lasting six to eight weeks. MANAGING COMMITTEE MEMBER, HRAEI However, there have been certificates galore, but SUBORNO BOSE skills gap persists. MANAGING COMMITTEE MEMBER, HRAEI Multiple skills surveys point out chefs lack in GOPAL DAS AGARWAL knowledge of latest cuisines, the front office staff VICE PRESIDENT, HRAEI don’t know how to handle irate customers and the housekeeping people have no idea of time EDITORIAL CONSULTANT SUSMIT BARMAN management. In other words, a large percentage A large section of those employed in this sector remain unskilled. CHIEF DESIGNER They need long training and specialised training SOMU DUTTA employed in this in tourism or hospitality. The training institutes sector remains involved in the scheme do not have tie-ups with ‘Mystic East’ magazine is printed the industry. Also many students drop out. and published by Atikram Gupta on behalf of Hotel unskilled. They need Moreover, there are few institutes and little and Restaurant Association of Eastern India. specialised training awareness on HSRT. Like most other govern- Printed at CDC Printers Private Limited, No.45, ment schemes, it seems perfect; yet do not reach Radha Nath Chowdhury Road, Tangra Industrial out to the potential beneficiaries. Effective imple- Estate-II, Kolkata, West Bengal 700 015 mentation of the scheme is the need of the hour. Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India, 18A/1, Everest , 18th Floor, 46C, Chowringhee Road, Kolkata- 700 071; Telephone- +91 33 2288-1742/43, 40035993. Sudesh Poddar E-mail: [email protected] President, HRAEI Website: www.hraei.co.in

THIS ISSUE OF MYSTIC EAST CONTAINS 56 PAGES INCLUDING COVER AND BACK COVER

All information in Mystic East magazine is derived from sources we consider reliable and a sincere effort is made to report accurate information. The publisher regrets that he cannot accept liability for error and omissions contained in this publication that might have crept in inadvertently. Similarly, opinions/views expressed by third parties are not necessarily shared by the magazine. However, we wish to advise 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 are advised to seek specific advice before acting on information contained in this publication which is provided for general use, and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular circumstances..

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MYSTIC EAST | 3 SECRETARY’S MESSAGE

Dear fellow members, The central government is working on relaxing rules to en- courage ordinary citizens to offer homestays to tourists. This is supposed to fill up the massive shortage of 1.9 lakh hotel rooms in the country and garner gainful employment in the true spirit of 'Start-Up India' programme. At present, a homestay has to be licensed by the state gov- ernment; the licence needs periodic renewals and the facility is required to pay service tax and levies at commercial rates. The proposal is meant to make homestays exempt from most of these taxes and the process of certifying these homestays should be hassle-free. But we members of the hotel industry firmly believe that promotion of homestays at the expense of organised hospi- tality may spell doom to both law and order and eventually the economy. The primary problem with homestays is their security, especially in the current situation of terrorist strikes across the subcontinent. Hotels are required by law to send The primary problem details of foreign guests to the police station. If homestays with homestays are allowed to bypass this norm, this will help any foreigner seek refuge in them anonymously. involves security, Besides, in homestays, there have been multiple cases especially in the of exaggerated promises, disagreements and conflicts with guests. Hygiene issues and intimidations are also fairly com- current scenario of mon. Because homestays are unregulated, there are no re- widespread terrorist dressal systems in place. Almost all tourist towns across the world have grown strikes on the back of strong hospitality infrastructure and not homestays. Hotels contribute substantial tax to the state and central exchequer. The real solution to the growth of tour- ism in India is freeing the hospitality sector from red- tapism and following a pragmatic taxation policy. We hope the up- coming Goods and Services Tax Bill will help solve this prob- lem, to a large extent.

Pranav Singh Secretary, HRAEI

4 | MYSTIC EAST INSIDE May - June 2016

Cover Story 26 May - June 2016 MATTERS OF SKILLS The Government of India’s ambitious skilling scheme Hunar Se Rozgar Tak need to plug certain loopholes to help the youth get jobs, not just certificates.

HRAEI CORNER TAXATION Big investments 7 expected in the hospitality sector in West Bengal and Assam

NEWS PM calls for redressal of 8 grievances against OTAs A speculation on how Incredible India 2.0 to unified tax regime can come up with a 18 affect the hospitality 9 smartphone version sector

MYSTIC EAST | 5 Inside

32 TECHNOLOGY

Wi-Fi is more necessity than luxury for most hotel guests ECONOMY HOTELS 42 The budget hotel segment has been TRAVEL PLANNING 38 growing at a fast clip

The mobile phone is a traveller's new holiday planner

STATE SURVEY BIG DATA 45 F&B is all set to beat 50 room rates

Tripura can be a attractive destination for eco-tourists

6 | MYSTIC EAST NEWS May - June 2016

HRAEI CORNER UPWARD SWING IN HOTEL INVENTORY EXPECTED IN THE EAST

N eastern India, tier 3 and tier 4 strongly in Kolkata. secretary HRAEI. I cities can expect big investments “We have a total of approximately Northeast India is the best bet for in the hospitality sector as the re- 5,500 keys in Kolkata between two- new investments of the hospitality sults of recent Assembly Election star and five-star facilities which is sector. Says Tejinder Singh Walia, reflect clear mandates in West Ben- expected to touch 7,500 by the end member HRAEI, "Prime Minister gal and Assam—two big states in the of 2016-17, with a series of brands Narendra Modi’s ‘Look East’ poli- region. throwing open their gates in the cy is helping improve connectivity Trinamul Congress's consolida- city,” Poddar was quoted saying. across the region. Increased domes- tion of power raises the hope of a And according to HRAEI, around tic travel and its positive effects on big push on an aggressive growth Rs 35-40 billion (US$526-601 mil- leisure hotels is opening new oppor- and development in West Bengal. lion) will be invested in the upcom- tunities for development." BJP's foray in the Northeast through ing three- to five-star hotel projects. Dibrugarh, Jorehat and Tezpur in a massive win in Assam is expected “Since there is a lack of ade- Assam are good examples of such to bridge the region's gap with main- quate banquet facilities, especially cities that attract good number of stream India, both in terms of poli- for more than 2,000 people, these corporate travellers and tourists. tics and financial growth. brands would ideally target social With a stable government superb An early indicator of development events, banqueting and marriage fa- infrastructure and growing impor- of more branded hotels in smaller cit- cilities. The target audience of these tance in Northeast make Agartala a ies is JW Marriott's recent announce- hotels would also include business good destination for investors. Shil- ments of properties in Siliguri, Guwa- clients, IT sector and transit passen- long in Meghalaya attracts tourists hati, Shillong and Imphal. The group gers,” Poddar stated. from both India and Bangladesh. will open its much awaited luxury New international hotel brands And Gangtok, the capital of Sik- hotel in Kolkata next October. Hotel entering Kolkata will include IHG’s kim (recently conferred the honour brands such as Sarovar, Keys, Tune, Holiday Inn, Starwood’s Westin, of first organic state of India), has The Fern and Ginger are in different Carlson Rezidor’s Radisson Blu, and room for mid-market and budget stages of assessing the feasibility of Marriott’s JW Marriott. Indian hotel hotels. setting up of hotels in smaller town group ITC is also planning to launch Despite multiple restrictions for to help them expand their footprint its second property in the city. investors, Port Blair, the capital of and maximise revenues. "The improved air traffic in the city Andaman & Nicobar Islands, can Sudesh Poddar, president of Hotel along with high occupancy in the ex- develop into top beach destination & Restaurant Association of East- isting star-rated properties is said to on the lines of South Asian spots. ern India (HRAEI), as saying that be enticing more hotel groups to set There is enough scope for hospitality room supply is expanding especially up in Kolkata," adds Pranav Singh, investors here.

MYSTIC EAST | 7 NEWS

PM calls for redressal of grievances against OTAs

T the 13th interaction of Prime the fact that they don’t fall in the pur- demand document was submitted to A Minister (PM) Narendra Modi view of the same. “OTAs have been his Personal Assistant notifying about with top officials through the ICT- pressing on the fact that they don’t the issue and the recent protest,” stat- based, multi-modal platform for come under the e-commerce policy as ed Rustagi. Pro-Active Governance and Timely they do not mention the name of the Singh further said, “While the gov- Implementation (PRAGATI), the PM service provider, whereas they have ernment has received about 300,000 drew attention of the concerned offi- been mentioning the hotel name on complaints, the PM was of the view cials on over 300,000 complaints re- their website,” he stated. that the total number could be much lated to the e-commerce travel portals Harjinder Singh, Director, more. Moreover, I believe that offline booking tickets and hotel rooms. Call- 24x7travels.com, said that two rep- tour operators whose business has ing for increased efficiency, and effec- resentatives (Vikal Kulshreshtha and been drastically affected by the preda- tive redressal of consumer grievances, Anamitra Sengupta) from the travel tory pricing by OTAs have also written the PM asked the officials for a compre- trade have submitted a consolidated numerous letters to the PM. As per my hensive review of the nature of issues, document regarding the move to the understanding though the concern of and work towards fixing responsibility Prime Minister’s Office on June 25 in the PM is for end user, I see it as a great and identifying solutions for them. He person. The post event release of the opportunity to highlight the unethical asked for an effective follow-up within protest made at Jantar Mantar last practices of OTAs through social me- 10 days along with instructing the Min- week has also been mailed to all relat- dia and spread awareness about the istry to list the number of complaints ed ministries, he said. advantages of dealing with offline tour against each company. “On June 27 a delegation of offline operators providing human touch and Neeraj Rustagi, CEO, Regency tour operators tried meeting Dr. Ma- 24X7 customer support.” Tours, said that the PM has asked hesh Sharma, Minister of State for Shailendra Shrivastava, MD, Krish- to take the needed action under the Culture and Tourism (Independent na Holidays, also agreed that the PM’s e-commerce policy, however, Online Charge) and Minister of State for Civil action is not a direct result of the efforts Travel Agents (OTAs) have reiterated Aviation. Due to his unavailability, a made by the offline tour operators, but

8 | MYSTIC EAST May - June 2016

is an outcome of the complaints made industry has been contributing signifi- the hoteliers across India, which can by travellers themselves. “The PM has cantly to the employment generation, be further discussed within their le- indicated that probably the OTAs also foreign exchange reserves and to the gal team. With such efforts, the offline come under the e-commerce policy. GDP. We will do whatever it takes to tour operators aim to educate the hotel The efforts of offline tour operators get justice,” he added. brands and safeguard them against the are also in full swing and the media By July 4, Rustagi said that they will predatory pricing by OTAs, he outlined. is playing a vital role in spreading the be sending an ideal agreement copy word forward. The travel and tourism (done between hotels and OTAs) to Source: Travel Biz Monitor

Come up with Incredible India 2.0

PEAKING at the Indo-American Chamber of Com- He added, “India needs to be simplified both in terms S merce (IACC) Conference recently, Amitabh Kant, of travel and ease of doing business. In 2015, India has CEO, NITI Aayog, said that as tourism stakeholders there jumped up by 12 positions in the ease of doing business is need to showcase India as a value destination rather than rankings and this year results are going to be even better. In focussing on the increase tourist arrivals. “We initially need terms of FDI, India has achieved 15% growth as compared to understand that India is different from the rest of the with 16% decrease globally. We are going through radical world. With diverse offerings, it is not a destination which changes and it is important for India to grow at 9-10% per can be covered in a go. Travellers can come down to In- annum for the tourism to flourish.” dia again and again and witness newer experiences. Thus, Talking about the dearth of right talent in the travel trade, India should aim to offer value products and experiences he stated that the human resource development needs a 360 than merely chasing numbers. We need not make it a mass degree shift. “In the Indian market, 20% of skilled workforce destination, but an experiential high-value tourist place is created and 80% is the managerial staff whereas the re- with authentic offerings on board,” he said. quirement is completely opposite. This educational reforma- Suggesting on the need for a more refined version of tion needs to be addressed,” he highlighted. marketing and promotions, Kant stressed to come up with Talking about the multiplier effect tourism in terms of Incredible India 2.0 and upgrade with new distribution GDP contribution, job creation and economic development channels such as mobile phones. As 97.4% of tourists into that travel and tourism sector has on the Indian economy, India come by air, he also called for open sky policies and Kant urged to all not to view tourism as a luxury sector, applauded the vigourous and aggressive National Civil Avi- but identify with its numerous benefits, capable of na- ation Policy. State governments too, need to come forward tion-building. and compete to realise the untapped potential of the tourism sector, he said. Source: Hospitality Biz India

MYSTIC EAST | 9 NEWS

Govt begins process to sell 12.03 per cent in ITDC

S per The Financial Express, the government has According to ITDC website, the corporation has a net- A kick-started the process of 12.03% stake sale in India work of eight Ashok Group of Hotels, five JV hotels, one Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), which could restaurant, 11 transport units, nine duty-free shops at air- fetch around Rs. 260 crore to the exchequer. The Depart- ports and seaports. ITDC, which came into existence in ment of Investment and Public Asset Management (DI- October 1966, is also managing a hotel at Bharatpur and a PAM), previously known as Disinvestment Department, restaurant at Kosi on behalf of the Department of Tourism. has invited bids from merchant bankers to assist the gov- In addition, it is also managing catering services at Western ernment in the disinvestment process of ITDC, which inns Court, Vigyan Bhawan and Hyderabad House, New Delhi. a chain of hotels and restaurants. ITDC disinvestment is expected to add to the disin- "The government is considering divesting 12.03% paid- vestment kitty of the government, which plans to mop up up equity share capital of ITDC out of its shareholding of Rs.56,500 crore through stake sale in PSUs. Of this, Rs 87.03% in domestic market through offer for sale,” said the 36,000 crore is expected to come in from minority stake tender floated by DIPAM. The merchant bankers have to sale in PSUs and another Rs 20,500 crore from strategic submit bids to the government by July 21. Shares of the stake sale in both profit - and loss - making PSUs. So far, ITDC were trading at Rs 253.50, down 3.87 %, on BSE. At it has raised about Rs 2,700 crore from stake sale in NHPC the current market price, the share sale could fetch about and another Rs 240 crore through employee subscription Rs 260 crore to the exchequer. of IOC stake sale.

10 | MYSTIC EAST May - June 2016

HE Ministry of Home Affairs, India has recent- Short-term yoga programme in T ly taken a decision of including ‘short-term yoga programmes’ in Tourist Visa and e-Tourist Visa. e-Tourist Visa As per a PIB release, the government, realising the spread and importance of yoga world over, has decided to include ‘attending a short-term yoga pro- gramme’ in the list of permissible activities under Tourist Visa. Along with this, the Government has also decided to include “short duration medical treat- ment under Indian systems of medicine” in the list of permissible activities under e-Tourist Visa. A Tourist Visa is granted to a foreigner who has a sole objective of visiting India for recreation, sightsee- ing and casual visits to meet friends or relatives, short duration medical treatment or casual business visits. All Indian Mission abroad and Foreigners Regional Registration Officers (FRROs)/ Foreigners Registra- tion Officers (FROs) in the country have been request- ed to take action as per above amendments. (Source: PIB) Growth outlook for hotel industry remains at 8-10%

outlook for the industry at eight to 10 per cent during FY2017, with domes- tic demand-led occupancy growth, and some increase in rates in key markets of Mumbai and Goa sup- porting revenues. Revenue growth is expected to improve in FY2018 to 10- 12 per cent, aided by stronger domes- tic demand, pickup in foreign tour- ist arrivals (FTAs) and the return of pricing power. ICRA anticipates rate increases during FY2017 will only be restricted to select markets with high occupancies; markets like Bengaluru (supply of rooms) and Chennai (ex- isting over supply) would continue to struggle. The overall supply pipeline is ex- pected to moderate across most cities, barring markets like Kolkata, Bengal- uru and NCR. Subrata Ray, SVP, co-head, corpo- CRA estimates growth in aver- occupancies will result in six-seven rate sector ratings, ICRA, said, “Kol- I age room rates (ARR) to be back per cent improvement in revenue kata will witness the largest growth at two-three per cent – this coupled per available room (RevPAR) during in supply over the next four years with three-four per cent growth in FY2017. ICRA maintains its growth (FY2016-FY2020) at 86 per cent. In

MYSTIC EAST | 11 NEWS

absolute terms, the NCR will witness United Kingdom and Japan and also boosted domestic travel. the highest room additions of 6,700 re-launched ‘The Incredible India’ pro- ICRA estimates pan India occu- rooms during this period. However, motional campaign. Overall, ICRA be- pancies to have grown by six-seven delay in approvals, and project de- lieves that FTAs and spends still remain per cent, while average room rates ferments may defer the supply to an below potential. Domestic travel, going (ARRs) remained largely flat, both extent.” by domestic revenue passenger kilome- in-line with ICRA’s earlier estimates. FTA growth during the first three tre (RPKM) trends, which has grown by Revenues for the industry grew by months (January-March) of this cal- more than 20 per cent during the first nine to 10 per cent during Q4 FY2016. endar year jumped to 10 per cent, three months of the current calendar Operating margins were marginally supported by initiatives by the govern- year, continued to remain healthy. Pos- higher than Q4FY2015 (18.8 per cent) ment, which has set up public relations itive business sentiments and increase levels at 19.5-20 per cent supported agencies in key source markets like the in discretionary spends seem to have by higher revenues.

OYO expands network in North East

tions. It makes me happy to assure them that with OYO now present in this region, they can plan their trav- el without any worry. The hospitality sector is still underdeveloped in the North East and we are certain that the introduction of OYO’s standardised affordable stays will attract more tourists.” Speaking about the current busi- ness trends, Ritesh added, “We re- ceive queries for North East from across the country, but Darjeeling and Gangtok receive the highest number of queries from Kolkata (40 per cent), followed by Gujarat, Maharashtra and Delhi (15 per cent each). Kolkata ac- counts for 30 per cent of the bookings in Darjeeling and Gangtok while Del- hi contributes 12 per cent bookings in the region. This summer season, we have also witnessed interest from Hy- derabad, with the city accounting for nearly 10 per cent of our bookings in YO has made investments to Tsango Lake, MG Marg in Gangtok. Darjeeling. With growing penetration O expand its presence in key tour- Speaking on the company’s future of smartphones, 65 per cent of the ist destinations such as Gangtok and plans in the region, Ritesh Agarwal, bookings for these destinations are Darjeeling. OYO now offers more than founder and CEO, OYO, said, “We are driven by our mobile app.” 250 standardised rooms in Gangtok thrilled to establish a strong network OYO has also tied up with local and Darjeeling, to meet a range of in Darjeeling and Gangtok. Many travel agents to provide comprehen- budgets. OYO Rooms are available in travellers who want to visit the North sive tour packages with customised popular tourist spots like Tiger Hills Eeast hesitate due to concerns about transportation, sightseeing and stay and Mall Road in Darjeeling, and lack of trusted accommodation op- solutions. Source: FHW

12 | MYSTIC EAST

NEWS

DoNER Ministry identifies land for airport in Itanagar

manufactured or produced in India. Additionally, the government has eliminated the requirement of ‘con- trolled conditions’ for FDI in animal husbandry, pisciculture, aquaculture and apiculture. At present, 100 per cent FDI in these activities is allowed under the automatic route under con- trolled conditions. The PMO, in its statement, stated that the decision was taken with the objective of providing major impetus to employment and job creation in India. Welcoming the move, Sagar Ku- rade, president, All India Food Pro- cessors’ Association, said, “I welcome the government’s decision. This will help in the development of food pro- cesing industry and have positive ef- fects. The move will facilitate devel- opment of retail infrastructure in the country, and also result in better utili- sation of the existing infrastructure. It is also expected to reduce middlemen R. Jitendra Singh, Union Min- Suresh Prabhu and the plan is to have and benefit farmers.” D ister of State (Independent a broad-gauge railway track in the “A 100 per cent FDI in aquaculture Charge) for Development of North North-Eastern States. and pisciculture is a welcome initia- Eastern Region (DoNER), Minister Pul sought Dr Singh's intervention tive by the government and will help of State (Independent Charge) for for increase in the budget allocations with the ‘Blue Revolution’. This will Youth Affairs and Sports, MoS PMO, for Northeast and asked him to re- open up the sector to new avenues Personnel, Public Grievances, Pen- quest the Finance Minister that the of financing and access to advanced sions, Atomic Energy and Space and amount not spent out of Non-lapsable international aquaculture and cage Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of State pool should be kept at the disposal of culture technology. This is a great for Home Affairs met Kalikho Pul, the DoNER Ministry instead of get- opportunity for Indian aquaculture Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh ting reverted to the general exche- companies to partner with the in- recently and discussed a wide range of quer. coming foreign players. Currently in issues related to Arunachal Pradesh. India, aquaculture is based largely Pul sought the attention of Dr Singh Food sector to enjoy 100% on shrimps and low value fish. This to the problem of air connectivity, to FDI in India initiative by the government will al- which Dr Singh said that land had al- The union government has eased for- low to expand the potential of genet- ready been identified for an airport in eign direct investment (FDI) norms ically developing many more suitable Itanagar, capital of the Indian state in food processing and animal hus- species considering the demograph- of Arunachal Pradesh. In response to bandry sectors. The government has ic landscape of India,” commented Pul’s plea for building a railway corri- decided to permit 100 per cent FDI Kamlesh Gupta, chairman and man- dor along the foothills in the State, Dr under government approval route for aging director, WestCoast group. Singh said, that the matter has been trading, including through e-com- discussed with the Railway Minister merce, in respect of food products Source: Food & Hospitality World

14 | MYSTIC EAST

NEWS

MTDC associates with hospitality institutes under ‘Hunar Se Rojgar Tak’ scheme

knowledge imparted through this will hone their skills and develop their work ethics which will make them ready to face the challenges of this in- dustry with more confidence. Hunar Se Rojgar Tak is a double benefit programme as it improves the standard of living of these students as well as provides a sound resource to serve in the hospitality sector. Dr. K H Govind Raj, IAS, MD, MTDC, said, “MTDC has conducted various courses at Pune, Nasik, Baramati and Nagpur regions under the ‘Hunar Se Rozgar Tak’ scheme which has bene- fitted thousands of students belong- ing to low economic strata. MTDC has associated with reputed hospital- AHARASHTRA Tourism Devel- to achieve a competent place in the in- ity institutes to provide a skill based M opment Corporation (MTDC) dustry with their own skills. training programme in categories like has been selected as a facilitator for The courses offered under this food production, bakery and house- the ‘Hunar Se Rojgar Tak’ scheme, scheme will provide these students keeping which will help these stu- launched by Ministry of Tourism a chance to develop their skills and dents to be financially independent. (MoT) – Government of India, to im- enhance their knowledge thus mak- Many students have benefitted from part valuable courses at state level in ing them more confident about their this course and are already employed the hospitality sector. work. In association with identified and started their own career in the MTDC has associated with iden- hospitality institutes, MTDC has car- hospitality sector. tified hospitality institutions in the ried out various hospitality courses "MTDC believes in contributing to- state for the scheme which primarily comprising of 6 to 8 weeks duration. wards state economy and work hard focuses on providing economic em- The courses include • Food Pro- to enhance the opportunities and powerment of the youth in the re- duction • Food & Beverages • Bakery support youth’s contribution in the mote parts of Maharashtra. The pro- & Patisserie • Housekeeping utility hospitality sector.” Swati Kale, GM, grammes running under the scheme Commenting on this initiative, Valsa MTDC, said. are free of cost for the students with Nair Singh, IAS, Principal Secretary, “We have received a great response an aim to empower the under priv- Cultural & Tourism Affairs, Govern- from students across various cities ileged youth of the country ensuring ment of Maharashtra, said, “The MoT in Maharashtra for this programme. economic benefit through employ- has announced a very important and This initiative is our helping hand ment generation and to reduce the effective initiative under the ‘Hunar to these underprivileged students skill gap that affects the hospitality Se Rojgar’ scheme. who takes an effort to change their sector, stated a release. With MTDC being selected as lives but is deprived of opportuni- The scheme, targeting the students a key facilitator we have taken up ties. Through ‘Hunar Se Rojgar Tak’ who are minimum eighth pass and in an important responsibility on our scheme they get a chance to develop the age group of 18 to 28 years, intends shoulders to bring a positive change their skills and stand independent in to generate self employment opportu- for these students who belong to an this competitive segment of hospitali- nities at a local level and enables them underprivileged background. The ty,”Kale added.

16 | MYSTIC EAST

May - June 2016

TAXATION EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT GST Now that India is eagerly waiting for the passage of the much-awaited Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, we present a primer. Also we speculate how it may affect the hospitality industry

HE Goods and Services es levied by the Central and State Tax Bill or GST Bill, of- governments. Goods and services ficially known as The tax would be levied and collected Constitution (122nd at each stage of sale or purchase TAmendment) Bill, 2014, proposes of goods or services based on the a national Value added Tax to be input tax credit method. This implemented in India from July method allows GST-registered 2016 (hope so!). businesses to claim tax credit to “Goods and Services Tax” would the value of GST they paid on pur- be a comprehensive indirect tax chase of goods or services as part on manufacture, sale and con- of their normal commercial activi- sumption of goods and services ty. Taxable goods and services are throughout India, to replace tax- not distinguished from one anoth-

MYSTIC EAST | 19 TAXATION

GST is going to be a stepping stone to the reform of indirect taxation in India

er and are taxed at a single rate in a dia launches GST: “The tax rate under GST and oversee IT preparations. supply chain till the goods or services GST may be nominal or zero rated for An announcement was made by reach the consumer. Administrative the time being. It has been proposed P.Chidambaram, the Union Finance responsibility would generally rest to insulate the revenues of the States Minister, during the central budget of with a single authority to levy tax on from the impact of GST, with the ex- 2006-07 dated 28th February 2006, goods and services. Exports would be pectation that in due course, GST will that GST would be introduced from zero-rated and imports would be lev- be levied on petroleum and petroleum April 1, 2010 and that the Empowered ied the same taxes as domestic goods products,”. According to former min- Committee of State Finance Minis- and services adhering to the destina- ister for state for Finance Mr. Jayant ters, on his request, would work with tion principle. Sinha, the government has assured the Central Government to prepare a The introduction of GST would be a states of compensation for any reve- road map for introduction of GST in significant step in the reform of indi- nue losses incurred by them from the India. rect taxation in India. Amalgamating date of introduction of GST for a peri- After this announcement, the Em- several Central and State taxes into a od of three years. powered Committee of State Finance single tax would mitigate cascading As India is a federal republic GST Ministers decided to set up a Joint or double taxation, facilitating a com- would be implemented concurrent- Working Group on May 10, 2007, mon national market. The simplicity ly by the central government and by with the Adviser to the Union Finance of the tax should lead to easier admin- state governments. Minister and the Member-Secretary istration and enforcement. From the of Empowered Committee as co-con- consumer point of view, the biggest Legislative history venors and the concerned Joint Sec- advantage would be in terms of a re- In 2000, the Atal Bihari Vajpay- retaries of the Department of Reve- duction in the overall tax burden on ee Government set up a committee nue of Union Finance Ministry and all goods, which is currently estimated at headed by Asim Dasgupta, the (Fi- Finance Secretaries of the states as its 25-30 per cent. nance Minister of the Government of members. The Joint Working Group, What changes there would be if In- West Bengal) to design a model for after intensive internal discussions as

20 | MYSTIC EAST

TAXATION

well as interaction with experts and that although the indirect tax policy tax and adopted a state-level VAT. representatives of Chambers of Com- in India has been steadily progress- merce and Industry, submitted its re- ing in the direction of the value added Salient features of GST bill port to the Empowered Committee on tax (VAT) principle since 1986, the The salient features about this legis- November 19, 2007. existing system of taxation of goods lation were first time discussed in its This report was then discussed in and services still suffered from many first discussion paper in year 2009. detail in the meeting of Empowered problems and had suggested a com- We will reproduce the features dis- Committee on November 28, 2007. prehensive goods and services tax cussed here again to understand this On the basis of this discussion and (GST) based on the VAT principle. act very well. the written observations of the states, GST system is targeted to be a simple, (i) The GST shall have two compo- certain modifications were made, and transparent and efficient system of nents: one levied by the Centre (here- a final version of the views ofEm- indirect taxation as has been adopt- inafter referred to as Central GST), powered Committee at that stage was ed by over 130 countries around the and the other levied by the States prepared and was sent to the Gov- world. This involves taxation of goods (hereinafter referred to as State GST). ernment of India (April 30, 2008). and services in an integrated manner Rates for Central GST and State GST The comments of the Government of as the blurring of line of demarcation would be prescribed appropriately, India were received on December 12, between goods and services has made reflecting revenue considerations and 2008 and were duly considered by separate taxation of goods and ser- acceptability. This dual GST model the Empowered Committee (Decem- vices untenable. would be implemented through mul- ber16, 2008). From, April 1 2005 onwards, a tiple statutes (one for CGST and SGST Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam pointed out number of states abandoned the sales statute for every State).

22 | MYSTIC EAST May - June 2016

tral GST and State GST would be pre- scribed in the respective legislation for Central GST and State GST. (viii) The administration of the Cen- tral GST to the Centre and for State GST to the States would be given. This would imply that the Centre and the States would have concurrent ju- risdiction for the entire value chain and for all taxpayers on the basis of thresholds for goods and services pre- scribed for the States and the Centre. (ix) The present threshold prescribed in different State VAT Acts below which VAT is not applicable var- ies from State to State. A uniform State GST threshold across States is desirable and, therefore, it is con- sidered that a threshold of gross an- nual turnover of Rs.10 lakh both for goods and services for all the States and Union Territories may be adopt- ed with adequate compensation for the States (particularly, the States in North-Eastern Region and Special Category States) where lower thresh- The GST regime will definitely cut down paper work old had prevailed in the VAT regime. Keeping in view the interest of small However, the basic features of law (iv) Since the Central GST and State traders and small scale industries such as chargeability, definition of GST are to be treated separately, tax- and to avoid dual control, the States taxable event and taxable person, es paid against the Central GST shall also considered that the threshold for measure of levy including valuation be allowed to be taken as input tax Central GST for goods may be kept provisions, basis of classification etc. credit (ITC) for the Central GST and at Rs.1.5 crore and the threshold for would be uniform across these stat- could be utilised only against the pay- Central GST for services may also be utes as far as practicable. ment of Central GST. appropriately high. It may be men- (ii) The Central GST and the State (v) Cross utilisation of ITC between tioned that even now there is a sep- GST would be applicable to all trans- the Central GST and the State GST arate threshold of services (Rs. 10 actions of goods and services made for would not be allowed except in the lakh) and goods (Rs. 1.5 crore) in the a consideration except the exempted case of inter-State supply of goods Service Tax and CENVAT. goods and services, goods which are and services under the IGST model (x) The States are also of the view that outside the purview of GST and the which is explained later. Composition/Compounding Scheme transactions which are below the pre- (vi) Ideally, the problem related to for the purpose of GST should have scribed threshold limits. credit accumulation on account of an upper ceiling on gross annual turn- (iii) The Central GST and State GST refund of GST should be avoided by over and a floor tax rate with respect are to be paid to the accounts of the both the Centre and the States except to gross annual turnover. In partic- Centre and the States separately. It in the cases such as exports, purchase ular, there would be a compounding would have to be ensured that ac- of capital goods, input tax at higher cut-off at Rs. 50 lakh of gross annual count-heads for all services and goods rate than output tax etc. where, again turn over and a floor rate of 0.5 per would have indication whether it re- refund/adjustment should be com- cent across the States. The scheme lates to Central GST or State GST pleted in a time bound manner. would also allow option for GST reg- (with identification of the State to (vii) To the extent feasible, uniform istration for dealers with turnover be- whom the tax is to be credited). procedure for collection of both Cen- low the compounding cut-off.

MYSTIC EAST | 23 TAXATION

(xi) The taxpayer would need to sub- rant Associations of India (FHRAI), ism ministry talks about implementa- mit periodical returns, in common said GST will offer reprieve to a high- tion of GST and classifying all tourism format as far as possible, to both the ly-taxed hotel industry, provided it is & hospitality businesses in the lower Central GST authority and to the con- capped at a lower rate. “Currently, the GST slab, hoteliers said that the pol- cerned State GST authorities. taxes are high and we have not been icy lacks clarity on the same. Hotels (xii) Each taxpayer would be allotted able to attract tourists unlike our in India currently levy taxes in the a PAN-linked taxpayer identification neighbouring countries, where the tax range of 20 per cent compared with number with a total of 13/15 digits. burden on tourists is low.” just 2-5 per cent on an average across This would bring the GST PAN-linked Sudesh Poddar, president, Hotel the globe. system in line with the prevailing and Restaurant Association of East- Deshpande of Deloitte said while PAN-based system for Income tax, fa- ern India (HRAEI), concurred, saying the GST would bring down the costs cilitating data exchange and taxpayer GST regime will definitely cut down of goods and services as a whole, compliance. paper work and multiple filing of var- anyone looking at the tax rate in iso- (xiii) Keeping in mind the need of tax ious tax returns, but the speculated lation could say that the costs have payer’s convenience, functions such 16-20 per cent tax is very high for the increased after GST. "This is an area as assessment, enforcement, scrutiny hospitality industry. As a result rev- that the government needs to com- and audit would be undertaken by the enue for hotels and restaurants will municate with the people so that they authority which is collecting the tax, badly suffer.” have the correct perception of GST.” with information sharing between the While the draft national tourism Industry experts point out that Centre and the States. policy-2015 formulated by the tour- higher tax rate would force people to avoid bills, thereby creating a parallel Hospitality industry wary economy. “It will encourage a parallel While the implementation of GST will economy, especially in the unorgan- remove multiple taxation and bring ised segment, as people will not opt ease of doing business, hoteliers and for bills and there will be unaccounted restaurateurs point out that the ex- transactions due to which the govern- pected quantum of tax — between 17 ment will lose out on revenues,” said and 27 per cent — will be rather high Riyaaz Amlani, president, National for the industry. Restaurant Association of India. “The hospitality sector could be “At the moment, we know that the impacted after GST because it would expected impact will be 17-27 per appear that the total cost has gone up. GST will offer cent, but this would negatively impact Currently, while service tax at abated reprieve to a highly- the hospitality sector which already rate of 4.944 per cent (5.6 per cent af- has a complicated tax structure,” ter June 1) and VAT at 12.5 per cent is taxed hotel industry, said Mandeep Lamba, managing di- levied on restaurant bills, after GST, provided it is capped rector-hospitality group at consul- you could see a much higher percent- tancy firm JLL India. Hoteliers and age of 24-25 per cent(whatever the at a lower rate. restaurateurs reckon the additional decided rate is) being charged on the Currently, the taxes tax burden, if any, will be passed on bill,” says Prashant Deshpande, senior to the customer, which will impact the director, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. are high and we have spending capacity and consumption. The long-pending GST bill was ap- not been able to Shantha de Silva, head of South proved by the Lok Sabha in May 2015, West Asia, InterContinental Hotels but could not be passed in the Rajya attract tourists unlike Group (IHG), said it's too early to say Sabha. The government will be trying our neighbouring what specific impact any potential tax again in the next two months. GST levy may have on the tourism indus- — a new uniform indirect tax rate — countries, where the try. “But it’s always going to be a bal- will subsume excise, service tax, state tax burden on tourists ance between ensuring the industry VAT, entry tax, octroi and other state and related areas.” levies. is low Tejinder Singh Walia, former presi- Source: Wikipedia and The dent, Federation of Hotel and Restau- Economic Times

24 | MYSTIC EAST MYSTIC EAST | 25 COVER STORY REBOOT SARKARI SKILLING SCHEMES

The Government of India’s ambitous skilling scheme HUNAR SE ROZGAR TAK (HSRT) for the hospitality industry started with a bang. But the ambitous programme can end with a whimper if certain loopholes are not immediately plugged. It’s time the youth get jobs, not just certificates.

26 | MYSTIC EAST HE Ministry Providers (CBSP). The budget of Tourism allocated for the CBSP Scheme launched a was Rs 12 crore in the begin- special ini- ning which crossed Rs 50 crore tiative called in 2013. Hunar Se Rozgar Tak (HSRT) in the year Good Beginning 2009-10 for creation of em- The scheme has been well re- ployable skills amongst youth. ceived. Initially it covered only The initiative was fully funded two trades namely Food Pro- by the Ministry of Tourism. duction and Food and Beverage The features common to the Service. Presently it covers six training programmes under more trades/training areas the HSRT are: the trainees namely Housekeeping Utility, should be in the age group of Bakery & Patisserie, Driving, 18-28 years; each training pro- Stone Masonry, Golf Caddies gramme is of short duration – and Tourist Facilitation. The six to eight weeks; and no fees initiative helped upgrade the chargeable to the trainee. skills relevant to hospitality and The HSRT initiative is being tourism Sector in the country implemented through expert including Odisha. The number institutions including the of persons trained in the year Indian Institute of Tourism and 2009-10 was 5610. It grew to Travel Management, Institutes 6981 in the year 2010-11 and of Hotel Management, Food to 12191 in the year 2011-12. Craft Institutes and India Tour- Under the HSRT programme, ism Development Corporation. courses are offered in hos- The State Governments/Union pitality trades namely Food Territory Administrations have Production, Food and Beverage also been authorised to im- Service, Housekeeping Utility plement the initiative through and Bakery and Patisserie. The Institutes selected by them for persons who are minimum 8th purpose. It is also mandatory pass and in the age group of 18 for certain star-classified hotels to 28 years are eligible to take to train a prescribed minimum the courses. The programme is number of persons. delivered by Ministry of Tour- The initiative is being imple- ism (MoT) sponsored Institutes mented as part of the Ministry of Hotel Management, Food of Tourism’s Scheme namely Craft Institutes, State Tourism Capacity Building for Service Development Corporations

MYSTIC EAST | 27 COVER STORY

HSRT programme has a focus on food production and food and beverage service

amongst others. Minister Narendra Modi launched Presently training courses are Skill India last year. Tourism and also in place to bring up tourist hospitality sector is participating escorts, tourist facilitators, event actively in Skill India mission. facilitators, security guards, tour Wheebox Employability started by PM Modi. Scores of assistants, transfer assistants and research and surveys have been office assistants. The programme Skill Test putting the spotlight on tourism is fully funded by the MoT. A Talent assessment company Wheebox and hospitality industry as a major total of 207156 persons have been conducted employibility test, to check contributor in employment gen- the “employability” of the skill pool trained since the inception of the using reliable talent assessment tool eration, encouraged no doubt by programme in the year 2009-10 across domain areas. WEST assessed the surge in international tourist till June 30, 2015. In December, the test takers on five areas, Domain footfall over the past few years. 2014, the scope of HSRT pro- Knowledge, Communication Skills, According to the India Skills gramme was expanded to allow Computer Skills , Numerical and Logical Report 2016 released by Whee- Ability and Behavioral traits. This test the All India Council for Technical was taken by about 520000 students box, PeopleStrong and LinkedIn, Education (AICTE)/National Skill across states and domain areas. The Hospitality & Travel sector leads Development Agency (NSDA)/ detailed respondent profile of the test the way among 11 sectors to be the government approved private takers is shared below. highest employment generator in hospitality Institutes as also the With the help of the scores of these the coming years. However FMCG, industrial units, industry associ- respondents a comprehensive analysis Hospitality and Software & IT ex- ations and skill imparting bodies of the skill pool was done, the details pect the hiring numbers to remain of which have already been shared in with proven credentials for its the report. The insights shared would the same compared to last year. implementation. hopefully help the academia, govern- The previous government The HSRT programme has been ment and the employers to take steps did realize the rising gap in the gaining a momentum after Prime for improving the quality of skill pool. tourism and hospitality industry.

28 | MYSTIC EAST ‘Hunar Se Rozgar Tak’ - a flagship Skill Development Corporation initiative fully funded by Ministry (NSDC)—helped train over 80 mil- of Tourism aimed at training can- lion students so far; but less than didates in different departments of half of the youth have been placed. hotel industry, was born. Accord- Some of the NSDC partners have ing to the compendium uploaded been found to focus more on the on Ministry of Tourism’s website, number of trainees enrolled, rath- training a candidate for a typical er than helping them land jobs. course under Hunar Se Rozgar Most similar skilling schemes Tak initiative costs an average seem to be on choppy waters, on amount of around 10,700/- per implementation grounds. The candidate which includes all the loopholes in the very delivery incentives and administration system seem to be defeating the charges payable to the concerned very purpose of HSRT to some IHM for conducting the training extent: to impart employable skills module. The India Hiring to economically weaker sections of Intent Survey the society. Focus on Headcount The India Hiring Intent Survey, a close For instance Anisha Sharma, The government’s vision for a ended questionnaire was the instru- a B.A. graduate from Guwahati ‘Skilled India’, through imple- ment used to capture the outlook of University, underwent an inten- mentation of the scheme should the Employers or Job Demand side. sive eight week training in Bakery In this 17 question survey, employers be reason for cheer, except that were asked about their hiring mix, their and Patisserie under the scheme at the much touted scheme which preferences for hires based on domain, one of the IHMs. While not com- claims to ‘create employable age group etc. The detailed analysis ing from an economically weaker skills’ has a long way to go as far of the responses received has already background, she was motivated as jobs are concerned. Even the been covered in Report. These insights to do the course, by her interest provide a glimpse of the corporate world Ministry of Skill Development to the skill supply side , can be used as in bakery and confectionery and and Enterpreneurship, flagship guidelines for matchmaking the talent hoped to pursue her passion for central skilling agency—National supply and demand sides. this profession, through the cer-

Source: Wheebox Measuring World's Talent

MYSTIC EAST | 29 COVER STORY

Five-star hotels often refuse to recruit HSRT graduates for ‘insufficient and incompetent certifications’

tification of the scheme. Instead, Rather, a majority of those recently for an interview. I am now working she was shocked to find that the having passed under this flagship at my cousin’s catering venture.” scheme that promises to create scheme have not been able to secure employable skills for class eight employment in the hospitality in- Jobs Not Mandatory drop-outs, made her run from dustry because of which they either Although venturing into ‘self pillar to post in search of a job. look forward to starting something employment’ might be seen as a Anisha was denied employment of their own or transiting to some positive step, promoting entrepre- at two five-star hotels with the other sector in search of greener neurship, yet being the only choice abrupt reason: ‘insufficient and pastures. M. Riten Singh Kumar, for unemployed candidates, it incompetent certifications’. Five another candidate with good inter- barely holds any merit, especially years on, now married, she follows personal skills from Imphal, Mani- without any industrial exposure this passion only in her spare pur, seems quite doubtful about his training or work experience, post time. “I still wish I could have future. “I pursued this certificate completion of the courses. The been hired even as an apprentice because of my inclination towards Ministry of Tourism in its set of if not an entry level employee. At the hotel line, but in vain. I have guidelines has not made it manda- least I would have honed my skills been unemployed since the past tory for hotels to offer jobs to the through the exposure of the indus- two years. I was wrongly convinced successful candidates. One would try,” she regrets. about the acceptability of this certif- argue that it is legitimate that Anisha is not the only one to have icate across the hospitality and tour- hotels be left to select candidates suffered the employment crisis post ism industry. The hotels barely pay according to their discretion and the completion of the programme. heed to us, even for an appointment own hiring parameters. However,

30 | MYSTIC EAST what then happens to vocational tentions of creating abundant skill me with a male attendant, in- graduates who invariably re- reservoirs to ensure continuous stead.” Lack of rules regarding main the least preferred vis-à-vis skill supply in the industry seem gender diversity in organizations diploma and degree holders when to be self-defeated. The falling thus poses another stumbling it comes to recruitment ? Recent numbers of recruitment of ‘skilled block to the scheme, adding to the statistics in the India Skills Report workforce’ under Hunar Se Rozgar gloom of many like Poonam. 2016, present a sorry picture. Tak initiative tells a sad story. The administrators probably fail The scheme as it exists currently, Sima Srivastava, a certificate to understand that mere training certainly lacks the mechanism to holder in Houskeeping of the 2013 of individuals and putting lakhs control and manage placements of batch had this to say about em- into their training will not deliver these candidates, who are actually ployment opportunities available any advantage to the economy, underprivileged and economically after she completed this scheme. rather it would only drain the weak and view this certification as “It was my dream to work in a exchequer. The gap between the means to eke out their living. five-star hotel which led me to opt skills of these candidates and the Generally, the increasing number for this course, which proved to demands of industry seems to of certificate holders rolling out be of no use. After much effort, I stubbornly persist even after com- every two months are presumed to could secure a position of house- pletion of the training module. be far less competent and skilled in keeping associate at a local school The Confederation of Indian comparison to the fewer number of in Faridabad which involved basic Industry (CII), after assessing the degree and diploma holders grad- operational level duties but I statistics of skilled manpower in uating each year. This automati- couldn’t make it for long because various sectors, including Agricul- cally creates an inferiority complex the administration, soon replaced ture, Information Technology and among the few certificate holders others, had aptly stated in their who are fortunate enough to be report, “The success of these efforts absorbed by the starred hotels. In without active involvement of such instances, the retention rate of ‘Actors’ of this process is doubtful. these candidates has been observed Thus sincere efforts to ensure part- as low, due to the complexity which nership between the source of skills arises from a skill gap and lack of The administrators (colleges, students etc.), and their cordiality, between them and the destination (the corporate) are a regular employees or management fail to understand must.” This conclusion, drawn after trainees from IHM’s. that investing crores assessment of other sectors, rightly holds relevance for Tourism & Certificates Aplenty for mere training Hospitality as well, which is set to According to data provided by of individuals will be the largest employment provider India Skills Report 2016, the per- in the coming years. centage of vocational graduates in hardly boost the The findings pose a pertinent overall hiring in the year 2016 by economy. The gap question before the torchbearers the hospitality industry (including of this scheme who appear to have hotels, aviation, tours & travels et between the skills of deviated from the original goal, the al), has been as petty as 7.94 per these candidates and tagline of Hunar Se Rozgar Scheme cent which witnessed an insubstan- - create employable skills among tial increase of 1.88 per cent than the demands of the the underprivileged in true spirit. the preceding year. The survey industry stubbornly The Hunar Se Rozgar Tak scheme further depicts the pitiful state of rather, seems to be aiming at cre- these vocational certificate holders persist even after ating sacks of cheap labour meant with respect to surging numbers of completion of the only for basic chores of a hotel who recruitment of diploma and degree after having served their purpose, holders in the industry which ac- training module are left to run from pyre to fire, count for 39.72 per cent and 41 per scrounging for new opportunities cent, respectively. The laudable in- in order to sustain their lives.

MYSTIC EAST | 31 TECHNOLOGY

Wi-Fi more necessity than luxury Hotel guests now expect wireless connectivity for multiple mobile devices. Free connectivity can increase customer loyalty and improve your profitability

HE Internet has revolution- ized life in India. Almost 50 million adults use it at least once a day, and the figure Tis growing quickly. Perhaps more in- teresting, though, is the big move to- wards on-the-go connectivity. Mobile and wireless technologies allow us stay connected at all times, wherever our days take us. Nearly three quarters of business travellers accessed the web away from home in 2014, with the proportion rising to 96 per cent among 16-54-year-olds. It’s clear, then, that connectivity – and more specifically, Wi-Fi, is no longer a luxury. In 2016, not just the business trav- eller, but all members of a family needs a Wi-Fi connection, that too a fast one. The housewife needs it for instant messaging and sending trav- el photos as fast as she can to her sa- helis through her smartphone. The kids need it for playing online games in their tab. Even the grandpa and grandma may need it to be able to stay connected to their home via Skype.

32 | MYSTIC EAST May - June 2016

This is something people expect to From their investigation, they in- find as they go about their business, and ferred that there are fewer five star re- the hotel industry more than any other views that mention Internet because knows that. A 2013 study by Forrester people expect perfect Internet service. Research further revealed the 90 per Since it’s expected, they don’t think to cent of those polled indicating that Wi- write about it when it’s flawless. But Fi was their top sought amenity. More- when they don’t have a good Internet over, the same study revealed that 34 experience, they can’t award a hotel five per cent would consider it a ‘deal break- stars. er” if the hotel did not offer free Wi-Fi. To take the research one step further, they looked at what topics were routine- Essential Component ly discussed in relationship to Wi-Fi and Given the critical importance of Wi-Fi outlined some simple steps to combat to guests, hospitality decision-makers the problem. are keeping a watchful eye on their ho- Speed: The number one concern of tels’ Internet service offering. However, reviewers was the speed of the Internet the effects of poor Internet service on service. Guests not only use their In- guest satisfaction and consequently on ternet connections for light email and hotels’ online reputation have yet to be browsing. They are also using streaming thoroughly explored. video services such as Netflix to unwind To better understand the guest per- after a long day of travel or to chat with spective, Revinate performed a deep their family and friends via Skype. One dive into their online review data and reviewer complains: “The Internet ser- analyzed about 53 million English lan- vice has such restricted bandwidth that guage reviews from multiple review it is virtually unusable for most com- sites and OTAs. A little more than two mon purposes such as Skype, etc. It is million reviews explicitly mentioned the barely adequate for reading email and terms “internet”, “wifi” or “wi-fi.” They looking at the weather.” Others active- found that Internet-related reviews ly dissuade other guests from booking have lower average scores (3.8 vs 4.0) with that hotel because of their poor than reviews that don’t mention Inter- Internet. net services, suggesting that when the Reliability: After speed, the reliabili- Internet is mentioned in a review, it is ty of an Internet connection was a ma- normally seen as a drawback to the ho- jor concern to reviewers. While light tel experience. A deeper look into the Internet use (email, web browsing) is data reveals that Internet-related re- possible on an intermittent connection, views seem to most negatively affect the video and music streaming services re- occurrence of 5 star reviews. quire a strong, consistent connection.

MYSTIC EAST | 33 TECHNOLOGY

Netizens need to stay connected 24X7

Moreover, business travellers depend that I needed to go on the balcony to on cloud software (Salesforce, Mar- get a good signal”. “The Internet sig- keto, etc) and VPNs (GotoMeeting, nal was very weak there. The rooms join.me) that require a dependable closer to the middle of the building always-on connection; intermittent had a better signal, so we needed to connections can make business travel go to the hall every time we needed to disastrous. The image of a access the web.” guest wandering The image of a guest wandering Inadequate access points around his room searching for the Hotels frequently lack sufficient wire- around his room optimal signal so he can continue a less access points or fail to position searching for the conversation with his friend seems ri- them intelligently such that they cov- diculous – but one that happens too er the entire property well. Another optimal signal so often. On a recent business trip with common issue is that during times he can continue a a colleague, I was amused to find that of high occupancy, high Internet use I received a strong signal in my 3rd can cause dips in performance. These conversation with floor suite, while he struggled to load operational shortcomings leave many his friend seems a page from his 5th floor suite. guests complaining about having to How to address: If you provide wander in search of a strong Internet ridiculous – but one wireless Internet at your property, signal, as evidenced by these two re- that happens too walk around with a phone or laptop views: “I had a purchased a 24hr block and monitor the strength of your Wi- of wireless internet […] but could often Fi connection on different floors and barely get a signal because the room sides of the property. If your wireless was so far away…I eventually realized Internet signal is not powerful enough

34 | MYSTIC EAST May - June 2016

to reach all areas of your property, brings down the average to a 3.8, cent go for breakfast and 15 per cent you may need to invest in equipment it’s critical that hotels look at their look for free parking. to expand its range. Internet service as a make-or-break As a hotelier, you’ve probably no- Security/Privacy: With public amenity. In today’s world, just a few ticed that what hotel guests expect awareness of identify theft and per- negative guest experiences can result when travelling away from home has sonal data, reviewers are mentioning in bad reviews that can hinder future changed considerably over recent security and privacy concerns more bookings. years. Whereas an en suite bathroom, frequently.If the Wi-Fi network is for example, was once considered a insecure, their browsing could be hi- A Major Deciding Factor luxurious ‘extra’, most hotels now jacked, video calls could be monitored Gone are the days when breakfast, provide this facility as standard. By and most importantly, their financial parking and leisure facilities were a the same token, Wi-Fi is now an ex- information could be compromised hotel’s biggest selling points. Now, pected feature of a hotel stay and most while making online purchases. the availability of free WiFi ranks guests would be surprised (and more How to address: Ensure that your above all of these for business and lei- than a little annoyed) if an efficient Internet connection is protected with sure travelers when it comes to choos- guest Wi-Fi service was not provided. WPA2 encryption. This is built into ing a suitable bed for the night. When traveling away from home on almost all Internet routers and should A 2015 study by Hotels.com found holiday, being able to keep in touch be relatively easy to do. Ensure that that 49 per cent of business travel- with family, friends and work is very your password isn’t publicly dis- lers consider connectivity a deciding important to guests; if a guest is away played in your hotel. And, preferably, factor when choosing where to stay, on business then it is even more cru- provide each guest with an individual compared with 14 per cent who think cial that they are able to contact their password and username. about complimentary breakfast and colleagues and access their work on- Knowing that the average review the 11 per cent who contemplate loca- line. Internet access is now widely score is a 4.0, and knowing that In- tion. As for leisure customers, one in considered a ‘basic need’. ternet-related mentions in reviews four prioritize free WiFi, while 22 per You probably know from your own experience how frustrating it can be to find yourself in an internet blackspot, unable to download a file, search on- line for a phone number, or just check your favorite social media. For guests who may find it difficult to get online with 3G or 4G in the area around your hotel, being able to access the internet through a wireless network at your hotel is even more important.

Make it fast and reliable If you advertise that you have a guest Wi-Fi service, you need to make sure that it is reliable and sufficiently fast to cope with multiple users. A guest who is delighted at first to book a room that has a wireless network available will soon become angry and frustrated if that service proves to be intermittent or agonisingly slow. Depending on the price of the rooms, the other facilities you provide and the nature of your business, you may find that guests are content to ac- cess Wi-Fi only in common areas such Hotels must invest in equipment to expand the coverage as your bar or reception area, or they

MYSTIC EAST | 35 TECHNOLOGY

hospitality company. With the challenges identified, Ar- qiva set to work. Instead of relying on one single system, it developed a hybrid solution comprising both re- stricted free-of-charge access and unlimited chargeable access for hotel guests. The project was carried out from start to finish by a dedicated team, who worked rapidly to install the nec- essary infrastructure in 300 Premier Inn hotel sites. This provided the in- stant connectivity required. With strong Service Level Agree- ments (SLAs) in place, Premier Inn was able to relax knowing the service it was investing in would meet all ex- pectations. As part of this Arqiva’s service extended beyond the initial installation to include proactive net- work monitoring. To this day, the solutions used by hotel guests are kept in tip-top shape by Arqiva’s ex- Business travellers look for multiple access in several devices pert engineers, with support available around the clock. may demand Wi-Fi in the privacy of ceiving repeat business and positive The return on investment their own rooms. The former may be reviews for your business. The project, once completed, gave cheaper, but if it results in fewer guest Premier Inn the flexibility it needed to returns or lower review ratings, then The Premier Inn Story meet customer expectations and im- this is a false economy. It’s this increasing importance of prove operations across the business. Hotels that do not provide what WiFi in the hotel sector that led Lu- What’s more, thanks to Arqiva’s their guests expect them to provide ton-based chain Premier Inn to part- brand-agnostic approach, Premier Inn may well receive complaints from their ner with Arqiva – the UK’s leading rightly takes the credit for its new WiFi guests and have to offer concessions or communications infrastructure and service with prominent branding. inducements for their customers to media services provider. The project Technical support, however, is still return or to leave favorable feedback. began, as most do, with Arqiva setting provided by technical specialists who A hotel that has unhappy guests will out to identify Premier Inn’s needs. keep direct contact with both hotel experience a drop in repeat business. The hotel giant operates more than staff and their guests. Everybody wins. At best, customers simply don’t come 50,000 rooms across the UK, and If a business is to maximize success, back, preferring to book a hotel that wanted to provide full WiFi support it must pick its partners and suppli- provides all of the facilities that they for a large portion of its 700-plus ers carefully. Premier Inn’s mission consider should be included in the sites. to deliver WiFi was no exception, price they pay. At worst, they make The connectivity would assist both and the reasons it chose to work with their frustrations known by providing guests and operational staff, with the Arqiva on such an important project negative reviews and feedback online, former benefiting from an improved were watertight. The two organiza- which other guests will heed. experience and the latter able to in- tions were familiar with one another, Providing a guest Wi-Fi service will crease efficiency and productivity. with Arqiva having been the preferred help to ensure that your guests are However, the installation had to hap- technology partner of Whitbread comfortable, have their needs met pen quickly and quietly, with down- (Premier Inn’s parent company) since and will improve your chances of re- time not an option for the always-busy 2006.

36 | MYSTIC EAST INTERVIEW May - June 2016 “Peace reigns supreme in the hills”

Darjeeling is over 90 per cent occupancy. have spruced up British era bun- ga- back to nor- lows for such tourists, but this is not malcy riding Q: What about the Darjeeling adequate. Moreover, they don’t have on the wave of Himalayan Railway (DHR)? I all the facilities a hotel can provide. Chief Minister mean the famous ‘toy train’? Mamata Ba- DHR service has been patchy for Q: What about upcoming nerjee’s strong years. Recently a huge effort has homestays? initiatives to been initiated to refurbish the UNE- Homestays are okay but they can’t integrate di- SCO heritage. Experts are working on afford to employ people trained in verse ethnic groups in the hills. The this to put the toy train back on track hospitality. Nowadays, tourists (es- Queen of Hills is regaining its lost within a year or so. This is urgently pecially business tourists) look for glory as hordes of tourists—which in- required to increase the footfall of in- amenities like 24-hour Wi-fi connec- clude foreigners—are flocking to enjoy ternational tourists. tivity and multicuisine restaurants. the bracing breeze of the Himalayas Homestays obviously can’t provide all and the aroma of the famous tea. The Q: Central Heritage Hotel is a these. In other words, there is no al- rising footfall has boosted up the ho- luxury hotel. What about other ternative to a proper hotel with ‘smart tel and restaurant business. Mahabir hotels? basics’ and properly trained staff to Prasad Agarwal, Managing Commit- We don’t have many luxury rooms handle upscale tourist. tee Member, HRAEI and Managing across the hills. This is why there is a Director Central Heritage Hotel, Dar- huge crunch here. We have 80 rooms Q: What are the usual booking jeeling and Sikkim, spoke to Susmit in Central Hotel, but we have plans to channels? Do you utilize online Barman about the positive vibes expand soon. Many upscale tourists, agents? blowing in the wind. Excerpts: especially the foreigners, don’t get lux- We use both traditional and the latest ury rooms here. Some tea plantations channels of booking. The largest num- Q:It seems there’s an air of ber of bookings happen through our peace and tranquility in the travel agents, especially those in New hills after a long time. You Delhi. Some foreign tourists, howev- must be happy. er, prefer to book directly through our Yes. This year we have a record break- website. Online travel agents too help ing occupancy across all segments of us get some bookings. the hospitality sector in Darjeeling and the adjoining area. Thanks to Q: How is your hotel in the bold initiatives by the honourable Gangtok doing? Chief Minister, the law and order sit- That’s a perennial hit with tourists. uation is absolutely perfect. The road Sikkim is an ideal destination for all network is impeccable and there’s types of tourists. It has everything— a multiple entry point to Darjeeling natural beauty, biodiversity, Buddhist now. Because the Chief Minister vis- heritage and law and order. Recently its the hills so frequently the roads it was declared India’s first ‘organic are maintained perfectly. Even some state’. This will draw more interna- quaint villages—developed as new tional tourists. However, I believe, tourist spots—have good connectvi- with bold steps taken by the West ty. There has been no law and order Bengal Chief Minister Darjeeling will problem and few disturbances. We soon catch up with Sikkim. After all, haven’t seen bandhs or strikes for you get some bonuses like the toy quite some time. After several years of train and numerous tea plantations in bad business we have been witnessing Darjeeling.

MYSTIC EAST | 37 TRAVEL PLANNING

Your Next Trip, Courtesy of Google Search The mobile phone is a traveller’s new holiday planner. And while Google may be the new kid on the travel block, others are giving the search engine a tough fight

OOGLE is never one to miss smartphone, try typing in following best and cull together all Shillong-re- a beat. To keep up with the keywords: “Where to go in Scotland” lated content. The major difference G trend in smartphone usage or “Scotland Destinations.” The key- now includes flight and hotel infor- over traditional desktop searches, the words “where to go” or “destinations” mation as well as nearby restaurants, company has unveiled a brand new are important. If you scroll down a bit top sites, and weather. It will even redesign that makes it easier to re- you’ll find “Scotland” related tabs in- give you the total flight time, depend- search, plan, and book a trip all with- cluding “Destinations” and “Points of ing on where you’re travelling from, in a few clicks. Let us explain how this Interest.” as well as peak travel times and cli- is different and why this is kind of a Let’s say you want to get some info mate information. big deal. on Shillong. When you click on the If you scroll down a bit further, you Let’s kick it off with an example: “Shillong” tab under “Destinations,” can find relevant videos about your In the Google search bar on your Google will then do what Google does destination. Perhaps the biggest, bad-

38 | MYSTIC EAST May - June 2016

are also focusing on the fact that most young Indians use their mobile phones for information. MakeMy- Trip, the travel site and app’s new product-enhancements and features are also being developed with a 'mo- bile-first' approach. Google's advan- tage is that you don't need an app for this, and can plan your holiday within a single browser tab on your mobile phone. Type out the name of the place you may want to visit, along with the word "destinations", and the options will pop up. MakeMyTrip launched two key mo- bile-specific initiatives a few months ago - Appy Hours (offering 50 per cent flat discounts on hotel bookings on Thursdays) and Trippy Tuesdays (Rs 1,000 off on flights on Tuesdays). The customer response towards these initiatives has been phenomenal with the peak traffic surging by 300 per cent during Appy Hours and Trippy Tuesdays. The TripAdvisor app has useful fea- tures, too, including 'Near Me Now' - which guides travellers to nearby places using their phone's GPS. If you are stuck in a place with no mobile connectivity, the app's "offline fea- ture" allows you to access information even without data connection. The suggested itineraries on Google are based on historic visits by other travellers to those places. So you can Plan a Trip feature can book airfare and book hotels use the wisdom of the crowd and save time researching. An algorithm calcu- lates the total trip cost, adjusting the dest and most notable change here you where you can ski, paraglide, trek, price instantly as one toggles through is the “Plan a Trip” feature in which fish and so on. Photographs will give calendar options and flight options, the user can actually book airfare and you an idea of what the place looks presenting three or four optimal itin- make hotel reservations all within like. All this will come with added in- eraries up top and the rest sorted by the span of a few clicks. Your search formation - such as the cheapest week price. Instead of jumping between a for booking airfare is customized to for a holiday, the cost of the cheapest dozen links or tabs to get the informa- reflect the number of stops, airlines, flight that week, the average price of a tion you need, users can sit back and cabin class, and flight times. Shillong, hotel (three-star and above), etc. Goo- scroll - and Google search will do the here we come. gle metamorphosed into a digitised rest. "Himachal Pradesh destinations" travel agent when it saw a whopping Travel industry experts point out will throw up a grid of multiple hol- 50 per cent increase in travel-related that Google has an advantage. Con- iday spots such as Shimla, Manali, questions on mobile phones. sumers do not have to pay commis- Dharamsala and Dalhousie, telling Other travel-related companies sions to online travel agents as the

MYSTIC EAST | 39 TRAVEL PLANNING

A connected traveller won't need a traditional paper map

site redirects users to an airline or el search engines such as Ixigo offer. hotel's booking page to complete a For the inveterate Even though it is interesting to see a transaction. traveller, there search engine move closer to answer- But not many are convinced that the ing travel-related queries on its own price advantage will prompt Indian are apps for train platform, in the minds of the con- travellers to switch to Google. There is travel, flights, bus sumer it will not displace a specialist only a marginal difference in the pric- search engine with more focused con- es on the airline's website and an on- travel and cabs. tent relevant for Indian consumers. line travel agent's site. So price is not Some of these apps Ixigo’s biggest advantage is that they a factor. On the other hand, users will have more local content and deep have to head to the respective airline's also offer multiple partnerships with all the local pro- website to complete their booking facilities - one can, viders from Cleartrip, MakeMyTrip to which will not be the best experience Oyo rooms across flights, hotels, bus- for them, as most airline websites are for instance, search es, trains, cabs, etc. not optimised for mobiles,. for hotels in the Some experts believe that Indian There are others who point out regional online travel services may that Google's range is limited - it will train app and also understand local tastes in hotels and not, for instance, give you details of order food on trains holidays better than Google. They dharamshalas or look at all modes also understand the nuances of how of transportation, which Indian trav- Indians like to travel, whether it is by

40 | MYSTIC EAST May - June 2016

providing bus and train information ploratory tool. In fact, the tool in its for instance, and then see your travel integrated with other purchases or by current avatar presents one with op- options for the entire month, rather providing branded budget hotel ac- tions to choose from - flights, hotels, than for specific dates. Details about commodations to customers. destinations, etc. One still needs to rainfall and temperature mean you Others point out that Google does make the booking on another plat- don’t have to run a separate search not provide packages for different form. to see if you were planning to visit types of travellers. Travel websites Google says Destinations is de- during hurricane season. And Points like Ezeego offer destination pack- signed for the leisure traveler who of Interest and Suggested Itineraries ages for all types of travellers - fami- takes a trip or two a year and is con- could be handy for business travelers lies, youngsters, backpackers, honey- cerned about making the right choices parachuting into a place for a night or mooners and women's groups. They for that big getaway. He or she is in- two but hoping to get to a must-see also provide ancillary services and terested in popular places and wants spot between meetings. have a dedicated customer service to see the major sites. Is Destinations regularly unearth- and operations team. Destinations is not for those looking ing hidden spots? No. Do Destina- For the inveterate traveller, there for obscure art galleries, or for foodies tions make it easier to spark ideas to are apps for train travel, flights, bus seeking the next great restaurant or start planning? Yes. You can type “Fiji travel and cabs. Some of these apps food truck. Experienced travelers who vacation” in the search box and in- also offer multiple facilities - one can, have a short list of where they want to stantly begin finding the island that’s for instance, search for hotels in the go, who fly frequently, who use par- right for you. You can do that on some train app and also order food on trains. ticular airlines because they have elite vacation-idea apps, but most are hap- If one wants to know the probability status and who seek off-the-beaten hazard and, divorced from useful in- of confirmation of your train ticket? path itineraries won’t be surprised by formation about flights and hotels. It There's an app for that too. Some apps the cities or points of interest they see integrates the puzzle pieces. analyse more than 30 million PNRs in on Destinations. Certainly, Google search on your the last three years to see the probabil- That said, chances are they’ll like the smartphone cannot meet all your ity of confirmation of wait-listed train planning tools. The price bar graph is travel-planning needs—like Lonely passengers. Their flight app is also able a quick way to narrow down when to Planet, the erstwhile mother of all to make some interesting prediction go. And a flexible dates feature allows guide books. But, as they say, search about fares and whether one should you to say that you want to go in June, and you shall find. wait or buy a flight ticket. Yatra, an online travel agent, too has come forward with new features such as "hold for free", where a cus- tomer can hold international tickets for a fixed number of hours at no extra cost. It also offers "last minute hotel deals" where there are lucrative discount offers for people who book their trip at the last moment and don't want to shell out a fortune. Yatra re- cently came up with their web check- in app for a seamless check-in. Though travel-related bookings on mobile phones are on the rise, some feel it will be a while before it becomes a trend. In the Indian context, it is a long shot to expect that travellers will plan and book an entire holiday - with flight, hotels, cars, sightseeing, and so on. - on a mobile device. There are others who point out that Google's destination is more of an ex- Smartphone can meet most of your travel planning needs

MYSTIC EAST | 41 ECONOMY HOTELS

Choice of the Nouveau Rich The budget hotel segment has been growing by leaps and bounds. With more smart cities and aspiration of smalltown Indians, economy hotels will hook the burgeoning middle-class

NDIA is one of the few countries market segment is expected to grow last five years there has been a gradu- on a growth path even though with infrastructure development, im- al shift and re-structuring going on in the rest of the world is recover- proved connectivity to Tier I and II the industry. The last decade has seen ing from an economic downslide. cities and increase in the burgeoning the rise of many budget and economy IAccording to a report, by 2030, In- domestic travel. hotels in the country with more than dia’s middle-class is expected to grow 80 per cent of the growth being in the to 50 per cent whereas the country’s Mid-market growth economy/ budget segment. population is expected to reach about Since past 60 years, the Indian hotel Overall, India offers enormous op- 1.5 billion. This nouveau rich class is Industry has largely concentrated on portunity for mid-market and econ- going to be one of the main target cli- the top end of luxury in hospitality omy/budget brands to spread their entele for the economy/budget hotel and then premium, with little pene- wings across nearly 8200 towns and segment. tration in the mid-market and econo- cities. As per an industry report, the Going forward, the value-driven my/budget segment. However, in the two-star category hotels registered

42 | MYSTIC EAST May - June 2016

the highest RevPAR growth in 2013- 14 (a 12.7 per cent year-on-year growth), owing to about eight per cent annual increase in average rates and highlighting the acceptance of brand- ed economy and budget hotels across the country. In the past few years, travelling has become an important part of our lives, be it business travellers, fami- lies or even students. With frequent trips becoming a lifestyle trend, the travellers look for a place that offers good services without burning a hole in their pocket. Ritesh Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer, OYO Rooms feels that there is a major shift as econo- my hotels have raised the standards of their offerings at a lesser price. The economy/budget hotel segment is definitely getting better and it will scale fast in future. “Economy hotels have gone through one round of evolution in India be- tween 2005 and 2015, Indian guests are some of the most value-conscious Budget hotels shun luxury in most cases around. What we started in 2010 as an economy brand has ended up evolving to a full-service eclectic hotel ing telecommunication, information Economy/budget hotel is a revo- brand in 2014,” reveals an owner of a technology, information technology lutionary concept in hospitality for chain of budget hotels across India. enabled services and others. Travel the value segment focusing on key Historically there has been a vacu- within the country increased mani- facilities that meet the key needs of um for quality affordable accommo- fold fuelling demand due to the emer- the economically-minded traveller, dation, according to a Group Pres- gence of nouveau middle class, with feels Managing Director of a hospi- ident and Chief Executive Officer, of high disposable income and growing tality group. There is a high demand another budget hotel chain. With the appetite for leisure travel. but a still rather limited supply in this opening up of the economy hotels With 25,000 rooms and a de- mid-market segment which makes it during the past decade, the Indian mand compound annual growth rate attractive for potential investors and hospitality market is witnessing an (CAGR) (2008-14) at 24.6 per cent many of the upcoming hotel develop- emergence of the economy/budget ahead of the supply CAGR (21.1 per ment projects currently taking place segment of hotels. Also, with increase cent) and 4.5 per cent RevPAR growth to position themselves in this seg- in the number of domestic travellers for YTD14, the segment is definitely ment. within India, there is a rising demand on a positive path, states Nikhil Shar- for quality accommodation at a rea- ma, Chief Operating Officer, Red Fox Local Adaptation sonable price which has created a re- Hotels adding that the occupancies The economy/budget hotel brands sultant shift from luxury to economy in cities such as Mumbai and Gurga- have made a lot of adaptation to make hotels in past few years. on have been 70 per cent; Chennai at it relevant for the Indian clientele. With the opening up of the econo- 68.1 per cent; most other key markets The ‘smart-basic’ model adopted by my towards the end of the last millen- in the low 60 per cent, except Ahmed- The Ginger hotel offers service that nium, the face of the Indian economy abad at 58.2 per cent. Mumbai has focuses on most important hospital- changed with large investments com- major supply potential if right priced ity elements required by a traveller, ing in through various sectors, includ- land is available. keeping out unnecessary frills. This

MYSTIC EAST | 43 ECONOMY HOTELS

adapting to the dynamics of the local market requirements.

Opportunities and Challenges Availability of low-cost land in prime space for development of hotels is a major challenge, highlights some ho- tel owners. India is considered to be an ideal market for development of budget and mid-market hotels given the opening up of various sectors and also due to the fact that the commer- cial activity is also moving to Tier I and II cities across India. The biggest roadblock for economy hotels however are the high land costs affecting hotel projects feasibility, ris- ing construction cost, process of get- ting approvals and licenses. Ginger Hotels has witnessed an av- erage occupancy of 70 per cent across Customers book rooms online with minimum hassles its properties with affordable room rates. But, the budget sector in India is still nascent and many family-run con- cerns and new investors are expressing allows the brand to offer unparalleled property. This has kept their full-ser- interest in moving and entering in this hospitality experience at extremely vice orientation stay affordable. segment. But our biggest challenge is attractive and affordable price points. Likewise many other hotels un- to protect our margins while offering Similarly apart from offering nec- derstand the Indian market well and an affordable service and hiring/re- essary services at affordable prices, have therefore given the much need- taining human resource with special OYO Rooms uses technology to link ed emphasis on multi-cuisine dining skill-sets for the budget segment. all its functions and provide the cus- outlets, banquet areas and recreation Besides recording a growth rate of tomer a seamless experience right facilities such as swimming pool and 30 per cent every month, Agarwal from from booking a room online to free gym in all their hotels. OYO Rooms feels the biggest challenge Wi-Fi and efficiently trained staff. “The behaviour of Indian guests is that the economy hotel segment is The product needs careful evalua- is demanding as they seek luxury at highly disorganised and needs to be tion, blending international limited ser- affordable cost. This why we focus streamlined. “Moreover, our main aim vice experience with domestic reality of on quality rooms attended by well is to change the way economy hotels are the need to serve food. But additional trained staff, exceptional offerings of looked at and we don’t want to mislead food and beverage and meeting spac- our restaurants and most important- our customer about offering high-qual- es, with staff accretions, could wreck ly, an experience worth remember- ity services and later demand hidden the gross operating profit and returns ing for each guest,” says a CEO of an high prices,” he says. model unless meaningful margins are economy hotel. “Government’s apathy towards the derived, avers one hotel owner. Many hotels have adapted to the sector continues to be the biggest is- However, some hotels have realised local market requirements in terms sue. The sector desperately needs the dearth of a full menu at their ho- of their food and beverage and ban- conducive policy environment, single tels. After several experiments some queting. Notably, the brand has been window clearance mechanism, loans of them have been able to achieve the pioneer in creating new demand at attractive rates and rationalised full-service and full food and beverage and developing new markets hither- taxes to make it investor friendly. service by absorbing all the key talent to unexplored such as Asansol (West Also market stability is a crucial factor in their corporate and taking away Bengal), Patna (Bihar), Bareilly (Ut- to sustained business,” remarked the 40-50 per cent of the costs of each tar Pradesh), Dibrugarh (Assam) by head of a chain of budget hotels

44 | MYSTIC EAST BIG DATA F&B set to beat room rates A recent survey report shows revenue from F&B segment rose to 42.6 per cent in 2014-15 against 36.6 per cent in 2010-11

OST hotels are earning quets and restaurants - rose to 42.6 ITC Hotels," said DipakHaksar, chief more from food and bever- per cent in 2014-15 against 36.6 per executive, ITC Hotels and Welcom M ages (F&B) than room reve- cent in 2010-11, while room revenues Hotels to The Economic Times (ET). nues, as F&B revenue has been grow- declined to 50.9 per cent in 2014-15 With F&B in hotels across India ing constantly over the past five years from 57.2 per cent in 2010-11. becoming a key revenue driver and while room revenue has been dipping. "There has been a marked, dou- contributing anywhere between 35 According to a recent joint survey ble-digit growth in food and beverage and 50 per cent to overall revenues, by HVS (a leading consulting services revenues over the past couple of years. hoteliers say the success of food and on the hotel industry) and Federation Within the F&B segment, banqueting beverage can make or break a hotel. of Hotel and Restaurant Associations is showing great potential, which is For the Oberoi Group, close to 40 of India (FHRAI) report on the In- powered mainly by MICE and this per cent of its revenues come from dian hotel industry, revenue from has positively impacted our F&B rev- food and beverage. "For us, the ratio F&B segment – which includes ban- enues, boosting overall revenues at has moved from 35 per cent to 40

MYSTIC EAST | 45 BIG DATA

Flying down international chefs to design new menus is the latest fad in most hotels

per cent on an overall basis. As more MICE business. rants and so we are constantly doing and more Indians start dining out, Novotel Hotel and Grand Mercure R&D and new things like flying down we believe that food and beverage Hotel in Goa, for instance, together international chefs, food promotions, will play a very important role going have 20,000 square feet of banquet designing new menus, etc," says ahead. To give you an example, Indi- space. Krishani Chhatwal, director Chakraborty of Sofitel Hotel. ans only dine out twice a month while of Shrem Resorts, says the compa- Haksar of ITC Hotels says the com- the Chinese are dining out 60 times ny invested in importing a German pany has incubated new brands in a month - an average of twice a day. hangar specifically for its banquet at cuisines like Japanese and Italian to Even Indonesians dine out 15 times a Grand Mercure. "It's important to stay relevant and contemporary in its month," said Kapil Chopra, president, have banquets because that's what oyerings. The company also launched The Oberoi Group to ET. drives business during the weekdays a premium vegetarian dining restau- The importance of F&B revenues and summers," says Chhatwal, adding rant Royal Vega at its luxury property has increased as profitability from that revenue from F&B and banquet- ITC Grand Chola in Chennai. room revenues has declined over the ing has shot up by 30 per cent in 2015 While hotels are earning good past decade in India. What seems to be over 2014. The properties host close share of their revenue from F&B, driving this growth in F&B is a change to 25 events every month. margins from room revenue still in cultural trend of eating out often. Moreover, with standalone restau- continue to be higher than F&B. Ho- Hotels are aggressively promoting rants giving upscale hotels a run for tels try to maintain their food costs their F&B through discounts and of- their money, hotels are trying to ex- at around 25 per cent but additional fers to maintain their topline. In fact, ploit the potential of this segment to costs such as labour and heat, light, new hotels across the country have the fullest and are coming up with power (HLP) increase the spends. come up with large meeting spaces newer ways to offer more than just "The margins in the room busi- and restaurants. Developers are in- good food and drinks. ness is always higher than the food cluding banqueting spaces in resorts "We are gearing up our F&B outlets and beverage business due to the fact in leisure locations too to attract to compete with freestanding restau- that the room business does not have

46 | MYSTIC EAST May - June 2016

the food cost associated with it," says Chennai: After reeling under sup- Chennai with large-scale pharma- Chopra of Oberoi Group. ply pressure for the last three years, ceutical and investment conferences Chennai is now witnessing a come- contributing to the city's occupancy Inside the survey back with the market recording a dou- in the current fiscal. The HVS-FHRAI survey includes an ble-digit occupancy growth year-to- Delhi-National Capital Region: The analysis of seven major cities and 12 date in 2015-16. This growth is owed Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) other cities (where information was to an increase in Commercial demand consists of hotels located in Delhi, available for some hotels, though not from the IT/ITeS and financial sec- Faridabad, Ghaziabad, NOIDA, and in sufficient numbers for all the star tors as well as the upcoming demand Greater NOIDA. As the capital and the categories). The surveyors rue that from Meetings and Conferences. leading growth centre of the country, unless armed with accurate data pol- The IT corridor of Chennai, OMR, Delhi continues to be a strong market icy makers cannot be convinced give has witnessed an increase in demand for hotels despite supply pressures. the importance and priority that the as well as hotel occupancies this In the past year, contrary to the hotel industry deserves to fulfill its year despite the opening of the No- anticipated supply pressure by the potential in India's economic growth. votel-Ibis in Siruseri. While this is an Aerocity hotels, the branded budget In the current survey, while it was encouraging sign for the micromar- and mid-market hotels located with- possible to get the basic data for 1,358 ket, OMR is likely to experience sup- in successfully absorbed demand members the financial data was not ply pressure in the near term as an ad- that was previously catered to by available for all of them. ditional seven hotels (with over 1,200 the unorganised market. However, rooms) are expected to become oper- peripheral micromarkets such as Major Cities ational over the next couple of years. East Delhi, Dwarka and West Del- Bengaluru: This is the top IT/ITeS The MICE segment is emerging in hi saw limited RevPAR growth in market in the country with almost 80.0 per cent of the global IT com- panies basing their India operations here. The availability of land and Bengaluru's first mover advantage in the IT sector, coupled with a highly skilled workforce has made the city an attractive investment destination for players in the hospitality sector and currently the third-largest hotel market in the country. On the other hand, the depen- dence on IT has also made the Ben- galuru hotel market vulnerable to global economic changes, given the high foreign-to-domestic ratio. How- ever, while the technology sector will remain the main demand generator for hotels, the growth of start-ups, aeronautical engineering, steel, bio- technology, and mining sectors in the city gives us reason to believe that this vulnerability will decline in the long term. With regard to hotel market perfor- mance, occupancy and average rate have remained resilient in 2014-15 as compared to the previous fiscal, despite the influx of supply and slow- down in the IT/ITeS sector. Hotels are aggressively promoting their F&B through discounts and offers

MYSTIC EAST | 47 BIG DATA

The iconic Oberoi Grand: The Kolkata market witnessed double-digit growth in room supply

the absence of a strong Commercial paying domestic segment cushioned demand base, and continued to be the situation and drove RevPAR up largely dependent on MICE and the for the hotel market in Goa. low-paying Leisure business. Kolkata: Kolkata, the East Indian Goa: Having witnessed two large city known for its rich cultural her- ticket hotel transactions (Park Hyatt itage, has steadily continued on the Goa and Leela Goa), the Goa hotel path of urban development in the past market has been in the limelight for The improving few years. While the main commercial the last 12 months. While one may activity, driven by PSUs, manufactur- argue the subjective aspect behind road and airline ing, local businesses and the commod- these sales, on a more macro level, connectivity as well ities market remains concentrated in this momentum definitely reaffirms the Central Business District (CBD) investor confidence in the hotel mar- as large banqueting area, government impetus has enabled ket and its long-term potential. Over facilities in Kolkata rapid development of the eastern pe- the last year, even though baseline ripheral areas such as Rajarhat. occupancies were under pressure due have led to a robust Salt Lake City, and EM Bypass. to the ongoing geo-political crisis in growth of the MICE Infrastructural development of these Russia (largest international feeder areas as well as the proximity to Neta- market), coupled with weak business segment jiSubhas Chandra Bose International sentiment in the Eurozone, a shift in Airport has encouraged the growth focus to the ever-buoyant and higher of the services industry including IT/

48 | MYSTIC EAST May - June 2016

Occupancy and Average Rate (2010-11 to 2014-15) in quality room supply may result in pressure on the occupancies and av- erage rates in the near term, but we 5,000 4,677 4,729 4,789 70.0% 4,578 4,507 expect the market to gradually im- prove its performance over the long 4,000 65.0% term. ` ) (

te 62.1% Mumbai : Mumbai, commonly re- 60.4% 61.3% 3,000 60.9% 60.4% 60.0% e Ra garded as the financial capital of the ag

er country, recorded the highest occu- Occupancy (%) Av 2,000 55.0% pancy and average rate across the country in the last fiscal. In recent times, the Mumbai hotel market has 1,000 50.0% 2010 -11 2011 -122012-13 2013 -14 2014 -15 evolved into three micromarkets, Average Rate Occupancy specifically South, Central and North Mumbai that operate fairly inde- pendently. In the last fiscal, all three Sources of Revenue (2010-11 to 2014-15) micromarkets displayed an increase in occupancy and average rate across 100.0% 6.2% 6.5% 6.6% 6.9% 6.6% the board. The upward trend across 90.0%

nue the micromarkets was primarily due 80.0% 36.6% 38.3% 41.2% 41.9% 42.6% to the continuous addition and ab- Reve 70.0%

tal sorption of office stock within the re- 60.0%

To spective areas that has further fuelled

to 50.0% demand for hotels across market seg- 40.0% ments. 30.0% 57.2% 55.2% 52.2% 51.3% 50.9% Pune: In the face of increasing de- 20.0% mand and no new supply entering the

% Contribuon 10.0% branded hotel market in 2014-15, Pune 0.0% 2010-11 2011-122012-132013-142014-15 saw a robust growth in occupancy. The Rooms Food & Beverage and Banquets Other year-to-date occupancy in 2015-16 has also recorded a steady increase over the previous year across all major mi- cromarkets. What is commendable is that the citywide average rate year-to- ITeS, engineering, medical, and tele- tinues to lead the demand for hotels, date has also experienced a marginal com sectors. Giants such as IBM and the improving road and airline con- growth, supported by increasing de- PwC have set up their offices in Sector nectivity as well as large banqueting mand and slowdown in supply. V in Salt Lake City, which has boosted facilities prevalent in the city have led Even though detailed information the demand for quality accommoda- to a robust growth of the Meetings was not available twelve other cit- tion. With over seven million square and Conferences segment. ies were surveyed. Contrary to the feet of commercial space under con- Trends and opportunities: The city All-India trend of increasing Rooms struction in Rajarhat and Salt Lake, remains one of the smallest brand- expenses and decreasing F&B expens- the eastern margin of the city seems ed hotel markets in the country with es, some of the cities specifically -In to be poised on the threshold of devel- most of the demand being currently dore, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, oping as a self-sustaining micromar- absorbed by the unorganised sector. and Udaipur reported a decrease in ket for hotels. With almost 2,000 rooms currently Rooms expenses and increase in F&B The Kolkata hotel market wit- under development, the city is an- expense. Cities such as Ahmedabad, nessed double-digit growth in room ticipated to double its branded room Indore, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram supply in 2014-15, corresponding to a inventory over the next five years and Udaipur have even improved marginal decline in RevPAR, primari- and, therefore, encourage a shift of their net income as compared to ly due to a drop in overall occupancy. demand for quality accommodation 2013-14, some of them exceeding 32 While the Commercial segment con- to the organised market. The increase per cent net income.

MYSTIC EAST | 49 STATE SURVEY: TRIPURA

The call of Green Hills An abode of rich floral and faunal biodiversity, this tiny state can be a perennially attractive destination for eco-tourists

RIPURA is the second Five parallel hill ranges (Jampui, the forests and traditionally and cul- smallest state of North- Sakhantlang, Langtarai, Atharamura turally rich hamlets, which have po- East India covering an area and Baramura-Deotamura) clothed tential to provide a deep insight into of just 10,492 square km. with forest of varying density and ten the cultural and ecological diversity TBeing isolated from the mainland, it major rivers (Langai, Juri, Deo, Manu, of the state. In pollution free envi- suffers from overall proper economic Dhalai, Khowai, Haora, Gumti, Muhu- ronment, the tourists get physically development. The state has about 60 ri and Fenny) occupying the valleys be- invigorated and mentally rejuvenat- per cent of the total geographical area tween two adjacent hill ranges, dotted ed culturally enriched and spiritually under forest cover, out of which about with tribal hamlets, provide a perfect elevated. Eco-tourism provides the 6 per cent is under protected areas in landscape for tourists with different incentives to local people, entrepre- the form of four wildlife sanctuaries preferences and tastes for the kind of neurs and governments. It is an ac- namely, Sipahijala, Trishna, Gumti recreation and enjoyment. tivity, if properly managed, can give and Rewa. Innumerable treks exist through fairly sustainable economic incen-

50 | MYSTIC EAST May - June 2016

foreigners in Tripura. Bus service be- tween Agartala and Dhaka has played an important role in this re- gard. Moreover insurgency problem is no more in the state which keeps the tourists to feel free to visit any- where of the state. Communication is now becoming easier through air, road and rail connections. Therefore it is the right time to take more initia- tives to develop eco-tourist industry in Tripura which will also generate employment and socio-economic sta- tus of the people in general and tribal people in particular will acquire a mo- mentum.

Some major eco-tourist spots (i) Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary: This sanctuary is located in the west- ern part of Tripura, under Bishalgarh Subdivision of West Tripura District and about 28 km away from the cap- ital town of Agartala. It is an ideal place for biodiversity conservation covering with an area of 18.53 km2. Here both in-situ and ex-situ conser- vation of wildlife is found. This safe heaven for wildlife is par- ticularly valuable for wide green for- est and rare species of plants. Bota- nists have recorded as many as 456 plant species in Sepahijala. Besides this, tropical moist deciduous forest, tives to the local people. from poor infrastructure and commu- as many as seven different kinds of Realizing the enormous economic, nication facilities, insurgency was a primates including the rhesus and ecological, recreational and conserva- major deterrent in the state still last pig-tailed macaque, capped languor, tion potential and growing interests decade. spectacled macaque, slow lories etc in eco-tourism, it is important to de- The tourist traffic increased sub- are notable. Apart from leopard, velop and promote the activity in the stantially after the removal of the clouded leopard, civets, binturong, state. Marketing of landscape beauty entry permit system in the state, barking deer and wild boar, this for- could be a cottage industry in Tripura. in May 1995. In 2009-10, the State est plays host as many as 100 species The process of tourism develop- Government has established Tripura of birds including waders, waterfowl ment in the state was accelerated Tourism Development Corporation and migratory birds of which lesser since 1987, when tourism was given Limited in June 2009 having its cor- whistling teal, white ibis, open billed the status of industry and various porate office located at Swetmahal, stork are remarkable. incentives were offered. It is consid- Agartala for effective management of Here the main attractions are Na- ered as an industry because, for its the tourism industry in the State. The ture Interpretation Centre, Eco vil- growth a separate infrastructure is record shows a remarkable increase lage with Tree House accommoda- required which include hotels, resorts in the arrival of domestic and foreign tion, high rise Watch Tower, Eco park and many other things which have tourists after withdrawal of the re- and children joy ride, Exotic zoo an- integral relation with industry. Apart strictions imposed on the visit of the imals, Picnic spot, Botanical garden

MYSTIC EAST | 51 STATE SURVEY: TRIPURA

and Lake view resort. ly endangered only ape species of In- (ii) Tepania Eco Park: This Park is dian sub-continent i.e., the Hoolock located in Udaipur Sub-Division, Gibbon and Primates like Capped lan- 47 km from Agartala and 5 km from guor and Golden langur. It has vast Udaipur. It is set amidst a charming variety of faunal species of insects, ambience of natural beauty. Total reptiles, amphibians, fishes, birds, area of this park covers 155 hectares, mammals. Lakes, herbs, deep forest, with lash green and amazing nature. wild life and human habitation have This park is equipped with a rare made it a natural paradise. orchid house, unique tree houses, iv) Jampui Hills: It is located in Kan- tented accommodations, watch tow- chanpur Sub-Division of North Tri- er, hanging bridge, picnic block etc. pura District, 220 km from Agartala This Eco Park harbours a fascinating and 100 km from Dharmanagar. The range of bio-diversity. It is also home luxuriant forest of jampui Hills is the to capped languor, red jungle fowl, premier one among the six principal hares and a variety of reptilian fauna. hill ranges of this State. Jampui the (iii) Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary: It is permanent seat of spring is situated located at Joychandpur in Belonia at an altitude of about 3000 ft above Sub-Division, 95 km from Agartala mean sea level. In the eastern side of and 15 km from Belonia. It is covered the hill range bordering with Mizoram with an area of 194.704 km2. Among and in the southern part lays Chitta- the four major sanctuaries in this gang Hill Tract, Bangladesh. Jampui State, Trishna is one of the attractive is famous for its charming landscape destinations for nature lovers. There and bracing climate. is an overall uniqueness of the flo- Neat and clean traditional wooden ral diversity spread throughout this houses of their local inhabitants com- sanctuary. One can also appreciate bined with greenery all round provide both in-situ and ex-situ conservation excellent opportunities for eco friend- of flora and fauna in Trishna Wildlife ly tourism in this hill range. Vangmun, Sanctuary There are 230 tree species, Phuldangsai, Sabowal, Belianchip etc 400 herbs, 110 shrubs and 150 climb- villages consist evergreen beauty. The ers available in the sanctuary. The viewing of rising and setting sun from density of trees is 111 per ha. Tripura's tribes comprise ethnic various viewpoints in the Jampui Hill The heterogeneous mixture of groups with diverse languages and is an excellent feeling and emotion to ground flora is indicated in agglom- cultures a tourist. Jampui is also famous for eration of various monocot and dicots tasty oranges. herbs, shrubs, climbers, lichens, ferns, (v) Dumboor Lake: It is the largest fern allies and regeneration of under- If properly water body in the State, located in ground bulbs and rhizomes, kurcha, managed, eco- Gondacherra and Amarpur Subdivi- tulsi, vasak, sarpagandha, rudraksha, sions. The area of the lake is 41 km2 bel, chirata, kalmegh etc. are medic- tourism can give and there are almost 48 islets inside inal plants available in plenty. One fairly sustainable the lake. The surrounding hills and species of bamboo Oxtenanthera ni- the islets are enchantingly emerald grocilliate locally known as Kaillai is economic green and present a captivating sce- found abundance at this place, leaves incentives to the nic spectacle. It is home to the differ- of which are liked by Bison. This bam- ent types of migratory birds. There is boo is said to be endemic. local people, a hydel power project near the lake The great attraction of this sanctu- espcially the the where the River Gumti originates and ary is a sizeable population of Indian the area is called Tirthamukh, where Bison, commonly known as Gaba. ethnic groups a big fair is held every year on Paus Another facet of Trishna is that, it is Sankranti. also the habitat of and home to high- (vi) Gumti Wildlife Sanctuary: It

52 | MYSTIC EAST May - June 2016

least aerial disturbance in the flight route to the area attract large variety of bird species. Rowa is a permanent abode for the seasonal migratory wa- ter birds for decades. Though prelim- inary a bird sanctuary, one can also appreciate both in-situ and ex-situ conservation of flora and fauna in Rowa Wildlife Sanctuary. The floral diversity of the sanctuary is unique and well distributed in the tiers of flo- ral canopies. Large varieties of herb, shrub, climber and tree species found in the sanctuary have medicinal val- ue. It is rich in the species diversity in bamboo as well. The sanctuary has faunal variety of species of insects, reptiles, fishes, birds and mammals. Jampui is famous for its charming landscape It is a safe abode for birds. More than 10 species of birds have been sighted in the sanctuary in different nesting season. Other attractive places are Khumu- luwng Eco Park, Durgabari Tea Gar- den, Devipur Tea Garden etc. Arrival of domestic and foreign tourists: Restricted Area Permit pro- hibited the foreigners to enter into Tripura for a long period of time and it has been withdrawn only in May, 1995. Consequently the arrival of foreign tourists started to increase gradually as shown in fig.1 and the gradual increase in the number of for- eign tourists was from 96 (1996-97) to 6550 (2011-12). Similarly the number of domestic tourists has increased from 189251 to 359731 for the same period. Af- Ujjayanta Palace is a former royal palace of Tripura ter adoption of Ecotourism Policy in the year 2004, there was increase in number of domestic tourist during is located in Amarpur Subdivision medical and therapeutically botanical the period 2006-07 to 20011-12. covering an area of 389.54 square species are in abundance. It has 72 Maximum arrival of tourists, both km. Close to the sanctuary, there is species of trees, 40 species of shrubs domestic and foreign, is recorded a Dumboor reservoir which attracts and 25 species of grasses. Nearly 52 in the month of October for all the several resident and migratory water varieties of fauna and 101 varieties of years of consideration. This is main- birds. This sanctuary has elephants, avifauna are found in this sanctuary. ly because of the favourable weather bison, sambar, barking deer, wild (ix) Rowa Wildlife Sanctuary: It is lo- for site seeing; Durga Puja vacation goat apart from many other animals cated in Dharmanagar, North Tripu- in educational institutes, holidays in and reptiles. The sanctuary boasts ra District covering 0.86 square km offices; availability of air fare in LTC of a rich flora and fauna. Numerous area. The tranquil environment and for travel in north-east India etc. In

MYSTIC EAST | 53 STATE SURVEY: TRIPURA

transport and communication sys- tem, accommodation facilities, tourist guides, proper advertising etc. Source: A study on eco-tourism po- tential in Tripura, North-east India by Bajrang Lal Meena and Nibedita Das (Pan) Indian Streams Research Journal (JUNE ; 2012)

SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS • Shopping Malls to be set up at every site to focus the local handicrafts. • Better relaxation facilities in Wildlife Sanctuaries, Eco-Parks with clean, hygienic food outlets. Sepahijala is an ideal place for diverse flora and fauna • More specialist restaurants serving better continental Cuisine to serve Domestic/ foreign tourists. the month of December also people attraction due to its remoteness, less • More information brochures about use to travel to enjoy the holidays af- publicity, transport problem etc. tourist attractions in Tripura and ter annual examinations of their chil- Dumboor Lake attracts a large num- provision for a Tourist Information dren and also to make the year ending ber of tourists during Pous Sankranti Centre at promenade with qualified memorable and to get them Fare. Moreover, the area is still sensi- professional tourist guides. tive for uprooting of a large number • Better public conveniences at all Feedback from tourists of indigenous people who sometimes tourist spots. Majority of the tourists (42 per cent) creates some havoc and therefore the • More handicrafts and antique were first time visitors to Eco-Park flow of tourists throughout the year is shops for sale of authentic and Wildlife Sanctuaries of Tripura. absent here. However, more than 32 per cent re- During field survey the tourists have Souvenirs. spondents indicated that they had pointed out some drawbacks of the • Marketing available motorbikes or visited Eco-Parks and Wildlife Sanc- tourist spots, they have visited which car on rent for local transportation. tuaries earlier more than twice and 26 are appended in the box for consider- • More Sign Boards on roads to help per cent tourists visited once or twice ation. Improvement in transportation the tourists. earlier. These figures indicate that facilities is essential for local people • Accessible Dial on Assistance; nearly 58% respondents have found and for site seeing purposes. Phone booths for tourists to cater the spots attractive and have revisit- Eco-tourism is a happy marriage their needs. ed or have inspired others to visit the between traditional tourism industry • Paying Guest Accommodation, spots and have accompanied them. and modern concept of sustainable Bed breakfast scheme should be Among the sanctuaries Sipahijala eco-friendly development strategy of introduced. attracts more tourists (21 per cent), tourism which reduces its negatives • More “Tourist Police” to cater the Trishna Sanctuary and Jampui Hill and increases the welfare of mankind. fetch 19 per cent and 18 per cent re- Above discussion reveals that Tripu- need of the Tourists. spectively and Tepania Eco Park 16 ra has very high potential of nature • Setting up water sports facilities in per cent . Other spots are visited by based tourist industry for which gov- Wildlife Sanctuaries and Eco Parks. 7-8 per cent visitors. ernment has to take necessary steps • Increased accommodation in three- Kalapania Nature Park gets less to improve infrastructures including star category hotels.

54 | MYSTIC EAST