What will be the vision during your tenure as President of HRANI?
My vision is to put together conclaves in major cities of all nine Northern States. I believe that conclaves play an important role in giving due recognition to the Hospitality Industry. It is also a platform to highlight latest trends and techniques, potential and key developments of the sector. Also it provides an opportunity to all stakeholders to deliberate on policy matters including concerns of the industry in partnership with the government and other trade bodies.
Besides that, we have been working in partnership with FSSAI, HRANI has been awarded as early adopters of the FOSTAC programmes. The association has been involved in conducting a series of FOSTAC sessions since we have been empanelled with FSSAI. We will continue to facilitate our members by conducting more sessions and would like to go to tier 2 and 3 cities of nine states to spread awareness on the subject. We have already planned a FOSTAC programme in New Delhi on October 20th, 2018. We are also planning another session in Jaipur soon.
In my tenure, as president we will work on areas such as increased Government Interaction, Membership Growth, Skill Development, Environment Sustainability, Brand Building, Knowledge Drive through workshops, as well as seminars.
Where will the First Conclave under your presidentship be held?
Right now we are at the initial stages of planning a daylong session. The desired destination of the event is the City of Lakes, Udaipur. As I stated, we are at the formative stage of planning conclaves in all nine states and are in the process of charting out the details for the same. As of now, we are trying to set up base for these conclaves through the upcoming daylong session in Udaipur. It will be followed by an MC meeting as well where we will take decisions on the agenda, programme and execution of these conclaves. More information shall be circulated about it in coming days.
How will you work towards increasing the Region's membership base?
I am proud to acknowledge that memberships from the Northern Region are the highest in number. We have seen consistent growth in this aspect. Again, as I've shared before, the aim towards increasing the numbers of HRANI's members will be one of the focal points under my tenure. The latest 53rd FHRAI Annual Convention which was held in Lucknow brought in a good number of memberships to the Northern Region. It also witnessed participation of about twelve hundred delegates which to me is a record. I am proud that maximum number of participation came from the Northern Region.
I believe conventions, conclaves and such activities provide a platform for dialogue and constant interaction with the industry and its stakeholders and as an organization we must keep interacting with our members. The state associations can play a crucial role in adding more members to the region. Another thing which I truly feel is that our association's works towards the benefit of the members, this ipso facto will increase the membership.
According to you, where is the Hospitality Industry heading?
I believe digital hospitality is the future of our industry. Gone are the times of jotting down notes and guest preferences in pen and paper, everything is digital now. The digital revolution is evident nowadays, when our Hon'ble Prime Minister is rooting for "Digital India", we must too root for "Digital Hospitality".
The fact that tourism is based on the cooperation between a wide range of services and products, the benefits of the digital revolution in the sector are immense. Thanks to the digital revolution, the international development trends in tourism have opened the way for new solutions like cloud-based booking sites or information and experience sharing via digital platforms.