Inaugural Session
The 2nd Convention of Hotel & Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI) was inaugurated Sh. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Haryana
Inaugurating the momentous occasion, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Haryana Sh. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said, “It gives us immense pleasure that HRANI has organized this historic convention of the North India States in Gurgaon. On behalf of the Government of Haryana, I wish Mr. Garish Oberoi, President-HRANI, Mr.Rajindera Kumar, Chairman and all those associated with the convention including all the Participants a very grand success.”
In his inaugural address, Sh. Hooda stated that 1966 was the year when Haryana came into existence. The 42 tourist complexes of Haryana are being maintained to cater to the upsurge of tourists and Golf tourism is being attracted as all the golf courses are all of international standards. Besides, adventure tourism, MIC, Medical tourism are also being promoted as also Kurukshetra as a hub for religious tourism. Amusement parks, Heritage hotels, integrated tourism, resorts and Budget hotels are the future of tourism.
He also mentioned that work on an international convention centre is in progress and an Institute of hotel management is being developed all over Haryana. Recently a new institute has been opened by Bharat hotels Limited in Faridabad. He added that in 2013 the Suraj Kund craft mela was upgraded to an International Craft Mela which was very encouraging for Haryana Tourism.
Speaking on occasion Mr. Vijai Vardhan, Principal Secretary –Tourism said that Convention facilities have already been set up as part of Tourism Complexes in Rohtak, Faridabad and Suraj kund and work is in progress in Panchkula and Hisar.
Guest of Honour, Sh Parvez Dewan, Secretary Tourism, MoT congratulated Mr. Oberoi and Mr. Kumar for organizing such a magnum opus. Speaking on the occasion, he said, India is seen as a winter holiday destination but the MoT has been working on changing that perception with the Himalayas as the all year long destination. The 6 Himalayan states are connected by Delhi airport and 73% of himalyas are in India”
The Growth rate in July 7.9% Aug 6.4%, sep 5.6%. and January onwards there was no negative growth but momentum was slow. He then shared with the audience over streaming internet a preview of 2 new ads for the promotion of Himalayas which would be premiered in WTM.
The Incredible India website is under constant up gradation and efforts are on to make it more users friendly. The MoT has with Wonobo group and Google developed a multi crore project free of cost where international tourists would be able to plan their holidays including air ticket, visa online.
He also mentioned that the 6th airline of India may be coming soon. Features of incredible india website include Tour packages, Rail tickets, Flight tickets, hotel booking, Destination or sight features, sightseeing visual map of launching 3d etc. He mentioned his plan of launching audio guides for heritage monuments in India which would be available to the tourist free of cost.
According to the Planning Commission, travel and tourism sector creates 78 jobs per million rupees of investment as compared to 45 in the manufacturing sector which shows the contribution of industry says Mr. Garish Oberoi, President - HRANI. “.
“10 million young Indians will enter the country's workforce every year. The tourism sector is poised to be a pivotal catalyst for successfully capitalizing on India's demographic dividend by creating sustainable opportunities for skill development, gainful employment and economic empowerment for our youth”. he further expressed.
Multiplicity of taxes, small gestation periods, high cost of loans, lower FARs, numerous regulations and licenses, cumbersome licenses procedures are all issues that need to be tacked by the States to attain future Growth says Mr. S.M. Shervani, President – FHRAI
Higher investment on infrastructure has been registered according to authentic economic surveys. 100% FDI on hotel sector & Incredible India campaign have boosted tourism says Mr. Rajindera Kumar, Chairman, Convention. Hotels are important component of tourism & Northern region has good opportunity for future growth which is the agenda of the convention, he expressed.
About HRANI “Hospitality Industry – Shaping the future Growth” During the entire Convention there were various talk points that were discussed and deliberated upon in detail. The major topics covered in the convention were