Tourism and hospitality sectors should be separated: Farhat Jamal

Speculations continue why despite hospitality industry bodies (Like FAITH, etc.) having several discussions with the government to provide major relief to the sector, it is yielding no outcome. Farhat Jamal, Group Advisor – Hospitality, Hiranandani Group; Former Sr. Vice President Operations, IHCL - Taj Group declared, “The important thing is to separate the parts in this industry when we go to the government. What we are doing is bargaining a laundry list of things and not having a sharper point for the industry to be helped.” He was speaking at the recent BW Hotelier webblast Breaking The Pandemic – ‘Future of the Hospitality Industry: An Outside In View’.

Further, Jamal reckoned, “Everyone wants to say that the tourism and hospitality sectors are seen together, but they should be separated.” If that is done, he argued, it will provide a better distribution of benefits for the sector. “There are important benefits which the government can help the industry like waivers on prices for electricity, etc. That will bring a lot of joy to the industry,” Jamal shared. Moreover, he pointed out that the capital intensiveness in the hotel and restaurant industry is hugely different from a travel trade or an airline or a taxi or surface transport. Jamal feels the hospitality industry has suffered the most since it is a capital-intensive industry - the highest amount of loans are aligned, and the maximum amount of land power is sitting.

Taking the discussion further, Jamal brought to notice the Ministry of Tourism's webinar series ‘Dekho Apna Desh’. He remarked, “It is a wonderful initiative. It has got so many components showcasing beautiful tourist sites of the country.” Jamal analyzed, “This website is doing marketing even today during the time of Covid-19, saying that people should travel within the country and visit all the interesting places.” Jamal thinks surface transport is going to be the new ‘normal’ as everyone can just drive to their places of interest. He concluded that (initiatives like) ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ is great but needs to be marketed properly and needs to have a better reach.