This is Vivek Nair’s second stint as President of the association having held the position in 2003-04
Vivek Nair, Vice-Chairman & MD, Hotel Leelaventure, has been elected as President of the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) for 2012-13. “I regard this opportunity to once again lead a venerable organisation such as FHRAI, particularly at this pivotal and exciting phase for our industry, as both a distinct privilege and a profound responsibility,” Nair said. He had previously served as the FHRAI President in 2003-04.
Addressing the media, Nair highlighted the tourism sector’s vast intrinsic potential to act as a catalyst for generating large-scale employment and promote equitable and inclusive economic growth. As per the report of the Planning Commission’s Working Group on Tourism, the sector will directly support about 63.79 lakh jobs by 2016-17, he said. WTTC estimates that the travel, tourism and hospitality sector will contribute 6.5 per cent of India’s total GDP in 2012. He also urged the government to facilitate a progressive and conducive policy framework for enabling the industry to viably undertake this massive additional investment. This includes granting ‘infrastructure’ status to the sector as a whole, by removing the restrictive stipulation presently prescribed in the Harmonised List of Infrastructure Sub-sectors. This, he added, would enable hotels to become entitled to industrial rates on power, water etc, instead of paying commercial tariff. The newly elected President further suggested that each state must constitute an empowered Hospitality Development Promotion Board (HDPB) under the Chairmanship of their Chief Secretaries, to serve as an effective single window mechanism and fast-track projects.
In view of the acute scarcity and exorbitant price of land in metro cities, he advocated for a liberalization of FSI/FAR norms and informed about FHRAI’s detailed submission in this regard to the Ministry of Urban Development during consultations for DDA’s MPD-2021.
Nair further explained that it is imperative to rationalise the industry’s complex multiple taxation structure, which has the cumulative impact of putting our country at a distinct competitive disadvantage as an international tourist destination vis-à-vis our South-east Asian peers. Hotels and restaurants should be included in the negative list for service tax and a uniform rate of luxury tax introduced, applicable only on actual and not published tariff, he said. He opined that a greater emphasis must be laid on forging innovative Public-Private Partnerships to address a wide range of complex challenges confronting the sector, particularly capacity-building for skill development and alleviating infrastructure bottlenecks.
