The Hotel Industry Suffers From GST

Sudesh Poddar, President, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India, and Hony. Treasurer, the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association of India, spoke to BE’s Kishore Kumar Biswas about the major trends in India’s hospitality and tourism sector.

- Kishore Kumar Biswas

Q. Please mention some of the changes in the Indian hotel industry that you are witnessing in the last 10 to 15 years.

A. The hotel or hospitality sector is growing continuously in India. But the rate of growth is not very high. The first visible change is the growth of online bookings. In India, at present, about 60% of the bookings of the rooms are online. And it is increasing. Online booking is done mostly through Make My Trip, clear trip, goibibo, OYO, bookings.com etc.

Secondly, there is virtually no published tariff of rooms in the hotels now. The rate depends on the forces of demand and supply of rooms at the booking time. At present, the price of hotel rooms fluctuates like that of air tickets.

Thirdly, there is another sea change in this sector. The home’s stay option has become popular throughout India. One house owner can let some of the spare rooms of his/her house to the tourists. Governments of the respective states are interested in giving licences to the willing house owners provided they follow certain rules on safety, security, fire, and others. This home stay is cheaper and it helps earn income of the aged and not so wealthy house owners.