Even as Indian tourism sector logged Rs 50,730 crore foreign exchange revenue in 2008 against Rs 44,360 crore in the previous year, the impressive performance has not helped the hotel industry to stem the 40% topline losses incurred during 2008-09, said MP Purushothaman, president of South Indian Hotels & Restaurants Association (SIHRA), at a press meet on Saturday.
Purushothaman urged the government to initiate measures like introducing uniform luxury tax at 4% on actual tarrif made applicable across the country. There are some urgent steps need to be taken to bail out the industry when the economy is emitting signs of revival.
A series of measures, including abolishing of service tax for hotels and and granting loans at the lower interest rates, would turn around the hospitality industry’s fortune, he added.
Explaining on the lower interest rate demand, he welcomed the recent RBI notification that hotels be taken out of the high-risk category of real estate exposure, facilitating banks to give loans at lower interest rate and will also help hotels to avail larger credit for developmental purposes.
Purushothaman added that suggestions, if implemented by the government, would enable the revival of projects that were put on hold or shelved. Besides this, measures like lower taxes could also help the industry to book better profits and increase the room realisation rate.
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