Hospitality CEOs raise demands of infra status, increasing marketing spends

Infrastructure status and easing taxation have been a long-standing demand of the sector

Chief executive officers (CEOs) from major hospitality companies raised concerns about taxation policies and the lack of infrastructure status for hotels during a closed-door meeting with government officials on Wednesday at the 18th CII Annual Tourism Summit.

 

The meeting was chaired by Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran, alongside other policymakers.

 

Sources told Business Standard that executives also pushed for increased marketing budgets for the Incredible India campaign to boost foreign tourist arrivals.

 

“The Incredible India campaign promotes India as a global tourist destination, but there has been no marketing effort in the past five years. Not enough resources are allocated to showcasing India’s tourism potential — including weddings, wellness, and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions). We need the government to press the pedal on efforts in this area,” one attendee told Business Standard.

 

Infrastructure status and easing taxation have been longstanding demands of the sector.

 

While several state governments have granted hotels industry status, the central government has yet to follow suit.

 

“To unlock the sector’s full potential, it is essential to grant infrastructure status without restrictive geographical or population-based criteria. This change is long overdue,” said Puneet Chhatwal, chairman of the CII National Committee on Tourism and managing director and CEO of Indian Hotels Company, earlier in the day.

 

“Regarding ease of doing business, some laws and regulations are redundant, and compliance costs increase the cost of doing business. This is a challenge we continue to struggle with,” he added.