Japanese Funds In Hotel Sector Sought

The Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) will soon pull down some existing hotels including the Lodhi Hotel, Janpath Hotel and Ranjeet Hotel to build new ones at the sites, Sundaram said.

He was addressing a meeting of the delegates of a Japanese tourism development mission with the representatives of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci) in New Delhi yesterday.

The tourism secretary urged equity participation by the Japanese in the building of the new hotels.

Many important hotel chains, including Hyatt and Mariott, are now focusing on India. Some internationally reputed time share chains have also established their bases in the country. So can you, Sundaram pointed out.

 

Calling for greater synergy between Japan and India in tourism development, he said five mega projects had already been approved by the governments of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Diu.

There is immense scope for the Japanese to invest in these projects, he added.

During an interactive session held later, many of the Japanese delegates expressed scepticism about investing in hotels in the country.

They cited red tapism and frequent changes in policy as causes for concern and sought clarifications on availability of finance.

We are focusing on Asia, including India, but there are some difficulties in investing in hotels in India, said Mari Takaba, sub-manager (international development and construction) of Mitsui & Company.

According to her, the main problems encountered in the country were: lack of good pieces of land in Delhi and Mumbai for developing hotels, difficulty in getting finances organised and frequent changes in government policies.

Indo-Japanese Business Cooperation Committee chairman B K Modi refuted these charges.

Koyichi Suzuki, leader of the Japanese tourism mission, struck a positive note. According to him, joint investments by Indian and Japanese firms in the hotel sector could be considered.

The delegation, Suzuku said, was a fact-finding mission to assess the potential in India not only for channelising Japanese tourists to India but also for making investment in the country in the tourism sector .

India, because of its cultural heritage and religious affinity, could be a rewarding destination for Japanese tourists, he said.

Others who spoke at the meeting included Ficci president Deepak banker, Indian Tourism Development Corporation chairman Anil Bhandari and ITC Hotels vice-president (marketing) Ashok Anantram.