M!CE must for hospitality: Poddar

Sudesh Kumar Poddar, President, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), claims that urging the government to bring more events and boost M!CE industry in the country will be his key focus, which will not only bring business to hotels across India, but will also create better tourism infrastructure.

Nisha Verma

Sudesh Kumar Poddar, Director, Manthan Bar & Restaurant and Natraj Hotels & Resorts, has recently been elected as President, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI). The association has got a President after five years. “The last FHRAI President retired in 2018 and after that the position has been empty for the last five years. Within this time, we have seen the pandemic and a sea change in the hospitality industry,” says Poddar.

M!CE is key

In his new role, he claims, the key area of focus will be to urge the government to have more M!CE tourism on the lines of G20, as well as national and international games in India. “Once such mega events happen in the country, the direct benefit goes to the transport and the hospitality industry. Recently, the 2023 Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup happened in Bhubaneswat. All the hotels were full for almost 45 days and with the G20 meetings happening in the country, right from Arunachal Pradesh to Leh-Ladakh-Kashmir, and down to Kerala, all the hotels in small and big places are being benefitted. Thus, the government should focus more on M!CE tourism, so that the hospitality sector gets its share of business,” he suggests.

Manpower challenge

He says the biggest challenge in the hospitality industry is shortage of manpower, which would be another focus for him. “To me, it appears that this shortage is due to the lower payscale in the hospitality industry. The people working in the hospitality industry are skilled workers, like a lawyer, MBA, engineer or skilled workers from any other industry. This includes chefs, captains, stewards, and front office managers, as they all come from hotel management institutes. However, their pay is on the lower side. Hence, my focus would be urging the hotels and restaurants to increase `10-120 on a plate of food or drink and then increase the salary structure, so that people from other fields are keen to work in hospitality industry. Currently, there is an exodus from this industry and people are going to different industries, resulting in acute shortage of manpower,” he adds.

Hospitality future

Claiming that hotel rates have gone up and availability is an issue, he says, “Any tourism place in India today has acute dearth of hotels. As we are poised for a huge growth in the hospitality industry, we are trying to request more entrepreneurs to come into the hospitality industry and bring more hotels, homestays, guest houses and places of accommodation.”

Post-COVID changes

Saying that the industry has changed drastically after COVID first hit the world, Poddar suggests, “The most important thing we have learnt is not to jump and not go overboard in terms of money. During COVID, many industrialists or hoteliers who did not have big pockets, had to shut their business. We cannot repeat this mistake in future. Hence, our expenses should be limited as far as day-to-day running of the hotel is concerned. Also, we must look into our pockets and then go for expansion.”

Spotlight Northeast

Poddar says that Northeast is closest to his heart. “All my business is in Northeast and Eastern India. The region has so much to offer for tourism and now with PM Modi’s focus for growth of tourism there, I am sure there will be a growth boom. Be it Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Kaziranga, Kolkata, Darjeeling or Sandakphu, Northeast is going to be the sought after destination for all the tourists in the country and abroad. Most importantly, it’s virgin,” he mentions.

Government demands

On behalf of FHRAI, there are many demands from the government, and Poddar will be taking them forward. “We have been talking about industry status and infrastructure status for the hospitality industry. We are doing a lot about it and many states have already given infrastructure status to hospitality. While these things will come eventually, for the hospitality industry to thrive and do well, people in huge numbers must come to the country. G20 is a game changer. This is my topmost priority and very soon we are meeting the Hon. Tourism Minister also for the same agenda. We will ask the government to continue doing this,” he shares.

PPP mode

Speaking on the importance of public private partnership (PPP), Poddar suggests, “There are thousands of properties with the government which were either lying idle or not being run properly. The only option in such cases is PPP, which can help develop them.”