400 expected at HRANI Convention
The Hotel & Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI) is organising its 3rd HRANI Convention from Dec 18-19, 2015 at Le Meridien, New Delhi.
The first convention of HRANI was conceived in the year 2011 from the city of Golden Temple - Amritsar and continued forward to 2013 in Millennium City of Gurgaon. Talking about the theme of the convention, Luv Malhotra, President, HRANI, said, “The vision of 3rd HRANI convention: Hospitality -Made in India aims to provide full features on the potential of the Indian hospitality sector and will showcase new stories of successful innovations in the hospitality industry of India.” Malhotra added, “This year we are expecting an estimate of 350-400 delegates attending the event. We hope that like our past conventions the 3rd HRANI Convention will also achieve a spectacular success.”
Talking about challenges in this industry he said, “The biggest challenge for hotel industry is to create skills in this competitive scenario. Another vital challenge that the Indian hotel industry is facing is the presence of multiple taxation regime. Every state has a different taxation slab and charges different rates. Industry status, ease of doing business, single window clearances are some of the key subjects which states have to handle. Luxury tax on actual in Delhi has been a long pending demand of the industry. Implementation of Goods & Service Tax (GST) with a quantum of eight per cent is the need of hour. Moreover, further increase of 0.5 per cent service tax as Swachh Bharat cess has not only increased the effective service tax rate to 14.5 per cent but has further compounded the tariffs.”
Talking about the sessions planned, Rajindera Kumar, Former President, HRANI & Senior MC Member, and Chairman of the Convention Organising Committee, said, “The first session has been planned as ‘Blending New Strategies with proven Brands and their adaptation: Hospitality-Made in India.’ Another interesting session has been planned as ‘Trends setting Restaurants-Chasing the Millennial.’ Other sessions include: ‘HR & Skills Development for future Growth’; ‘Innovative & creative food for tomorrow,’ ‘The art of online Dominance or Disruption.’
A session on property owners gradually moving towards management contracts and franchising has also been planned. Lastly it will be on ‘Issues and concerns of hospitality industry and way forward.’