Date:24/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/24/stories/2006032407960500.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Tourism corporation move runs into rough weather

T.S. Shankar

Hotels franchised out to private operators

CHENNAI: A Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation initiative to convert loss-making hotels into profit centres by letting them out on franchise has run into rough weather.

Most of these hotels are in tourist centres including Chidambaram, Kumbakonam, Tarangambadi and Melmaruvathur. Private entrepreneurs have paid the initial sum ranging from Rs.7 lakh to Rs. 35 lakh, depending on the extent of the property and facilities.

Besides the hotels, four restaurants in Kanyakumari, Tiruchendur, Tiruchi and Madurai have also been let out. One of them has proved to be a non-starter.

No fresh funds

According to corporation sources, the ambitious venture has neither benefited the Corporation nor helped develop the property by creating more tourist-friendly facilities.

In most cases the entrepreneurs who had taken the property on long lease (10 years) have not infused fresh funds to improve the facilities. Nor have they kept the hotels in working condition. The Hotel Tamil Nadu property at Chidambaram is lying idle for nearly a year.

Fresh proposal

Enquiries with the TTDC reveal that out of a total of 55 properties identified, 24 are still under the Corporation, 15 under franchisees and 17 others under "lock and key".

"The Corporation has sent a fresh proposal to the Finance Department to help revive the scheme by making modifications. It has also advertised for hotel management professionals as more than 300 employees had opted for voluntary retirement, causing manpower shortage," the sources said.