Date:27/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/27/stories/2008032754411100.htm

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Infrastructure status sought for hotel industry

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) is keen on setting up a modern catering institute if the State government is willing to provide land.

FHRAI leaders Dinesh Khanna, S.K. Khullar and Ratan Marothia told reporters here that there was an acute shortage for trained personnel in the tourism industry. They urged the State government to mount pressure on the Centre for better air connectivity and focus on improving the road conditions. There should also be efforts to link backwater and beach tourism, they said.

The federation demanded that the Centre grant infrastructure status to the hotel industry. Airports, the other major component of tourism infrastructure, have been included in the list.

Construction of 1,00,000 rooms was imperative if the industry is to be equipped to receive 10 million foreign tourists by 2010, the leaders said.