Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has submitted a representation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting urgent attention towards the deteriorating situation of the hospitality and tourism sector. Flagged as the ‘Most Distressed Sector due to COVID-19’ in the country, the association has pleaded the PM to immediately provision a sector specific special relief package to enable the sector in its fight for survival.
With 30 per cent hotels and restaurants across the country permanently shut over the last two waves of the pandemic, the remaining operational establishments continue to run in losses even today. The hospitality industry has reported losses of a whopping sum of Rs.1.40 lakh crore with around 50 million jobs lost since the beginning of the pandemic.
FHRAI sent letter on 11th January 2022
However, frequent lockdowns and restrictions coupled with travel restrictions have resulted in the industry experiencing the worst phase in its life cycle,” FHRAI vice president Gurbaxish Singh Kohli stated in the letter sent on January 11. “Every time the situation eases a bit, there seems to be some hope of getting the business back on track. But, the stop-start-stop arrangement hasn’t allowed the hotel industry to have a continuous run. The current situation is having a cascading impact on the employment in the sector as well.
Apart from another round of lay-offs and pay cuts, the situation will pose another serious threat before the industry in the form of unavailability of trained manpower to work in the sector,” he added. He wrote that without adequate support from the government, many more hospitality establishments in the country would be compelled to shut shop. “Presently, there is considerable amount of fear and anxiety in the sector. Significant capital has been ploughed in by the industry to reopen and restar ..
Also, there has been a lot of effort put in to bring back workers. Under this backdrop, we request for your urgent and kind intervention,” the letter stated. FHRAI said as per industry estimates, the financial losses to the industry from the first two waves were so severe that around 30% of hotels and restaurants in the country were shut down permanently and the remaining establishments continue to run into losses even today.
“The hospitality industry has reported losses of a whopping sum of Rs.1.40 lakh crore and around 50 million jobs were lost due to the pandemic. Taking due cognizance of the unparalleled situation in the tourism and hospitality sector as the most distressed sector due to Covid -19, kindly provide a sector specific special relief package and enable the sector to survive,” Kohli stated in the letter.
Previously FHRAI had expressed its concern over requisitioning of hotels as covid-19 facilities
