Govt's proposal on homestays may affect tourism sector: HRAWI

Mumbai, May 5 () Centre's plan to open up homestays asa way to bridge the acute deficiency of hotel rooms maybackfire as such services are not standardised or regulated,the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI)said today."In India, tourism is at a nascent stage and promotion ofhomestays at the expense of organised hospitality could spelldoom."The main problem with homestays is that there are no standardisations. There have been cases of exaggerated promises, misrepresentations, disagreements and conflicts with guests, among others," HRAWI and Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI) President Bharat Malkani said in a release issued here. The proposal allows anyone to offer stays at their homes, which will have no government intervention and will not attract any kind of taxation or commercial tariffs, he said. The hotel industry feels such a plan could backfire withno assurance of guest safety and would have consequences thataffect employment and tax revenues, he said.As homestays are unregulated, there are no redressalsystems in place, Malkani added.The solution to growth of tourism in India is freeing thehospitality sector from red tapism and following a pragmatictaxation policy, HRAWI former President Kamlesh Barot said."If this homestays concept does go into execution thenhotels, operating with the highest taxation applicable inaddition to paying for utilities such as water and electricityat commercial rates, are bound to be doomed."Tourism cannot afford to prosper without hotels and thegovernment will have to consider an alternate plan that caneither allow hotels to operate with the same relaxations asgiven to homestays or vice versa," Malkani said. SM NSKABM