Tamil Nadu hospitality sector eyes 9 percent growth in 2017-18

The hospitality sector in this part of the country is aiming for a 7.1 percent growth over last year, falling behind the national double-digit target set by the industry.

Though the future seems to be bright with the state government getting involved in a series of initiatives to promote Tamil Nadu (TN) as a tourist hotspot, investors, especially financiers, have expressed their apprehensions, said an advisor of the South India Hotels and Restaurants Association (SIHRA). 

R Rangachari, Advisor, SIHRA, said last year the growth had been 6.5 per cent but for the fiscal ending March 2018, the hospitality sector is poised to touch the 9 per cent mark though it will fall short of the national projections of a double-digit growth.

However, sounding optimistic, he said, “the number International visitors have gone up. Innovative initiatives for encouraging tourists, promoting rural tourism, MICE or Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events besides wellness tourism have been taken up by the Centre. 

These need to be the areas of focus. With global players evincing interest in TN, the state government has been

spurred into action. That is the reason for it to partner with the industry body CII and come up with four-day Travel Mart, which begins on October 14,” Rangachari told DTNEXT . 

Interestingly, TN has more rooms in the unorganised sector compared to n the organised sector. With proper regulations and timely licences, these could potentially boost the hospitality in

dustry. “Even service apartments can be revamped to make it more comfortable with emphasis on affordability, accessibility and convenience,” he said, adding the thrust on infrastructure should also be pronounced. For instance, the direct flights to Puducherry and Thanjavur augured well for the sector as such hotspots besides pilgrim destinations were always sought by tourists. 

Efforts to create better infrastructure would help increase occupancy in the hotels in the region, he observed. Rangachary also said about 600 rooms had been added in the city across classifications but despite plenty of investment opportunities, it was necessary to allay the apprehension among financiers.  Banks and other financial institutions must give assurances for projects to take off in full swing, he added