Lockdown 4.0: No ease in business for hospitality sector will lead 70% hotels & restaurants to close, says FHRAI
INDIA: On Monday, Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) warned that with no relief from government in the stimulus package for Hospitality sector, almost 70% of hotels and restaurants in India looking at closure within the next 30 to 45 days.
With Coronavirus immobilizing the travel sector, Aviation and hospitality sectors are among the worst hit by the lockdown. It is duly noted that both the sectors contribute close to 10% of the India’s GDP and were looking forward to gaining some relief from the stimulus package and from the lockdown 4.0.
“With not even the slightest reassurance, let alone any relief package from the government, the industry is looking at a major catastrophe including massive job loss, bankrupt enterprises and definite closure of at least 70% of hospitality establishments across the country” FHRAI said in a statement .
The entire industry is confused, hysterical and in disbelief after listening to the FM speech. There was no mention of hospitality and tourism at all.. The hospitality and tourism industry generates close to Rs. 17 lakh crore contributing roughly 10% of the India’s GDP and supports over 4.3 crore jobs translating to almost 9% of total employment. The government has chosen to completely ignore us yet again.” said Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, FHRAI.
“According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), as many as 7.5 crore travel and tourism jobs are at risk worldwide, one in eight of them are in India. We hope to resume operations and adhere to all the safety measures and follow the compliances strictly. We stand united with the government for eradicating the virus and together we will show the way to the world in achieving this, Kohli added.
The apex body Vice president requested the government to look out for tourism and hospitality sector as there is no cash inflow for the industry and it is projected to remain unchanged till mid 2021, depending upon the pandemic control.
Due to the lockdown to curb COVID-19 pandemic, the industry is staring at a potential job loss of around 3.8 crore, which is 70% of the total workforce.
India has about 53,000 hotels and 70 lakh restaurants in organised sector and nearly 2.3 crore restaurants in unorganized sector, according to apex hospitality association.
Under the latest guidelines issued on Sunday for the lockdown 4.0, the government prohibited hotels, restaurants, Air travel to function only allowing parcel via online delivery app for the former.