Bommai lauds hotel industry for cooperating with govt, serving people during COVID

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 21 : Karnataka Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai on Tuesday, while speaking at the '2022 Food Awards' organised by Bengaluru Hoteliers Association said that the hotel industry has a lot of scopes to grow in the tourism industry.
The Karnataka CM was speaking at a function '2022 Food Awards', the presentation of the 'lifetime achievement award' and the 'upcoming women entrepreneur award' organised by Bengaluru Hoteliers Association here on Tuesday.
Bommai thanked the hotel industry for serving the people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"You will become our family members when our family is not at home. No matter how late it may be but still you serve the customers with a smile. The hotel industry faced a lot of problems during the Covid-19 pandemic but it still cooperated with the government. A big thanks for you", Bommai said during the function.
The Karnataka CM also laid stress on the quality of service in the hotels as an essential factor for success and gave the idea of opening a training school for the purpose.
"Service is very important for the success of the hotel industry. What's the use of having big hotels if the service is not good? So, this industry requires well-trained staff and if the Department of Labour opens a finishing school to impart training in hotel services, it will definitely bring a good name to the State. Along with this, it will also provide good support to the tourism industry," said Bommai.
Bommai also said that although there are lots of opportunities in the hotel industry, not even 50 per cent of hotels in Karnataka are using the opportunity.
"There are a lot of opportunities in the hotel industry but not even 50 per cent of hotels of Karnataka are involved in the tourism department when compared with other states. The government is ready to provide whatever assistance they require to enable them to give an end-to-end approach to the tourism industry. The system of single window agency will be implemented by the government," he added.
The BJP leader also said that "No bundh will be effective if the hotels are not closed. The real bundh is when you close your hotels when others are working."
While replying to the demand, the Karnataka CM said that the government will consider hotels as an industry only if they register their establishments with the Department of Tourism.
"The government will consider hotels as an industry if they register their establishments with the Department of Tourism. As of now, it is very difficult to allow the food supply 24X 7 but it will be changed according to the situation. All these will be considered at the earliest," Bommai said.
"I want the hotel industry to scale up and then banks will give loans easily. The industry can grow only out of hard work. There is a lot of scope for the hotel industry for which they need to be honest. Since there is a business-friendly government in the state, you must take advantage of this opportunity to achieve success. It will help in the growth of the state too, Bommai added.
Other than the Chief Minister, Large and Medium Scale Industries Minister Murgesh Nirani, Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar, Bengaluru Hoteliers Association President P C Rao and many other personalities were also present at the event organised by Bengaluru Hoteliers Association.