The hotel business in India is regaining momentum but still a long way from where we left in 2019. The hotel industry in the country has really stood up well by improvising and creating new packages. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, this has been the worst international crisis that tourism has faced since records were ever kept that goes back to the 1950s.
Hotel and tourism was the first industry to be affected by corona and would perhaps be the last to recover,” said Nakul Anand, Executive Director, ITC Limited, at a session of Ek Mulakat Visesh organized by Prabha Khaitan Foundation of Kolkata and presented by Shree Cement.
Anand heads the hospitality, travel and tourism businesses of ITC and has pioneered the concept of 'Responsible Luxury' or sustainable excellence in the hotel industry. He was in conversation with Ina Puri, member of Ehsaas Women of Gurugram, at an online session which was introduced by Apra Kuchhal of Ehsaas Women of Jaipur.
“We are not seeing much revival on business travel but what we are certainly seeing a revival in what I call ‘revenge travel’ that is people who have been under lockdown are now wanting to visit hotels for a change with first preference for motorable distances which I call Rs aas paas’ tourism and we are seeing a lot of this,” said Mr Anand who has been recognized as the “Corporate Hotelier of the World 2019” by Hotels USA magazine.
Mr Anand is also a recipient of the “Green Hotelier” award instituted by International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA) – an United Nations recognized industry body.