The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), an apex body of four regional associations representing the Indian hospitality industry, will organise its three-day golden jubilee convention from September 25.
“We are pleased that the FHRAI has chosen Odisha to hold its Golden Jubilee convention in Bhubaneswar. Our State has a rich diversity of tourism assets and this event will help us showcase to the world the splendors of Odisha,” said State Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda.
FHRAI president Tejinder Singh Walia said, “It is a proud privilege for FHRAI that Odisha Tourism has partnered with us to hold the Golden Jubilee convention, which is for the first time being held in a tier-II city in eastern India.”
13 States and Union Territories comprising the eastern India have immense tourism potential and the FHRAI is confident that the event will be a catalyst in the growth of tourism in the region, he added.
Golden Jubilee convention committee chairman Dilip Ray said that tourism and hospitality industry has great potential in the country and the convention will endeavour to highlight the fact that the tourism sector earns huge foreign exchange for the country and generates massive employment opportunity at all levels.
“The industry should be accorded the status of priority sector by the Government and extended the same benefits as infrastructure industry,” he opined.
More than 1,000 delegates representing top echelons of the hospitality and tourism industry in India, leading hoteliers and other stakeholders in the industry are likely to participate in the event.
The inauguration ceremony of the Golden Jubilee convention on September 25 will be followed by a series of technical sessions where the industry stalwarts will interact, discuss and debate the various issues relating to growth of hospitality industry in the country.
The topics for the technical sessions are being worked out and there will be well known luminaries from the industry who will chair the sessions and share their wealth of experience with the delegates, sources said.
The second day of the convention will be celebrated as ‘Odisha Day’ with a host of cultural programmes presented by well-known artistes of the State.
Since a large number of entrepreneurs from hospitality industry will be present, Odisha Tourism will make a presentation to showcase the potential of the State to lure them to set up hospitality and tourism ventures.
On the concluding day which coincides with the ‘World Tourism Day’, a Heritage Walk has been planned jointly with the State Government.
The Walk on theme ‘Tourism unites the world’ will essentially be a cultural extravaganza with tableaux, folk dances and performances. Invitations have been sent to a number of foreign participants and different States to participate in the event.