Aditya Thackerayji : How to revive Tourism Industry

 

 

Dear Shri Aditya Thackerayji

(  Tourism Minster – Maharashtra / adityathackeray@me.com / @AUThackeray ) :

 

To enable economic revival, each Ministry ( at Centre and States ) is coming up with out-of-the-box ideas

No doubt, you too are on constant look-out for such ideas to revive Tourism in Maharashtra

Being a young / tech-savvy / forward-thinking Minister, you refuse to bind yourself with the RED TAPE

You have neither time, nor patience to unravel the GORDIAN KNOT. You must cut it !

On this “ Rejuvenation Day “ of Holi, I urge you to consider my following suggestion to revive TOURISM in Maharashtra

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  29 March 2021 

  

CC :

Shri Prahlad Patel ( Tourism Minister – Central / prahladp@sansad.nic.in )

Shri Rakesh Kumar Verma ( Jt Sec , Tourism Ministry-Central / js.tourism@gov.in )

Shri Ritesh Agarwal ( CEO & Founder, OYO Rooms / ritesh@Oyorooms.com )

 

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Tourism Industry consists of,

Ø  Travel Industry……….. ( Train-Buses-Taxis-Planes etc )

Ø  Staying Industry……… ( Hotels / Paying Guests etc )

Ø  Food Industry ………….( Restaurants )

Each of these have suffered massively during past one year . With arrival of the second wave of COVID, any hope of early revival is dashed

Hence, industry players are experimenting with new / different BUSINESS MODELS to lower their costs and attract more customers

Following is one example :

Now, you can ask for sleeping pods at CSMT, LTT stations  /  Mumbai Mirror  /  28 March 2021

 

And another example :

 

OYO takes Rs 299 rooms pan-India   /  Business Line   /  27 March 2021

 

Extract :

 

Back in 2013, Ritesh Agarwal-founded OYO Hotels & Homes disrupted the branded segment by launching A/C rooms with free Wi-Fi and breakfast at ₹999. OYO has done it again, with another price disruption in a bid to fill up rooms post-Covid.

 

The hospitality venture has launched rooms from Rs 299 to Rs 699 all inclusive, across the country

…. OYO Discover was rolled out as a pilot in Delhi-NCR in October 2020 with 24 MERCHANT PARTNERS willing to offer rooms to customers to experience their FIRST OYO STAY at minimal price points

Subsequently, this plan was rolled out pan-India with over 1,700 MERCHANT PARTNERS

Since its roll out, more than 3 LAKH customers have tried out their first OYO with OYO Discover and they have booked over ONE LAKH NIGHTS after their first stay

OYO Discover was also introduced in the international market starting November 2020 and is now available across Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the UK

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MY SUGGESTION  :

Ø  In order to revive Tourism Industry, can business model of “ Low Priced “ hotel rooms be enlarged to rope in owner-builders of 1,10,000 unsold flats in Mumbai region ( idling / unutilized assets worth Rs 2.6 LAKH*CRORE / $ 36 Billion ) ?

[ Unsold flats abound in Mumbai, will take 5.5 years to sell / 24 Feb 2020  / TOI ]

Ø  I suggest that Maharashtra Government, pass appropriate LAW or government resolution ( GR ) to enable these 1.1 lakh vacant flat owners to become MERCHANT PARTNERS of  OYO ( or any such aggregator company )

 

Ø  Such  “ Merchant Partners “ must not be treated as HOTELS or taxed as HOTELS

 

Ø  I am sure that in such arrangement, the Aggregator Company will take care of all the “ Bare Minimum / Essential Needs “ of the traveler ( Electricity – Water – Clean Bed and Toilet – Security etc )

 

Ø  If such a TOURISM REVIVAL REFORM is introduced , it will encourage dozens of Aggregator Companies to introduce further BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATIONS by offering to the travelling public, an UMBRELLA PACKAGE, which would include,

 

#  Low Cost inter-city travel arrangement ( Merchant Partners who want to

    utilize their idling cars ?

    Remember that, on an average, a PRIVATELY=OWNED car is running for

    only 2 hours / day and remains parked for 22 hours – a colossal idling /

     under-utilization of costly asset , which can be monetized by sharing /

     renting on hourly basis )

    

    

#  Low Cost Food suppliers ( Self-employed women- Merchant Partners –

     supplying home food )

 

If Maharashtra were to introduce such a reform, there is no doubt other States will follow

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RELATED READINGS :

Ø  Future of Tourism ? ………………………………[ 22 July 2020 ]

    Ø  Future Home is Here ! …………………………[ 02 Mar 2017 ]

Ø  Miracle of Self Employment ………………..[ 06 Jan 2018 ]

 

       Extract :

Ø  Listed on Airbnb, one of the biggest aggregators of bed-and breakfast

    facilities globally, Gauriben's thatched roof house has three small rooms

    While her family earns Rs 45,000 a year harvesting two crops, she alone

     earned Rs 55,000 in December.

 

Ø  That was her highest earning; on an average, she has been making Rs 30,000 per month ever since she listed her house on Airbnb in June.

 

Ø  Gauriben persuaded her sister Shanti to list her house and helped her earn Rs 45,000 last month.

 

 

Ø  In Mehsana, Mayaben, 40, who has studied till class 7, is ecstatic that she earned Rs 80,000 last month.

 

Ø  Obviously , Gauriben got helped by SEWA / Airbnb , to put to productive / gainful use , her 3 room house ( - an underutilized asset ? )

 

Ø  To know how many entrepreneurs can we create by encouraging owners of 4 lakh vacant flats ( in Mumbai Region ) to convert these unutilized assets to productive / profitable ones, read :

 

          Ready to be Ridiculed  [  23  Aug  2017  ]

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Indian Tourism Industry Statistics :

 

Tourism in India is important for the country's economy and is growing rapidly.

 The World Travel and Tourism Council calculated that tourism, 

> generated ₹16.91 lakh crore (US$240 billion) or 9.2% of India's GDP in 2018

   and 

> supported 42.673 million jobs, 8.1% of its total employment.