The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : 51 new hotel projects cleared

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Sep 05, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

51 new hotel projects cleared

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, SEPT. 4. The Union Tourism Department has approved 51 new hotel projects in south India to be completed in the next three years, M.P. Purushothaman, president, South India Hotels and Restaurants Association (SIHRA), said here today.

Addressing a press conference at the end of the 53rd annual general meeting of SIHRA, Mr. Purushothaman said most of the projects are three-star hotels. Kerala would have 19, seven in Andhra Pradesh, four in Chennai, and two in Pondicherry.

"The present trend of getting new three-star category hotels is a good sign for the entire hospitality sector which is growing at 40 per cent in south India", he said. Four new projects would have foreign collaboration.

Among the southern States, Karnataka holds the top slot in the growth of the hospitality sector followed by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. "This trend is encouraging and the major factor has been that there has been a spurt in the overall tourism growth with liberalised open sky policy in the aviation sector playing a key role", he said.

Mr. Purushothaman, who was reelected president for 2004-05, said detailed representations have been made to the State Governments in south India to have a uniform "liquor licensing policy" for big and small hotels with bars attached besides sorting out the problems confronting the transport of liquor from the warehouse.

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