The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Extend bar timings, says hospitality industry

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 26, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Extend bar timings, says hospitality industry

T.S. Shankar

CHENNAI: While the stakeholders in the hospitality industry are happy with the sustained boom, the Tamil Nadu Government's "indifference" to a major plea from the South India Hotels and Restaurants Association to extend the bar timings has put them in a fix.

The different categories of star hotels, forming part of the association, have been pressing the successive governments to extend bar timings, a major demand of not only overseas tourists, who arrive by late night flights, but also of the growing number of the Chennai-based expatriate community in the software, automobile and airline industries, sources said.

The Tamil Nadu Tourism and Culture Department has made out a case for the hospitality sector. However, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi is not convinced, official sources said. "We made a strong plea to the Chief Minister that serving liquor in standalone restaurants/discotheques and pubs/bars will not lead to any major law and order problems," an official of the Department said.

The Government need not be over-cautious since it was not uncommon to see the Government-run TASMAC outlets — most of them located in the vicinity of police stations — remaining open well after the stipulated hours, they said. Some of the well-heeled leisure-buffs even drive down to Puducherry, where the bar timings were relaxed recently.

The hospitality sector has also urged the Government to come out with a clear-cut policy on Chennai's nightlife, which is thriving thanks to a boom in the IT sector.

"We are agreeing to abide by the stipulations to be laid down by the government departments, but they need to have a pro-active approach to certain specific demands from overseas tourists, which could further boost the tourist arrivals in Tamil Nadu," another source said. Because of high hotel tariff in the neighbouring Southern States, visitors choose to stay in Chennai and commute to other destinations.

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