FAITH Revises Indian Tourism Value at Risk Guidance to ₹ 15 Lakh Cr

‘Now or Never’ Point 

* Worst period ever for tourism in 100 years. 

* Till a vaccine is found, concept of tourism will be in dire threat

* Tourism COVID Support Fund needed

* RBI must give a multi-year moratorium on principal & interest to tourism.  

* Stop the clock on all central & state Government for statutory payments

* 75% value or minimum 9 months of the almost 10% of India’s GDP from Tourism at risk from collapse 

* Generations of tourism businesses and crores of jobs getting impacted

Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality,the policy federation of all the national associations representing the complete tourism, travel and hospitality industry of India (ADTOI, ATOAI, FHRAI, HAI, IATO, ICPB, IHHA, ITTA, TAAI, TAFI) & cause partner AIRDA has further revised upwards it’s value at risk to Indian tourism to ₹ 15 lakh crores. 

FAITH’s first guidance which was calculated and was shared with the Government in March 2020 had put tourism’s economic value at risk at ₹ 5 lakh crores from this pandemic.  FAITH revised this further during the quarter as the situation deteriorated and the value at risk was put at ₹ 10 lakh crores. This has been revised again to touch a value at risk of upto ₹ 15 lakh crores in terms of the economic output of tourism in India 

Given the way the virus is progressing, tourism supply chains have  broken down in India across all its key inbound, domestic & outbound markets and is not expected to recover for the next  5 months too making the total impact to a minimum of 9 months starting from March this year. 

The direct and indirect economic impact of Tourism industry in India is approximately estimated at ~ 10% of India’s GDP.  This roughly puts the full year economic multiplier value of tourism in India at ~ ₹ 20 lakh crores. Minimum three quarters of tourism will be fully impacted 

This value covers the whole tourism value chain from airlines, travel agents, hotels, tour operators, tourism destinations restaurants, tourist transportation, tourist guides. Each of these segments of tourism is non - performing or under performing and will stay that way for many months of this year.

This is evident across all segments of tourism. Pending refunds for travel agents,  shut down or vacant  hotels & restaurants,  empty or locked down conventions and meeting or wedding halls, no order pipelines for tour operators, tourist transport lying locked in parking lots, laid off or leave without pay staff , managers, the summer domestic and outbound holiday season gone,  no visible bookings for the peak October - March season, meetings shifted to virtual apps , non - essential travel closed and so on. 

Be it leisure ( inbound, outbound, domestic) corporate travel, heritage, adventure, meetings incentives, exhibitions & events religious, spiritual and in upcoming high value niche tourism products such as sea & river cruises, camping, rafting, golf  film tourism, jungle tourism, agri tourism and many more across all states, this will the worst performing year for tourism in a century. 

Tourism has one of the largest economic multipliers and FAITH based upon its industry estimates believes that each rupee spent on tourism could have an economic multiplier of upwards of  3- 4 times more for India given its most globally unique natural and cultural heritage spread across the Indian hinterlands. The cumulative job losses for the full year both in organised & unorganised category of tourism could go as high as 4 crores. 

FAITH has been requesting over the past 5 months that for revival of any demand in tourism, it is first important that the survival of tourism businesses in India has to first remain intact. 

Tourism sector requires a very customised sector specific relief package and it cannot be delayed any further,  FAITH spokesperson said.

The following are immediately critical to maintaining the survival of tourism businesses 

* A Tourism fund which can be used by tourism enterprises in India for taking care of their employees. 

* A multi-year moratorium by RBI on principal and interest payments by tourism, travel & hospitalty businesses. 

* An immediate full year waiver of all central and state statutory liabilities be it PF , ESi, income taxes, GST , fixed power and utilities tariffs, property , excise , inter-state tourist transportation taxes and license fees, all without any accumulated or penal interest has to be done immediately. 

* Robust booking payments refund mechanism for travel agents & tour operators from airlines, railways, state tourism parks and other suppliers. 

Only this will keep the Indian tourism track and hospitality industry alive for a revival, it will keep the jobs intact and it will protect the exposure of the banking sector to tourism preventing their loans from becoming NPAs. 

Post the Unlock tourism is seeing some spur, but that too very limited, very  short -  haul  domestic travel and not enough to make any tourism business viable. 

FAITH has already raised requests over the past five months to the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister, to each of the 28 chief ministers , to the RBI, Niti Aayog, to tourism parliamentary panel, ministries of aviation, commerce, Finance and to more than 600 parliamentarians and is closely in coordination with ministry of tourism.  

It has also requested the Parliamentarians to raise the question as to ‘why not tourism’ for sector specific support when tourism industry contributes to pan India jobs across urban & rural, forex , robust IT & GST collections, capex driven GDP & so on. 

Tourism is a very unique business and is a discretionary activity.  Tourism is a means of unwinding, letting oneself immerse in local experiences. With each aspect of the travel journey now under the threat of virus from contact, this puts tourism at risk. Till the time there is a vaccine found, the very concept of tourism will be in question.  

This will be reflected in all data points of the Government whether in GST collections, banking data, PF, ESI or state level fixed charges. 

Tourism cannot be treated economically like any other business and needs NOW a Fiscal & Monetary structured package coordinated among all arms of Governments. 

The whole value chain of Indian tourism will be under threat - which catered to almost 10.8 million incoming foreign travellers , almost 1.8 billion Indian domestic tourism visits, almost 5 mn- + expats Indians visiting back,  almost 28 mn + outbound travelling Indians & almost $ 29 bn + forex earnings.

Milagrow Introduces 4 Humanoid Robots to Cater to Increased Demand in Healthcare, Hospitality & Office Management Industry

As the novel coronavirus continues to wreak havoc across India, the demand for automated solutions across sectors is high. Keeping this in mind, India’s No.1 consumer robotics brand Milagrow Robots has launched 4 new humanoid robots – RoboDiCaprio, RoboJulia, RoboNano and RoboElf – which are specially designed to cater to hotels, hospitals, restaurants and corporate offices.

RoboDiCaprio – The Guest Relations Robot

This Guest Relations Robot is 155 cm tall and can be used for business consulting, greeting, reservations, advertising and patrolling at hotels, banks, administrative centers, restaurants, museums, libraries, hospitals, schools, retail showrooms, shopping malls, cinema halls, banquet halls, weddings, sports stadiums etc. Equipped with advanced sensors to sense the human presence in proximity, RoboDiCaprio can actively interact with visitors. It can greet them, broadcast promotional information, guide the visitor to different locations, and play audio, still images and videos while speaking. The humanoid also has face recognition capabilities with response milliseconds and 98% accuracy. When it comes to navigation, RoboDiCaprio functions on a highly-specified LIDAR technology which can scan a distance of 25 M with an accuracy of 2mm. Further, it is also equipped with Milagrow's Real Time Terrain Recognition technology for seamless navigation without any human intervention.

RoboJulia – The Serving Robot

Standing tall at 155 cms, the Serving Robot also has advanced sensors and navigation technologies such as LIDAR and Milagrow’s Real Time Terrain Recognition. It is designed to deliver meals to the guests’ designated tables, explain the menu, give restaurant information etc. The robot can even deliver different meals to three different tables. It can work universally, take fast turns and has an emergency stop. RoboJulia is equipped with anti-skid rubber wheels and can walk at 3km/h. It does the route negotiation autonomously from one point to the next position with depth perception and high precision radar sensors for better navigation and positioning technology.

RoboElf – The Service Assistant

RoboElf has already been deployed at the AIIMS, New Delhi and Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai. It is also working in shopping malls, restaurants, banks, metros, elementary schools, and many other sectors. The robot’s latest version has a business management system (especially for commercial chain stores) – Multi-service Platform System (MPS). With this service system built on a Cloud terminal, users can give orders or push new files to their RoboElf robots distributed around the world. The robot can also collect and manage collected data from each robot so the user can better run their businesses.

RoboNano – The Personal Companion

Perfect for offering companionship, RoboNano is a personal assistant robot equipped with Amazon’s Alexa Voice Service. This intelligent, cloud-enabled robot features voice assistance, smart home control and remote surveillance capabilities, delivering centralized management and security to households around the world. RoboNano stands 85 cms tall and comes with over 50 sensors to avoid objects in its way, recognize voices and know when someone enters the room. Additionally, the humanoid can order pizza, request a car, track fitness stats, control the TV and play music from today’s leading streaming providers. It pairs with smart home devices from the world’s most popular connected home brands, enabling families to control lights, thermostats and home appliances. RoboNano also allows families to live-stream video and control it from anywhere in the world. When the family is away, the robot can monitor the house using object detection sensors and sounds an alarm if an intruder is discovered.

Speaking on the launch, Rajeev Karwal, Founder -Chairman of MilagrowHumantech, said, "Milagrow is committed to its vision that no human being should serve another human being for menial chores or repetitive tasks. We today have over 20 different types of robots and will play our role to the clarion call of making India self-reliant. Our robots will increase efficiency and productivity across industries while promoting social distancing. With our unique, state-of-the-art offerings, we look forward to creating a new set of value-added jobs."

All the robots are available for purchases on www.milagrowhumantech.com

About Milagrow

Milagrow Business and Knowledge Solutions was founded by Mr Rajeev Karwal in 2007 and forayed into AI Robotics in 2011. It has numerous firsts to its credit in the field of Service and Commercial Robots. It has robots for facility management, hospitality, education, healthcare, retail as well banking.

VMSIIHE, Turismo de Portugal Offers Students from Hospitality Institutes an Opportunity of a 2 Week Online Programme

Five leading hospitality institutes based in Lisboa, Setubal, Coimbra, Algarve and Douro-Lamego have curated the online course. The course will be conducted in English and is free for students of hospitality. Prior registration is required. The course will cover a wide range of subjects ranging from gastronomy and wine pairing to demonstration of recipes unique to the region. Virtual tours of wineries, oyster farms and the neighborhoods of Lisbon and Coimbra are included in the course

 

As part of the existing knowledge exchange programme between India and Portugal, students from across hospitality institutes now have the opportunity to engage and participate in a 2 - week online programme initiated by V. M. Salgaocar Institute of International Hospitality Education (VMSIIHE) in collaboration with Turismo de Portugal (TBC). Five leading hospitality institutes based in Lisboa, Setubal, Coimbra, Algarve and Douro-Lamego have curated the online course.

Scheduled to be held from 29th June to 10th July, the courses will be held over two hours each day and will cover a wide range of subjects ranging from gastronomy and wine pairing to demonstration of recipes unique to the regions to sessions on understanding the nature of food ingredients from the Mediterranean regions more closely. Virtual tours of wineries, oyster farms and the neighborhoods of Lisbon and Coimbra are included in the course.

V. M. Salgaocar Institute of International Hospitality Education (VMSIIHE) had recently renewed and extended the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Turismo de Portugal during the visit of the Hon’ble President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa while on a state visit to India. The MOU was signed by Prof. Irfan Mirza, Director/Principal of VMSIIHE and Louis Araujo Head of Turismo de Portugal (TBC), in the presence of the Hon’ble President of Portugal Mr. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Honourable Chief Minister of Goa, Dr. Pramod Sawant, Smt. Dipti D. Salgaocar, Vice President Corporate Communication VMSalgaocar Corporation and Shri Ajit M. Gude, Director, VM Salgaocar Corporation at a ceremony held in February this year.

Held from Monday to Friday for two consecutive weeks, participants will have the opportunity to interact with professors from Portugal during demonstrations and classes.

The course will be conducted in English and is free for students of hospitality. Prior registration is required for which interested participants can reach out to V. M. Salgaocar Institute of International Hospitality Education (VMSIIHE). In one of the sessions a professor from Coimbra will take students through the journey of grapes from the vineyard to the wine cellar and demonstrate some of the more popular cocktails in the region. The session on oyster breeding, opening techniques, conservation and a lesson on pairing oysters with wine being conducted by the Escola Setubal is another interesting one.

Said Professor Irfan Mirza, Director/Principal, V.M Salgaocar Institute of International Hospitality Education, “The lockdown has been hard on students. This opportunity which arises from our existing alliance between our institute and Turismo de Portugal will offer students of hospitality, a peek into the culinary intricacies and culture existing in regions in Portugal without having to travel to the country in these circumstances. We are opening the doors to students from other hospitality institutes who can avail of this opportunity without having to pay a fee.”

The existing MOU focuses on a shared vision, to encourage and develop the training and qualification of personnel working in the field of tourism, as well as to offer internship and placement opportunities to successful students. The two countries will continue to work together in the fields of research, trainings, teaching-learning methods and other aspects in the near future.

Need of the Hour: How Robots will Change the Approach of Travel and Hospitality Sector

Robots have started to impact our lives and are the need of the hour, with respect to the current pandemic situation. From cleaning floors, swimming pools, to serving at restaurants and greeting at airports, they are everywhere. These little technological wonders are fast invading our world to make it an easier place to live in. Infact, a study has revealed that service robots in hotels could help boost the hospitality and travel industry, which had somewhere taken a backseat during this Covid-19 outbreak.

With shopping malls, airports, railway stations, offices, restaurants opening up, deployment of these non–human devices is need of the hour. These tiny robots can be the "New Normal" for maintaining proper social distancing, hygiene and constant monitoring. In the days to come, these contactless technologies will revolutionise the way travel and hospitality sector approach for the post COVID world.

Many of the commercial establishments like Hotels, Hospitals have already started to deploy them to limit human interventions. For instance -Hotel chains like Hyatt, Dr Reddy’s, and ITC are already taking help of floor cleaning robots from Milagrow Humantech, to disinfect and maintain hygiene as they started operations, FabHotels, one of the leading budget hotel chains in India has also been taking various initiatives and implementing a host of measures for its guests and employees.

These floor disinfecting robots can navigate and sanitize the floors without any human intervention. It can destroy COVID spores on floor surfaces (if any)using sodium hypochlorite solution, as recommended by ICMR. As commercial establishments started opening for the public again but following these numerous measures, it would be interesting to witness how these devices will shift the approach to a contactless world.

Leela Group to invest Rs 100 crore to open IT campus

Hospitality major Leela Group will soon open a Rs.100 crore state-of-the-art IT campus in the Technopark here, a top group official said.

"The building is almost ready and we will open the campus very soon," V.J. Jayakumar, chief of Leela Group's operations in Kerala, told the media.

The 15-storey building will have 500,000 square feet built-up space and an additional 100,000 square feet for car parking.

"Already we have finalised talks with two IT companies, which will take space here. The total investment for the project is above Rs.100 crore," said Jayakumar, who was also the former chief executive of the Technopark.

Leela, which has top-end resorts in several cities in the country, has stepped into the business of IT infrastructure as part of its diversification strategy.

"In Mumbai and Bangalore we have been in the business of IT infrastructure. In Kerala, we have planned to invest Rs.260 crore in the sector and the first and second phases of our project at the Infopark campus in Kochi are complete," said Jayakumar.

"We have finished 90 percent work of the third phase and the next phase work has already started. In all, there will be more than 1 million square feet space in Kochi," he added.

The IT infrastructure division of the Leela Group comes under the Leela Lace Holdings and two of its subsidiaries - Leela Soft and Ocean Soft - manage the Infopark and the Technopark units.

Currently, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram are the leading IT hubs in Kerala.

Around 50 companies that employ more than 10,000 people operate in and around the Infopark campus in Kochi, while 160 companies with a total employee strength of 25,000 work in the Technopark.

As part of the state government's IT policy, IT parks will be set up in all 14 districts of Kerala.

Works have already begun for the district IT parks at Kollam, Trissur and Alappuzha.

According to the latest figures provided by the state-run Software Technology Parks India (STPI), software exports from Kerala has grown 43.41 percent to Rs.2,300 crore till February-end of last fiscal.

In 2007-08, the total software exports from Kerala stood at Rs.1,750 crore.

Agencies