REVISE GUIDELINES FOR HOTELS

REVESED CLASSIFICATION NORMS FRIENDLIER FOR THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED PERSONS BY ADOPTING THE INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICES

ISSUES REGARDING SAFETY AND SECURITY HAVE ALSO BEEN ADDRESSED IN THE REVISED GUIDELINES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11:8 IST
In order to keep abreast with the contemporary requirements of the hospitality industry, the Union Ministry of Tourism has recently reviewed the norms for approval of hotel projects and Guidelines for Classification of hotels.

The changing requirements of international and domestic travelers clubbed with an emerging safety and security consciousness in view of the recent incidents in the country, necessitated a review of the hotel Classification norms which were last reviewed in 2003. These Guidelines have been finalized after several rounds of interaction with and inputs from the hotel industry and the related stakeholders.

The Ministry of Tourism has tried to address major concerns to make the Classification norms friendlier for the differently abled persons by adopting the international best practices. Existing and new hotels of all categories all over the country would now have to comply with the requirements for the differently abled persons in respect of accessibility, special rooms with bathrooms and facilities etc. in the public area by 1st September, 2010.

Issues regarding safety and security have also been addressed in the revised Guidelines as per which depending on the star category, hotels are now required to have metal detectors, CCTVs, X-Ray machines, under belly scanners to screen vehicles, verification of staff and suppliers etc. Food & Beverage outlets (restaurants) in the hotel have also been rationalised. For this purpose, the minimum number and type of restaurants / Food & Beverage (F&B) service has been allocated depending on the location of the hotel in the country based on a system of Grade A and Grade B cities.

The Grade A cities would comprise of major metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad/ Secunderabad and Delhi. (Delhi would include the hotels falling in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, NOIDA and Greater NOIDA). Grade B cities would comprise all other cities not covered in Grade A. Hotels located in Grade A cities would require to offer more types of cuisine / number of F&B outlets compared to Grade B cities. Hotels located in Grade B cities would not be required to offer the same number of F&B outlets as that of Grade A due to the lesser demand.

With a view to provide high standards of service, it has been made mandatory for hotels to have minimum percentage of trained supervisory and skilled staff possessing degree / diploma / skilled training certificate from Central / State Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) / Food Craft Institute (FCI) or from National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (NCHMCT) affiliated IHM or from other reputed hospitality schools etc.

Detailed Guidelines can be viewed on the Ministry’s website at


www. incredibleindia.org