Himachal Pradesh CM announces slew of initiatives to attract hoteliers

6th India International Hospitality Expo opened in NCR with strong presence of Himachal Pradesh

From green taxis and hydel energy to ease of buying land and development of heliports in all districts, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu announced several initiatives in order to attract investments from hoteliers and tourism stakeholders attending the 6th India International Hospitality Expo that he inaugurated at the India Expo Centre & Mart in Greater Noida in National Capital Region on Wednesday.

In his address, Sukhu also mentioned the allocation of funds to develop infrastructure in the state

“All the district headquarters in the state will be connected to heliports soon as a measure to promote tourism in the state,” Sukhu said in his inaugural address.

According to the organisers, over 20,000 buyers from across the hospitality segment including luxury hotels, resorts, homestays, restaurants, cloud kitchens and food and beverages space are attending the 3-day-long India International Hospitality Expo, which has over 1,000 exhibitors.

In his address, Sukhu also mentioned the allocation of funds to develop infrastructure in the state. He said that all the buses of Himachal Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (HPSRTC) will be converted to electrical buses within the next three years.

Along with promoting new green hydrogen and hydro-electric power projects in the state, Sukhu also said that the government was also working to build old age homes and ensure green taxis for tourists in the next four years. Coining it the ‘right time’ to invest in Himachal, the CM encouraged hoteliers to invest in the state, adding that the government was making it easier for them to buy land.

According to the organisers, over 20,000 buyers & 1000 exhibitors are convening at the ongoing event

The exhibitors at the event were enthusiastic about the event and the outlook for the next two days. “This is one of the events where we regularly participate as we receive a good number of customers for our hospitality segment. This being the first day, the flow has just started, and normally we receive better footfall through the second and third day. We are primarily looking at key influencers or decision makers in the segment like project consultants and hospitality consultants to visit us,” B Krishnamoorthy, Business Head of Commercial Appliances of Indian Fine Blanks (IFB) Limited, a Bangalore-based manufacturer of domestic appliances tells Media India Group.

“The clients here are very focused and we get a very genuine lead from here. We are even getting good clients from the focus state of Himachal,” says Vaibhav Jaiswal, Director of Prakritii International Private Limited, a wooden cutlery manufacturer, based in New Delhi.

Attending the expo were also students from different hospitality management institutions to gain first-hand experience of an industrial show. “It is a good event, we expected that to showcase to the students a deeper insight of the industry, related to food processing equipment and food products used in hotels, restaurants, outlets. Really the expo has matched the expectations of the students, it was a great exposure for everybody,” says Ankit Gupta, a wine and beverage trainer at International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM), Delhi, who came along with his first year students.

On the occasion of the expo, a Junior Pastry Competition 2023 was also held that featured 8 teams of young pastry chefs, who are students in the age group of 18-23 years, chosen from various institutes across India. The winners would go on to represent India in the Junior Pastry World Cup Challenge in Italy in 2024. 

“Although there is a lot of potential in our country, it is only the culinary part that has been exposed, the pastry and bakery part has always been left out with no competitions or associations for the same. So the idea behind the tournament was to start an initiative for something which we all relish. There is also a second category called Pastry Queen India for female pastry chefs, which is a biennial competition. So, this is our 3rd edition of Junior Pastry Indian Cup, where we are trying to give these chefs an audience, people can come and see their creativity and we have an international-renowned jury committee to guide them,” says Sanjay Anand, Director of Hammer Publications which publishes the confectionery magazine, Bakery Review and which organised the tournament. The winners would be announced by the end of the expo.