To earn profit, HPTDC to let private parties run hotels, cafes

The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) will hand over some of its hotels, restaurants and cafes to private players though the state government will continue to have their ownership.

The HPTDC will run some of its properties, both profit and loss making, on the Operation and Management (ONM) basis. These properties will be handed over to private players but their ownership will remain with the government. The decisions were taken at the Board of Directors meeting of the HPTDC held here yesterday. The HPTDC has 60 hotels, cafes and restaurants in the state, including more than 35 running in losses.

However, the services of all HPTDC employees will continue even in hotels and restaurants that are to be handed over to private parties on the ONM basis. The state government has constituted a one-member committee of Tarun Shridhar, a retired bureaucrat, to suggest ways to improve the financial health of the HPTDC. Shridhar has visited some of the properties and taken feedback from the employees and other stakeholders to prepare a blue print for bringing the HPTDC out of the red.

For the first time, the HPTDC has tied up with a private company for the booking of rooms in its hotels and is in the process of signing a contract with it. “Henceforth, the company will market online all rooms of the HPTDC hotels for which payment worth crores of rupees will be made beforehand in the same way most of the private hotels function,” says Raghubir Bali, Chairman of the HPTDC.

The HPTDC is facing stiff competition from the private sector. It has decided to rope in travel agents to market its properties located at some of the most picturesque locations. It has hotels at some of the best locations but is still making losses.

The HPTDC hotels have been categorised in three categories: A category hotels are the ones making profits, B category hotels are making less profits while the C category hotels are loss-making units. The revenue of the HPTDC hotels has increased in the current financial year. Many properties built with funds from Asian Development Bank (ADB) for various departments, which have been lying defunct, will also be handed over to the Tourism Department to make them operational.

Renovation of Kullu, Manali Properties

• The HPTDC has decided to renovate four prime properties in Kullu and Manali, namely Silver Inn (Kullu) and Rohtang Manalsu, Naggar Castle and Club House in Manali
• The Club House at Manali will have facilities like an ice skating rink and a roller skating rink so that these properties can emerge as a major attraction for tourists
• Kullu and Manali remain one of the most popular regions with tourists