Lords Hotels & Resorts on MICE Tourism

by Shrutee K/DNS

“Businesses or enterprises hold MICE events in different regions because those regions may be their markets or they may have some strategic tie-ups there. To host MICE or related events becomes necessary for such enterprises to conduct their business without having to operate from that particular region. In not being able to receive an Input Tax Credit (ITC) under the Goods & Services Tax (GST) will act as a deterrent in conducting such a practice which is directly bad for business. Not only is it bad business for one such enterprise but it’s bad for the hospitality industry too. Lords Plaza which is our brand of business hotels, has been receiving enquiries for hosting MICE and on realizing that they won’t receive the ITC, in case where they are registered in a different State, they are not confirming it. We have lost on approximately 8 per cent MICE bookings since the beginning of the month. We have invested quite a lot in installing state of the art equipment and infrastructure for hosting MICE at our hotels. Loosing potential business because of this ITC anomaly will translate into big losses for us. We feel that the Government may have overlooked this aspect while charting out the GST for hospitality. We hope that it is reconsidered and a provision be made so that all affected stakeholders continue to carry on conducting business as usual,” says Mr Rishi Puri, Vice President, Lords Hotels & Resorts.