Hotels' body seek fee cut on bar licence, no limit on minimum liquor stock

Operating bars at hotels and restaurants has become unviable due to higher licence fee and mandatory requirement of minimum liquor stock irrespective of sale volume, Federation of Himachal Hotel and Restaurant Association said on Wednesday.

Members of the hotel body met here to discuss various issues related to the industry.

Hotels have limited clientage and the profitability of the bar totally depends on the guests staying in the hotels. Moreover, there is a complete ban on drinking and driving in the larger interest of the safety of general public and therefore local clients rarely visit hotel bars, the association said in a statement.

The hotel industry business in Himachal Pradesh is seasonal and therefore the licence fee for bars should be less and there should not be the mandatory quota for liquor stock for hotels having bar facilities, said Gajendra Thakur, president of Federation of Himachal Hotel and Restaurant Association.

Bar operators also suggested creating different categories of bar licences and said the licence fees for hotels located in the rural areas need to be reduced. Beer bar licence should also be nominal while bar licences should be issued on season basis, they said.

It was unanimously resolved that the tourism licences should be renewed after every five years instead of the present norm for renewal in three years, the association said.

Tourism sector stakeholders said that the industry is still struggling to revive after Covid pandemic and demanded reduction in charges for participating in tourism fairs and travel marts organised in different parts of the country.

The present cost of setting one stall is Rs 30,000, which should be reduced to Rs 10,000 for at least two years to facilitate the hotel industry to promote their business, the members said.