Best zone for hospitality feels, Al-Safir group of hotels MD A Hameed Al-Halwachi

Mr Hameed, who started his career from a very humble beginning, gradually rose with hard work in this field. Now he is leading a well known brand of hotels in Bahrain, the famous business destination in the middle east. He is on a visit to the Westin hotel management institute, here. In fact this is his fourth visit to Vijayawada.

In an interaction with this newspaper, Mr Hameed had all praise for the capital city, the Vijayawada. He said that he has been noticing significant improvement in his every visit to this place which is the testimony of this city’s vibrant culture. This quality gained mo-mentum in recent times with the announcement of Vijayawada as the capital, he felt.

He said that he came to know that many reputed hotels are showing keen interest either to set up their own hotels or start their franchises here.

Already some famous brands had tied up with the local hoteliers which is an indication of this city’s potential.

To make more use of this interest the state government should plan well and take the initiation so that many new hotels will throng this region, he opined.

The entry of more and more new players will help a lot in changing the whole scenario of the hospitality sector and make that more attractive in this area.

This will naturally pave the way for the well needed push for the inter-linked fields that include tourism, empl-oyment and income generation.

Mr Hameed also said that better air connectivity will play a very significant role in the hospitality sector’s dev-elopment. So the policy makers must concentrate on this, he added.

At the same time emphasis should be laid on the construction of multiplexes, entertainment centres, world cla-ss convention centres, congestion free roads and better infrastructure in the tourist spots, he said. He also suggested that the government and the hoteliers must work together to tap the potentiality of this area which is very high compared to many other cities.

He admitted that like him many in the hospitality sector are evincing keen interest to explore the possibilities here but are not in a hurry. They will take a final decision after watching carefully the government’s policies and decisions.