Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) partnered with the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India in order to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and resources in the area of hospitality finance and technology.
AUSTIN- A new partnership was formed last week when representatives from Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), a global professional association, participated in the 47th Annual Convention for the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) in Goa, India. HFTP CEO Frank Wolfe, CAE and HFTP Global Vice President R.P. Rama, CHA, CHAE, CHTP travelled to multiple cities in India to meet with Indian hospitality organizations. Their objective was to establish connections to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and resources in the area of hospitality finance and technology. Their first stop was at the FHRAI event, where a new friendship was formed between the two organizations with the agreement for an ongoing relationship, including the exchange of educational resources.
“India has an established community of hospitality professionals that can be a great resource for HFTP, and vice versa,” says Wolfe. “It was really great to speak face to face with Indian hospitality professionals at the FHRAI Annual Convention to see how HFTP can best support them in the areas of hospitality finance and technology.”
The agreement was strongly driven by Kamlesh Barot, President of FHRAI, who saw great opportunities with a partnership between the two organizations. “When HFTP’s CEO, Mr. Frank Wolfe and global vice president, Mr. R.P. Rama joined hands with us at FHRAI, they have in fact filled in a void that existed in the financial and technological space, which we have experienced in the past few years,” says Barot.
“I took the opportunity in the first meeting of the HFTP India chapter to allocate the responsibility of creating the white paper on the most awaited Goods Service Tax and Direct Tax Code for the hospitality industry to them. The industry awaits both the GST and DTC very anxiously and this exercise shall be a lighthouse for the entire business community of India and investors from overseas. It was a pleasure not only to host Mr. Frank Wolfe and Mr. R.P. Rama, but also the four students of the Auro University, who helped us run the convention logistics in Goa.”
In addition to meeting with industry leaders, Wolfe and Rama presented an educational session on the future of hospitality technology. The topics of discussion included mobile applications, cloud computing, social media and data security, and ended with a Q&A dialogue. The representatives drew from their broad involvement with the global hospitality technology community, including the production of HFTP’s annual Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC), the world’s largest hospitality technology conference. Individually, Wolfe is an inductee to the HFTP International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame and a frequent speaker on this topic at industry events. Rama is the CIO/CTO for JHM Hotels, which has 40 plus properties with over 6,520 rooms, including in India.
The FHRAI is the central hotel and restaurant association for four regional hospitality associations in India. It provides an interface between the hospitality industry, political leadership, academics, international associations and other stakeholders. It has more than 3,767 members comprising of approximately 2,444 hotels having 147,637 rooms, 1,191 restaurants with 111,298 covers and 132 associate members. Four Seasons Resorts Maldives Win Prestigious Condé Nast Traveler World Savers Awards 2012.
Photo [left to right]: Raman (R.P.) Rama, Kamlesh Barot and Frank Wolfe.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
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