December 24, 2019
Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI) has signed an MoU with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) to facilitate the hotel members of HRANI for the listing of their room rate and inventory on IRCTC booking engine portal. The same has been done in a bid to promote domestic tourism and reduce the customer acquisition cost.
Garish Oberoi, Treasurer, HRANI, M.P. Mall, CMD, IRCTC, Surendra Kumar Jaiswal, President HRANI, Amarvir Singh, Hony Secretary, HRANI, Renu Thapliyal, Secretary General, HRANI
The occasion was graced with the esteemed presence of M.P. Mall, Chairman & Managing Director, IRCTC as Chief Guest. The event also witnessed the presence of Surendra Kumar Jaiswal, President HRANI & Vice President FHRAI, Amarvir Singh, Hony Secretary, HRANI, Garish Oberoi, Treasurer and Renu Thapliyal, Secretary General, HRANI along with leading hoteliers.
On the association M.P. Mall, CMD, IRCTC said, “Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) – A Mini Ratna is a Central Public Sector Enterprise under Ministry of Railways, Government of India. IRCTC handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations and claims that it has 60 million registered users on the website, and is the world's second-busiest, with around 8 lacs bookings per day. In addition to ticket booking, people can also book their stays, domestic & international holiday packages, flights and meals on the IRCTC website."
IRCTC is now into the direct contracting with hotels of all categories on pan India basis and would be making all hotel inventory for sale through its all websites i.e. www.irctc.co.in www.irctctourism.com and www.ictc.co.in. for online sale to its valued customer.
As per the partnership between HRANI with IRCTC, IRCTC has allowed to offer a 10% commission from the listed Member Unit of HRANI. The HRANI Member will also be entitled for 50% discount on a one-time integration charge of Rs. 20000/- plus tax. Individual Member needs to pay an amount of Rs. 10000/- plus tax to IRCTC for integration on the booking portal of IRCTC.
The partnership is surely a win-win situation for both IRCTC and HRANI to promote hotel inventory to the end customers. IRCTC would be promoting hotel inventory on its all websites and through different promotional activities.
Surendra Kumar Jaiswal, President HRANI said, “We are very happy to be associated with IRCTC and in order to promote domestic tourism and attract more tourist, we request our members to pass the benefit of reduced commission to end customers so that the end customer prefers to book through IRCTC making this initiative of HRANI beneficial for customers and as well as hotels.”
The event was attended by owners, decision-makers and leading professionals from the hospitality industry. The officials from IRCTC include Rajesh Kumar, Group General Manager, Tourism and Pradeep Dhiman, Add. General Manager, Tourism.
Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI) has taken the lead and is the first association to partner with IRCTC in the interest of its members and hospitality industry to promote domestic tourism vis a vis reduce the customer acquisition cost.