A delegation of Hotel Association of India (HAI), led by its president S S Rehman of ITC Hotels, P R S Oberoi of East India Hotels, R K Krishna Kumar of Indian Hotels, C P Krishnan Nair of Leela Venture and Lalit Suri of Bharat Hotels, is expected to meet Hedge.

The delegation will seek the same fiscal incentives as given to the export industry, said HAI secretary general R K Puri. Others in the delegation will include Priya Paul of Park Hotels, L P Gupta of UP Hotels Ltd, G K Khanna of Oberoi Hotels, Sunder Advani of Goa Renaissance Resorts, Ramesh Khanna of Holiday Inn, Mumbai, Bharath Goyal of Adayar Gate Hotels and HAI's Puri.

While local taxes are exempted for exporters and they get duty drawback for the taxes paid by them, it is not the case for the hospitality industry, which is one of the most heavily taxed, Puri said. "We willtake up the issue with the minister", he added. HAI, as part of its pre-Budget exercise, intends meeting finance minister Yashwant Sinha too.

The association, along with the Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI), had recently met tourism minister Madan Lal Khurana, who had told the delegation that he will look into the contentious issue of single-tariff structure. On Tuesday, the Taj group of Hotels, which owns and manages about fortyfive hotel properties in India , formally joined the Hotel Association of India fold.

Hotel Association of India has a membership base of about 200 hotels, out of the 1,170-odd government approved hotels ranging from the one-star to the five-star deluxe category.

The major hotel chains which form the nucleus of Hotel Association of India 's membership include ITC Hotels, ITDC Ltd, EIH Ltd, UP Hotels Ltd, Park Hotels, Ramada Hotels, Holiday Inns Ltd besides leading stand-alone hotel properties such as Leela Kempinski in Mumbai and Intercontinentalof Delhi-based Bharat Hotels.

Most of these hotel chains are also members of the Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India.

Hotel Association of India has directed its 80 regional chapters to carry out an image analysis to assess the impact of the hotel industry on the region's employment generation and business opportunities. "The analysis will try to find out the economic impact of the tourism industry, particularly the hotel industry on the region", said Puri.

Hotel Association of India has its presence in 80 locations through its chapters in 27 state capitals and 53 major tourist cities.

Meanwhile, the Delhi high court, which took up the petition filed by the Hotel Association of India seeking redressal from the government order directing the hotel industry to do away with the dual tariff structure, adjourned the next hearing till April 27.