Karan Berry, General Manager of Courtyard by Marriott said that the overall trend in the hospitality sector is looking positive, as we see a lot of initiatives taken up by the government. The recent reduction in luxury tax to 10 %, inclusion of hotels in the list of infrastructure segment like airports, railways and sea ports are few of the initiatives taken by the government which will help the market and the tourism sector in India to boom.

On his expectations from Union Budget 2009-10 for the hospitality sector, Karan said,

· To rationalize the tax levied on the star hotels.

· The tax revision should identify the categorization of hotels like luxury, business, boutique etc and should excise tax accordingly than standardizing the tax for all the sectors of hotels. This will help in maximizing revenue streams for the sector and improve the economic development of the country.