& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Govt to sign deal with Intercontinental in Oct

Sayeda Akter
The government is likely to sign a deal with leading international hotel chain Intercontinental in October to manage and operate Ruposhi Bangla Hotel, previously known as Dhaka Sheraton.
Intercontinental will start operating the hotel in November, and will use its logo once the much-talked-about renovation is complete, which is likely to take place by March next year, said a senior official of the ministry yesterday.
The hotel is likely to be named Intercontinental Ruposhi Bangla, he said.
Prior to that, the hotel chain will add Ruposhi Bangla to its Global Distribution System that will allow the hotel to be connected with the international connectivity of the chain and take reservation from other Intercontinental hotels and resorts.
State-owned Bangladesh Services Ltd (BSL), which owns the hotel, approved the terms and conditions.
Initially, the deal will be effective for 30 years and can be extended depending on performance, with each expansion period spanning five years.
The civil aviation and tourism ministry and BSL cure working on the terms of the deal, which include issues like renovating the hotel without shutting it,
retaining all present BSL employees and the cost of renovation.
Intercontinental ran the state-owned hotel before Sheraton took over its management in 1983.
Current hotel employees, who are all BSL staff members, requested the civil aviation and tourism ministry to give them an opportunity to manage Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) for one term.
They fear Intercontinental may shut the hotel during renovation, and they may lose their jobs.
“If Intercontinental shuts down the hotel during renovation, a few thousand people of our families will fall in trouble. The government is now looking for a management operator to run the operations of BICC, which requires three years of professional experience," said a hotel official.
"We qualify as we have expertise in running a five star hotel for so many years. So if the government awards us the contract to manage the centre, we will do it efficiently," he added.
Sheraton ended its operations in Bangladesh after a stay of 27 years. BSL took over operations and management on May 1 and named it Ruposhi Bangla.
Ruposhi Bangla earned operating revenues worth Tk 8.9 crore in May from Tk8 crore in April, said a hotel official.