The Ministry of Tourism has taken a step for classifying 4 Star, 5 Star hotels in non-Heritage sector and Classic category Hotels in Heritage sector without insisting on the presence of a bar that serves alcohol on the premises.

As per the new guidelines, hotels in the categories of 5 Star and 4 Star in non-Heritage sector and Classic category Hotels in Heritage sector can now be classified as '5 Star with alcohol service', '5 Star without alcohol service', '4 Star with alcohol service', '4 Star without alcohol service', 'Classic Heritage with alcohol service' and 'Classic Heritage without alcohol service', said Shripad Naik, Minister of State for Tourism.

At present, the Ministry of Tourism classifies various hotels on voluntary request in the categories of 1 Star, 2 Star, 3 Star, 4 Star, 5 Star and 5 Star Deluxe in non-Heritage sector and in the categories of Basic, Classic and Grand in the Heritage sector. Under the guidelines of the Ministry of Tourism till now , alcohol service was essential for Hotels seeking classification under the categories of 4 Star, 5 Star, 5 Star Deluxe, Classic Heritage and Grand Heritage.

This decision would provide flexibility to hotel owners and management to take considered decision on whether to provide alcohol service or not in their units. To protect the customer's interest, the Ministry of Tourism has made it compulsory for all the classified hotels to make their precise classification status shown on the opening page of their (Hotel’s) website and also declare such status clearly on their (hotel's) promotional and marketing material without any abbreviations, Tourism Minister added.