03 October,2010 07:31 AM IST | | Urvashi Seth
Hoteliers grumble over losing corporate clients, who cite traffic congestion due to CWG, for drop in room bookings
Room occupancy at hotels in Delhi has hit an all-time low of 25 per from the usual 80 per cent observed every October. "For the hospitality industry in Delhi, October is peak season. But our business has faced a huge setback thanks to the 2010 Common Wealth Games," said Manoj Singh, marketing manger of Orchid Hotel, a three-star hotel at Connaught Place.
He added, "In my 20-year experience within the hospitality industry, I have never witnessed an October so bad. Our occupancy has gone down 20 per cent. Corporates have made cancellations, citing traffic congestion expected for CWG."
SP Jain, joint secretary, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations India (FHRAI) revealed that last month the ministry of tourism had asked hoteliers to facilitate the booking and negotiation of rates of about 843 rooms for the Games, at the request of the Organising Committee (OC).
Jain who is also managing director, Pride Pak Premiere, a four-star hotel in Gurgaon, said, "Unfortunately, even after meeting their demands, hardly any rooms have been booked. The hotel industry was hoping to do roaring business during CWG, but this period is turning out to be a disaster for us. The worst hit are the under three-star hotels."
The 843 rooms were in addition to around 1,600 rooms that were already booked at various hotels by the OC for delegates and technical staff. Although, hotels in Delhi NCR were originally asked to block as many as 6,000 rooms for the event, the numbers gradually went down.
Another hotelier, on the condition of anonymity said, "Negative publicity, traffic chaos and security concerns have kept regular tourists away."
