Empty rooms in Paharganj hotels

Foreign tourists set to give the Capital a miss, domestic travellers head elsewhere

Everything is readyu00a0- the rooms, the beds and the breakfast. But the guests are nowhere in sight. The hub of budget hotels in Delhi, Paharganj, has been preparing for the Commonwealth Games for over two years. The government was expecting the mega sporting event to usher in a tourism boom. That dream seems to have gone bust.


Halal street: Economy hotels in Paharganj are staring at major losses
as Commonwealth tourists have cancelled bookings. Pic/Mid day

Several hotels in Paharganj, near New Delhi Railway Station, had renovated their premises and decorated their surroundings with hoardings, posters and graffiti to welcome the Commonwealth tourists. But now hoteliers claim that leave alone foreign tourists, even domestic bookings have gone down drastically.

"We have around 12,000 hotels for tourists and we were all set to give our best but now there is no ray of hope. We have not even seen one per cent of the promised number of foreign tourists coming to Delhi just to see Commonwealth Games. But still over last two years we have changed many things to make Paharganj a tourist hot spot," said Daljit Chadha, President of Lodging House Owners Association.

The entire hoteliers community was excited about the Games carnival; the congested Paharganj lanes have now been transformed into broad, clean streets.

"To ensure safety of our guests we have installed metal detectors and employed private security guards along with CCTV camera facilities. In addition to this we have deployed 16 private security guards along the lanes. Moreover, the government has also deployed 100 armed personnel, making it a highly secure area. We have also printed 60 banners and 500 Shera posters welcoming foreign guests but there is no sign of them," Chadha added.

Hoteliers claim that because of security and negative publicity regarding the Games, the occupancy rate has gone down drastically. "During the same season we previously had 80 per cent occupancy but it has gone down to 35 per cent.

Many domestic tourists visited Delhi during Dussehra holidays but even they are avoiding the Capital, because of the high security during the Games," said Bishu Dutta of Hotel Today International.
Instead of tourists flocking to Delhi, other destinations in India seem to have benefited. Many tourists are heading towards other parts of northern Indian and coastal areas.

South Asian countries too are all set to host visitors from India, especially Delhiites as they look to get away during the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

According to tour operators, countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Mauritius are seeing an increased tourist inflow from Delhi for short-haul vacations.