No Fireworks For Indian Hospitality Industry This Diwali

New Delhi, Nov 09: Hotels and restaurants in India are going through their worst phase in the history of Indian tourism. The months starting from October until December, under normal conditions, are usually the golden season for the Hospitality sector. Normally there is significant inflow in FTAs and even domestic tourism is at its peak during these months. However currently, with no international tourists flying in and apprehension about travelling amongst domestic tourists, Hospitality industry is staring a lack-luster Diwali this year.

India’s apex Hospitality Association – FHRAI has stated that the outlook appears grim for the sector for at least a year.

“Tourist destinations are the benchmarks of tourism season for India. This year, hotel room booking in such places is only 15 to 25 per cent of average bookings received this time of the year. So, one can only imagine the booking numbers in the rest of the country. Also, while it may appear like domestic tourists are travelling but this segment of travelers is not really vacationers. Most of these are the WFH tourists who are looking at a change of destination after being locked up in one place for several months. This tourist will not translate to sustainable business for establishments. Clearly, Diwali is not going to be as festive for hoteliers and restaurateurs this year,” says Mr Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, FHRAI.

The FHRAI had informed the Government of the impending fiasco that could befall on the Hospitality industry if the lockdown sustained for more than a couple of months. Ever since then the Association has been pleading the Govt. for its immediate attention on critical issues such as restructuring of loan, facilitating soft loan for the hospitality industry as the financial institutions have marked the industry in negative list, absence of working capital, job losses among others.

“For eight months straight, the Hospitality industry has not performed and hotels and restaurants did not earn any revenue. Many hotels and restaurants are struggling to pay utility bills, statutory fees and duties and salaries, current and pending. There is an acute shortage of manpower and also customer footfalls have not gone back up to pre-pandemic levels. For the last eight months, occupancies have not exceeded 15 per cent in cities and 25 per cent at hill stations and resort locations. Hill stations and resorts are witnessing a marginal increase in occupancies as compared to cities just because people are fed up of confinement and are exploring drivable distances. Under these circumstances, we are hoping for just some buffer, something from the Government in terms of support to cushion the blow,” concludes Mr Pradeep Shetty, Jt. Hon. Secretary, FHRAI.

Comments

0