The Hindu Business Line : Delhi hotels spring back with high occupancy

IN Delhi, it is not only the mercury which is soaring northwards these days. Almost all the major hotel chains in the Capital have been reporting high occupancy rates during the current month and the future seems to be only looking better.

"The smiles are back on the faces of hotel salesmen after close to two years. There has been a dramatic increase in hotel room occupancy rates. While the Vasant Continental hotel reported an occupancy rate of 62.09 per cent during the first 15 days of April 2003, it has touched 82.46 per cent during the same period this year. In fact, we are completely sold out till April 26," the Senior Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Jaypee Hotels, Mr Pradeep Kalra, said.

Likewise, the Le Meridien, has been reporting an occupancy rate of around 100 per cent during the past five days and is completely sold out towards the end of the month, the hotel's Marketing Manager, Mr Akhil Mathur, said.

The General Manager, ITC Maurya Sheraton, and Vice-President, Delhi, Mr Gautam Anand, said that the hotel has seen a double-digit growth in room occupancy as compared to last year. "The Maurya Sheraton hotel is reporting room occupancy in excess of 73-74 per cent, while our premium brand, ITC-One, is reporting room occupancy in excess of 60 per cent. This is one of the tangible manifestations of the `feel good' factor," Mr Anand said.

Similarly, The Imperial hotel has seen the occupancy rate touch 85 per cent during April this year, up from a level of 55 per cent last year. "The average room rate will be the same in spite of the dollar devaluation by 10 per cent. Therefore, we have an actual increase of 10 per cent on a year-on-year basis. Over the last fiscal year (2002-3), the occupancy for The Imperial has gone up by 14 per cent as against the city increase by 12 per cent during 2003-4," the hotel's Director Strategic Planning, Mr Rishi Kapoor, said.

However, it is not just the private sector hotels which have been seeing people lining up for rooms. The state-owned Hotel Ashok has reported an occupancy rate of 68 per cent during the current month, with foreign tourists accounting for more than 55 per cent of the rooms booked. "The various international conferences and delegations who are visiting for these events is seeing the hotel report a very high room occupancy in the near future also," a hotel spokesperson said.

Commenting on the reasons for the high occupancy rates being witnessed these days, industry leaders felt it could be a combination of factors. "The last couple of years were bad for the industry. But since September-October last year, with an improvement in the general atmosphere including easing of tension between India and Pakistan, things have started looking up. Whichever delegations, conference, business visits were earlier put on hold are now coming in, bringing cheer to the several industries, including the hotels," Mr Mathur said.