The Hindu Business Line : Bangalore hospitality sector feels the pinch of attacks on Mumbai

Bangalore, Dec. 2 First the economic meltdown, then the terror attacks. It’s not just Mumbai that has been affected. A 20-30 per cent drop in average hotel occupancy is expected in the near future in Bangalore.

“We are seeing huge cancellations from expats and foreign travel post-November 26,” said Mr Subrata Majumder, General Manager, The Park, Bangalore. The hotel’s current occupancy is about 40-45 per cent, compared to 70-75 per cent just before the Mumbai attacks. According to him, “it’s a double attack for the hospitality sector”.

Past trends indicate drop in travel and tourism business owing to terror factors to be more than 50 per cent in leisure, health and MICE tourism segments, said Mr Taposh Chakraborty, Principal, Boutique Hospitality Consulting, Bangalore. “For business cities like Bangalore, any impact is likely to be short term only with varied intensity,” he added.

‘Marginal dip’

At The Oberoi, Bangalore, a senior source put the current occupancy at 62-65 per cent, which is a marginal dip compared with the same time last year. “We have not witnessed any significant cancellations. It is too early to comment on possible repercussions of the incident in Mumbai,” the source said.

A spokesperson for Hotel Leela Palace, Bangalore, said that there was only a temporary dip in occupancy level at the hotel. She hoped that the occupancy level would revive after a week or 10 days.

Mr Ashwin Damera, Founder and CEO, Travelguru, said, “We are seeing several cancellations not just for Mumbai hotels, but for other cities as well. About 25 per cent of our bookings for this week have been either cancelled or rescheduled. Several large bookings from customers from abroad, especially the US and the UK, are being cancelled.”

At The Lalit Ashok, Bangalore, there have been cancellations too, said Ms Harinder Singh, General Manager of the hotel. The hotel had 60 per cent occupancy just before the attacks, she said.

Bangalore does not attract foreign holiday-makers as much as Delhi, Rajasthan, Goa and Mumbai do, said Mr Chakraborty. Many MICE events, including the Aero India 2009, are lined up for Bangalore till February “which will keep the hotels busy,” he added.

Fallout

As fallout of the attack, event organisers in the city expect a 20 per cent dip in foreign travellers to India for the aero show.

Till now, there have been one-month and two-month cancellations only, but there will be cancellations for the aero show, feel hoteliers. “The aeroshow won’t see a similar attendance in 2009 as in the past years,” said Mr Majumder of The Park.

“We hope it doesn’t continue for long,” he added.

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