Bangkok has more rooms than Delhi, Mumbai together

Bangkok has more hotel rooms than both New Delhi and Mumbai put together, a critical shortage that has made tourist accommodation expensive and has led organisers of international conferences to South East Asian destinations.

The Thai capital Bangkok, a major tourist destination, has 60,000 hotel rooms, while New Delhi and Mumbai have about 20,000 and 25,000 respectively, according to report on the services sector prepared by the Planning Commission.

The shortage of hotel rooms has pushed the tariffs to "to unprecedented levels", thus making it unaffordable for upper middle class travellers, the report says.

Besides Delhi and Mumbai, the report pointed out, an "extreme shortage" of hotel rooms is also being felt in Bangalore and Goa, two other important business and tourist destinations in the country.

"India's competitiveness to hold international meetings and conferences has been seriously affected, and many of those who would have preferred to hold them in India, move to South East Asia on cost consideration," the report pointed out.

According to the plan panel's estimates, the shortfall in tourist accommodation is likely to increase to 1.5 lakh rooms by 2010 and the shortfall in the budget category to about one lakh rooms.