The economic slowdown has already made it a lean season for the hotel industry and the recent terrorist attacks on Mumbai could translate into lesser flow of foreign vistors, feel hospitality players in the city.
“Traditionally, Bangalore has never been a tourist destination and is visited mainly for business. Compared to last year, tariff in the deluxe and super deluxe hotels are down by 15-20 per cent,” said an official with a leading Bangalore-based travel agency.
The city is home to some of the most prominent names in the hospitality industry including Taj, The Leela Palace, Royal Orchid, Ista hotel and Windsor Sheraton among others. Industry estimates are that there are around 1500 deluxe rooms in Bangalore where tariff could be anything from Rs 30,000 to nearly Rs one lakh per night for super deluxe and between Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 per night for deluxe and semi-deluxe rooms.
“In the short-run, super deluxe hotels may look at cutting prices. Demand has definitely slowed down in the leisure segment and business segment has also slightly slowed down. Those in the mid-segment may not be impacted much and may still hold on to their price levels but upper scale players may have to cut tariffs,” said Sunil Mathur, Director, International Development, Indian Ocean Region for Wyndham Hotel Group that owns the Ramada brand of hotels
in India. The hotel industry, excluding those in the hill stations, normally set their tariff rates for a period of one year between October 1 and September 30.
“Generally, we find a increase of 10-15 per cent by all major hotels in tariffs around October but this year that hasn’t happened. In an alternative to cutting tariffs, many deluxe hotels have started offering a discount of 10-15 per cent over the counter or other attractive schemes,” said Yogesh Salaskar, an official from Raj Travel World.
Occupancy rates have been a major concern for hotels in Bangalore. Super deluxe and deluxe hotels are learnt to have occupancy rates of around 50-60 per cent, which was as high as 75-80 per cent last year during this time.