Hotels offer rebate to tide over lean season

Leading hotels are gearing up to tackle the imminent lean season that the industry faces every year, by offering both, bulk packages as well as discounts.

The average room rates (ARRs) of these hotels are expected to go down, as they may offer 20-25 per cent discount from April 1. And the discounts will continue till August.

"We expect ARRs in our hotels to come down by Rs 2,000-3,000 during the April-August period," said Vivek Nair, vice-chairman and managing director, Hotel Leela Ventures.

The ARR of his hotel hovers around Rs 8,000 in the peak season. Nair happens to be the president of the Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India too.

Julian Groom, general manager, Le Royal Meridien agreed with Nair on the possible reduction in ARRs. "However, the industry will try to keep the occupancy at the over 80-per cent levels against last year's 70 per cent," he said.

Michael G Herrmann, director of operations, south-west Asia, Inter Continental Hotels said the gap between the lean and peak seasons have reduced a lot.

In a city like Bangalore, in the October-December period, shortage of rooms had propelled rates to the Rs 16,000 levels. In Delhi and Mumbai too, the ARRs were hovering in the Rs 8,000-10,000 range during the period.