As the temperatures inside the PCA stadium, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (better known as Mohali), are likely to flare up on March 30, when India and Pakistan take on each other in their first ever pre-final meet in the cricket World Cup, the heat has proved too much for the hospitality sector in the region that is finding it tough to accommodate the visitors.
According to the Chandigarh Hospitality Association, there are about 1,400 hotel rooms in the organised sector in the Tri-City (Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula) and every hotel is filled to the brim of their capacity.
With VVIPs, guests from across the border and top corporate bigwigs and celebrities are likely to mark their presence for this high profile match, obviously the situation has turned grave for the hotelier’s.
Chandigarh Hospitality Association Secretary Ankit Gupta maintained that in the last few days he had received calls on behalf of many corporate bigwigs, but in absence of adequate rooms available they are finding it tough to accommodate the requirements. This has resulted in a spillover, as hotels located outside the Tri-City are receiving numerous queries from visitors across the country. Hotels in cities like Parwanoo (Himachal Pradesh), Ludhiana (Punjab), and Karnal (Haryana) has rooms booked for visitors coming to see the match.
Hotel and Restaurant Association of Haryana President and Jewel Group of Hotels CMD Manbeer Choudhary said, the hotels in Haryana located outside of the Tri-City periphery were being booked.
The spillover has reached cities like Ambala and Karnal (70 miles from Chandigarh)
Choudhary maintained, his hotel at Karnal has also booked rooms for the big corporate clients.
He added, more than 300 rooms in Haryana are likely to attract the spillover from hotels in the Tri-City.
Hotel and Restaurant Association of Punjab Honorary Secretary Amardeep Singh said, while hotels in Zirakpur were already brimmed to capacity, queries from visitors were being addressed by hoteliers in Ludhiana.
