Telangana turmoil sinks tourist numbers in Nizam's land

Hyderabad, Sept 20: The ongoing struggle for a separate state of Telangana has had a huge impact on the number of tourists visiting the Nizam's land. The agitation has also had a negative impact on the common man's life in the state.

The city's tourist season which started this month has seen huge drop in the number of visitors. The hospitality sector has come under severe losses after the number of tourists came down since 2009. This year, hoteliers have booked only low budget tourists and low-key corporate meets.

G Ravish Daway, general manager of Quality Inn Residency faced a loss worth Rs 8 lakh. He has been quoted as saying, "This season brings at least 40% of our annual revenues.We used to get at least 10 group bookings during this time every year. In 2010, it dropped to less than half of that and this year we have no confirmation on any booking."

He added, "People are not eager to make advance payments and even enquiries have reduced to a trickle."

Pradip Dutt, general secretary, Hotels and Restaurants Association of Andhra Pradesh said, "Previously, every star hotel (three to five) had at least three such meets lined up for this month alone. But this time, there are barely any corporate meets that are happening in the city. In fact, the rate of cancellation is very high."

Pradip added, "Whether it will eventually materialise, however, still remains to be seen."

This month, Hotel Inner Circle has got only one conference booking. The hoteliers are providing 15-20% discounts on tarifs. Even discounts are failing to attract tourists this year as people are cancelling their reservations at the last moment.

Anand Ganesan, general manager of Mercure has been quoted as saying, "We have lost at least a couple of bookings this month alone. While there still some business happening at the hotel, it is indeed slow this time around. We surely could have done with much more bookings."

Jayesh Ranjan, secretary, said, "We even expect the tourist footfall to improve over the next few months and peak, as usual, in December when NRIs come to India for their Christmas break. So, even if the start has been slow, we are hopeful of good business in the coming weeks."

OneIndia News