Telangana issue: Hospitality sector bears the brunt

The on-going agitation for separate statehood of Telangana has taken a heavy toll on the hospitality sector in the busy metropolis of Hyderabad with conferences and meetings being cancelled and tourist visits dwindling leading to lower occupancy levels.

An interaction with some of the players in the hospitality business in Hyderabad and Secunderabad, which have become the epicentre of the ongoing agitation, particularly in the last one month after the announcement of “Sarva Janula Samme,” shows that they have had cancellations and postponement of meetings and conferences resulting in lower occupancy levels of up to 15 per cent.

Most of the prospects have cancelled and rescheduled the events to other cities be it Pune, Gurgaon or Chennai. For a city which thrives on business meetings in particular as tourist visitors are limited, this has meant loss of business. Significantly, those who are making it are staying for shorter durations, they said.

The Secretary-General of Hotels and Restaurants Association of Andhra Pradesh, Mr P.K. Dutt, told Business Line that the hospitality business was passing through a tough phase due to the ongoing agitation and general slowdown. While business tends to show up when things are normal, such agitations announced in August, we had to face cancellations, he said.

Lower occupancy levels

Mr Mohan Krishna, General Manager of Green Park, said, their property has seen lower occupancy level in September at 50 per cent. “We have also had some cancellations. There is clear impact on the level of occupancy as there is perception outside that things are paralysed. Only those who have no other choice but to go ahead are checking in. Rest of them prefer to stay away,” he said.

Mr Jayakanth Shroff, Genera Manager of Taj Banjara, said, “the agitation is impacting the hospitality sector as it is affecting other sections of society and people. We are seeing a drop of 10-15 per cent in the bookings during September. But significantly, this is also a month where the inflows are lower. The real busy season starts after the festive season in November. It is to be seen how business pans out.”

Occupancy levels have also come down lately to about 40-50 per cent. Significantly, this has also meant discounts in tariffs, Mr Dutt said.

Mr Jaideep Anand, General Manager of Ista Hotels, said that Hyderabad hospitality is dependent on services sector, particularly IT, financial and telecom. Prolonged agitations impact the general sentiment, which could be harmful in the long run as there are other competitive cities knocking to host similar events. “In our own case, we have seen a dip of about 10-12 per cent last month,” he said.