CHENNAI: The travel and hospitality industry, which was on a path to recovery, has been hit by the latest travel restrictions and curfews imposed in the State due to rising Covid-19 cases. Since the announcement of the curbs, many hotels, resorts, and travel agencies have faced heavy cancellations for January.
People in the industry told TNIE the business was good in December, but has now suddenly suffered huge losses because of the cancellations. Even weddings, conferences and meetings are getting cancelled, they said.
Shafee Ahmed, General Manager of E Hotel Express Avenue, said the cancellations have been huge, particularly of weddings, training programmes, and conferences. He added there is a 30 per cent dip in the business, with people also getting hesitant to book rooms in advance because of the uncertainty. Wedding events spanning two to three days are now reduced to a single day, as only 100 people are allowed to attend the functions.
Shabin Sarvotham, Senior General Manager of Radission Blu Resort Temple Bay on East Coast Road (ECR), Mahabalipuram said, “There were a lot of cancellations even 24 hours before the lockdown was announced. We have lost bookings that were scheduled for the coming two weeks, amounting to lakhs of rupees.”
“Normally, bookings for weekends will get closed at the start of the week itself. But it’s Friday today, and still we have rooms open for Saturday and even for Sunday as there were almost no booking,” said Shabin.
Rajkumar Raman, General Manager, The Carlton Hotel in Kodaikanal, said, “There are some cancellations. But as Kodaikanal’s majority crowd comes on weekends, we have to wait and see for the next weekends as the the complete lockdown was announced only for this Sunday (January 9). The Pongal bookings haven’t been cancelled yet.”
According to Sriharan Balan, MD of Chennai-based Madurai Travels, however, there are also people who plan trips now thinking that the Covid cases might further increase. With the flight fares also seeing a dip, vaccinated youngsters are travelling confidently, he added.
Balan said there were travel bookings to places like Goa, Kerala, Coorg and Kabini in Karnataka getting cancelled, even though the destinations were much sought during Christmas and New Year. Bookings to Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, however, are in full swing because of the winter, he added.
