NAGPUR: As Covid checks out, business is getting back to normal for hotels in the city. A section of hoteliers said even as business is picking up, virtual meetings and work from home, which have become the new normal these days, continue to impact occupancy. Jungle resorts on the other hand are full, say owners. However, rising input costs are affecting the margins now. There is a little room to hike rates at present say hotelier, who are hoping there is no fourth wave.
TOI spoke to a cross section of hoteliers in the city, and got mixed responses. Hotels that depend on business trips said occupancy was still to reach the optimum level. They need at least 60% occupancy to reach a comfortable level;. However, an equal number hotels also reported occupancy up to 70%, which is as good as pre-Covid levels, said the management there.
Micky Arora of Centre Point Group of hotels said he has started getting inquiries for doctors’ conferences. He takes it as a good symptom and hopes there is no fourth wave in the months to come. The conferences did not take place during the Covid time. The doctors’ conferences are planned 2 to 3 months down the line. Business from restaurants and functions are back to normal though, he said.
Travelling has begun but air connectivity is yet to return completely back to normal for the city. The occupancy may improve after that. Arora said they could achieve over 60% occupancy.
Tejindersingh Renu, who runs Pritam Hotel at Central Avenue, said business in the city mainly depends on business visits, as it is not a major tourism centre. “Even post Covid much of the work continues virtually, this has affected the business as far as occupancy is concerned,” said Renu, who is also president of Nagpur Residential Hotels Association (NRHA). The occupancy is still at 40% while it needs to reach 60% at least. “The norms may have been eased but customers are preferring to keep the number of guests low at 100 to 150 in line with the curbs, as they find it more convenient,” he said.
Sanjay Gupta of ITDC Ashoka too confirmed that the option of virtual meetings has affected business travel keeping occupancy low.
Afzal Mitha of Orient Group said even as occupancy may be back to 70%, inflation is pinching. “There has been an across the board increase of 30% in input costs. However, we are not in a position to hike the tariff to match the costs, as business has just picked up ,” he said.
The revival began in February last week and by March it is as much as the pre-Covid times, said Sujeet Singh of The Pride Hotel.
Jungle resorts, however, are running full over the last three months, said the owners. “There is a steady flow of guests from other parts of the country, especially Gujarat,” said Sanjay Kothari of Gladiolus Hotels. “The resorts are full during weekends and even during other days there is enough occupancy,” said Kailash Jogani of Nakshatra Resorts.
