The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) on July 8 welcomed the Maharashtra government's decision to re-open hotels and has asked its members to adhere to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) designed for the hospitality industry.
HRAWI are unsure of how many will actually check-in as many hotels have shortage of staff. HRAWI expects only about 25 to 40 percent of the hotels across the state to re-open in the first week, which may go up to 70 percent in a month from now.
“Many hotels are facing shortage of staff and are also low on working capital. This will be the biggest challenge for hotels as they decide to open doors to their guests. So, our estimate is that only about 30 to 35 percent of the total hotels in the state may immediately re-open and others will gradually join. There are many hotels which have been hit very hard and these may not re-open at all or even if they do, it will take some time. We expect roughly around 70 percent of the hotels to resume operations in the near future,” says Pradeep Shetty, Vice President, HRAWI.
With curbs on travel restrictions, gatherings and companies adopting work from home policy, HRAWI expects actual bookings to be low and anticipates the MICE segment and corporate bookings to be next to nil.
“Other than staff deficiency and liquidity issues, the factor which will influence a hotel’s decision to re-open will be the amount of bookings it receives. Demand is anyway very low due to travel restrictions and general restricted activities. We are still in the midst of a pandemic. People are generally wary of everything and experimenting will not be the first thing on their minds. Despite the fact that hotels are fully capable of managing footfall during this phase, it will be a wait-and-watch game,” Shetty added.
The association has also expressed hope that the Government considers increasing the limit of 33 percent capacity if signs are encouraging. It also expressed the government to allow restaurants to be allowed to re-open as it is the only option outside of home for several working class employed in the essential services.
“Hospitality was the first industry to get hit and, unfortunately, it will be the last to recover. However, we are a resilient bunch and we will remain optimistic about the future. As bookings begin to trickle in, we will be able to instill confidence in our guests which we hope will encourage other guests to check-in. When this happens, we will seek Government’s permission to increase the present capacity of 33 percent,” Mr Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, President, HRAWI said.
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