north india: Hotel, travel companies take a hit as rains lash North India

The existing weather conditions in Delhi-NCR and northern India are hitting occupancies and bookings of hotels and travel platforms, leading to cancellations and deferred plans.

“We had been getting cancellations over the weekend because of the weather and rains are affecting leisure bookings. An advisory has gone out to hotels in North India to accommodate guests in states such as Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and not pressurise them to leave, if they are stuck because of road closures and can’t pay immediately,” said Garish Oberoi, president, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI).

“We have been advising our association members to provide all sorts of assistance. There is an issue of landslides in some destinations and communication has been hit,” he added.

Amit Damani, co-founder of villa and bungalow rental company StayVista, said business has been impacted in the hills of North India and it would be down by 50%.”Interestingly, demand has increased at places such as Sohna and Kurukshetra as people are rescheduling their holiday destination,” he added.

The chief executive of a global hotel chain said occupancies have dipped in the mountains. “In some areas, hotels have been asked to evacuate guests. We are used to the monsoons but whatever has been happening this year is not seasonal and usual. The situation in Delhi would have an impact on corporate bookings too,” he added.

Daniel D’Souza, president and country head for holidays at SOTC Travel, said most of the booked customers are opting to defer travel plans.