The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Fall in number of tourists to Bangalore

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 19, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Fall in number of tourists to Bangalore

Vidyashree Amaresh

BANGALORE: There has been a decline in the number of tourists travelling for leisure visiting Bangalore. The number of people flying into the city for the festive seasons has also come down significantly.

Revenue Manager of Hotel Leela Palace Sachin Tyagi says the occupancy rate of the hotel, which is normally 100 per cent, dropped to 80 per cent during the Dasara festival.

This, however, was more than the occupancy rate during the festive season last year. The occupancy rate among foreign visitors to the city is much more than that for domestic travellers.

Reservation Manager of Leela Palace Merwin Dawson told The Hindu that the average occupancy rate for hotels across the city was around 62 per cent. "There were no seasonal packages offered and no specific discounts put forward for the occupants during the Dasara festival."

Elaborating on the season forecast and booking strategies, Mr. Dawson said that Leela Palace does not offer any rebate on tariff as the hotel does not want to lose out on revenue that it can earn from its potential clientele. "No one will want to sit in a hotel during the festive season, they would prefer to stay at home instead. So why should the hotel suffer a loss of revenue from those who would want to stay in a hotel," he said.

According to the Assistant Vice-President (Sales) of The Oberoi Hemant Mediratta, the occupancy levels hovered between 85 per cent and 95 per cent this Dasara. The hotel's occupancy level is 100 per cent for most of the year. Of this, 80 per cent of the occupants are foreigners. "This is, perhaps, the reason why the occupancy level did not see much of a fall during Dasara," says Mr. Mediratta.

Tour operators in the city had organised lucky raffles for those who had purchased gold cards to witness the Mysore Dasara. Deccan Aviation also distributed Dasara brochures at its counters as a promotional measure. Around 1,000 gold cards were sold through various outlets for niche tourists. Concessions were also offered on travel to Mysore and lodging was provided at discounted rates. Heritage rides in open buses were part of the package.

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