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Violence in Gujarat hits the hotel industry hard

Onkar Singh in Ahmedabad

The weeklong violence in Gujarat has left the hotel industry reeling.

So severe is the impact of the violence that many of the hotels face certain closure.

Mukesh Patel, former president of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, "The damage is both direct as well as indirect. Direct loss means loss of properties, business establishments and revenue during the period of violence. In indirect loss, we have foreign investors moving out because they are scared to invest money."

He, however, was confident that the state would overcome the insecurity caused by the violence.

But hotel industry insiders are not too sure.

"We have about 20-25 major hotels in Ahmedabad. Occupancy in big names like the Taj Group, the Welcome Group and other major hotel chains has fallen. As it is the occupancy prior to riots was about 70 per cent, and now it has fallen sharply to merely 20 per cent," Parvinder Khosla, general manager of President Hotel, told rediff.com.

Narinder Saini, general manager of Class Gold Hotel claimed that due to the violence in last ten days, the hotel industry had lost business to the tune of Rs 250 million already.

"When I say we have lost business worth Rs 250 million, I am only counting the major hotels. I am not counting several hundred small hotels, which have also been hit badly," he said.

According to him, out of 20,000 workforce employed by the major hotels, fifty per cent would be out of jobs soon.

L Mansingh, principal secretary, industries, is confident that the state would be able to turnaround despite heavy odds.

"We had emerged as the most preferred investment destination in the country during the last quarter and we would continue to remain number one despite unfortunate events," Mansingh confidently said.

Not many, though, are willing to share his optimism.

"We can keep our fingers crossed and hope what he has said turns out to be true," a leading industrialist of Gujarat said.

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