Hospitality sector cautious about tourism revival

At a conservative estimate, Mysuru in the pre-pandemic days used to attract nearly 3.5 million tourists every year

The hotel and hospitality sector in Mysuru is set to reopen on a full scale barring minor restrictions consequent to the unlocking of the State from Monday.

But for the stakeholders, this is not the proverbial new dawn as the sector’s fortunes hinge to a large extent on the traction provided by the tourism sector which is in the doldrums. Mysuru in the pre-pandemic days used to attract nearly 3.5 million tourists every year at a conservative estimate. The tourism sector alone used to generate direct jobs ranging from 80,000 to 1,00,000 besides creating ancillary jobs all of which has been affected by the pandemic.

Though places of tourist interest including temples will also be reopened with effect from Monday, the hospitality sector does not envisage a resumption of normal business for at least another six months.

Tourists from Kerala

“Even if Karnataka reopens, there are restrictions for people coming from Kerala where the COVID-19 cases are high. Besides, carrying an RT-PCR negative report has been made mandatory if travelling from a few other States and hence inter-State tourist traffic will remain affected,” said Narayana Gowda, President, Hotel Owners Association.

Stakeholders said tourism activity in Mysuru was fuelled by domestic travellers from other States and almost 50% of the traffic was from Kerala. But in view of the uncertainty over hassle-free travel and stringent checking at the borders, the tourist flow from that State will remain muted for some more time.

Hotel rooms

There are 10,000 rooms in and around Mysuru from hotels ranging from budget to luxury segments catering to different categories of visitors. But of these only about 300 to 400 rooms are occupied at any given point of time which underlines the gravity of the situation plaguing the hospitality sector.

Sources in the Tourism Department said though preparations are on to reopen all the hotels managed by the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) consequent to the unlocking, they don’t expect a surge in tourism-centric activity immediately.

Yet to benefit

Meanwhile, the hospitality sector is yet to benefit from a slew of measures announced by the government almost two weeks ago.

This included a three-month waiver on current fixed charges on power supply and a 50% waiver on property tax on hotels for one year.

Though the government has announced the measures, it is yet to be notified in the absence of which local service providers are insisting on payment of full charges.

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