The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Vittalamurthy: high room tariff affecting tourism

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Sunday, Jan 13, 2008
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Karnataka

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Vittalamurthy: high room tariff affecting tourism

Staff Reporter

Hospitality sector urged ‘not to charge unreasonably’

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Promotion: A stall displaying adventure gear at the 59th Travel and Tourism Fair in Bangalore on Saturday.

BANGALORE: Hotels in the city are cashing in on shortage of rooms and are increasing their tariff.

As a result, many tourists are opting not to visit Bangalore. This has been affecting tourism in the entire State, as a majority of tourists make Bangalore their nodal point before visiting other places. Because of this, places such as Mysore, Hampi and Belur are also being dropped from tourists’ itinerary.

Stating this at a press conference, I.M. Vittalamurthy, Secretary, Kannada and Culture, Information and Tourism, urged the hospitality sector to “not charge unreasonably and drive away tourists”.

He was speaking after the inauguration of the 59th Travel and Tourism Fair on Saturday.

Sanjiv Agarwal, chairman and managing director of Fairfest Media, said that hotel room rates in cities such as Chennai and Bangalore were “going through the roof.”

C. Somashekara, Director, Department of Tourism, said the city needed about 20,000 rooms on a daily basis. “Even though 6,000 rooms are being built, the city will still face a shortage of about 9,000 rooms,” he said. On an average, hotels were charging Rs.10,000 to Rs.12,000 and he attributed the heavy increase in rates to the “software impact”.

Reporting system

The Department of Tourism was considering starting a reporting system where details about all hotels in the city would be collected, Mr. Somashekara said.

“We will collect details on how many hotels are there in the city; how many rooms they have and how many are vacant, when the demand is more. This aim is to understand clearly how we can meet the demand,” he said.

The department was also considering starting a tourism guidance bureau, where all tourist destinations and their attractions, hotels and the rates in the area would be listed, Mr. Somashekara said.

The three-day tourism fair is being organised for the seventh time in the city. It has 150 participants from across the world.

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