COVID-19: Tourism in Puducherry takes a hit

The industry is facing a huge fall in revenue due to mass cancellations of bookings by tourists and travel agents, experts said

The Beach promenade, popular among domestic and international tourists, wears a deserted look on Wednesday

With a surge in the number of cases of COVID-19 in India, the immediate impact has been on the tourism sector, the Union Territory’s main growth engine as occupancy at hotels and resorts has dropped drastically over the last two weeks. Most of the hotels in the city have a meagre 5 to 10% occupancy as against 90% in February.

According to Prosper Anand, treasurer, Pondicherry Hotel Owners Association, “The hospitality industry is bleeding in Puducherry. People are not coming to restaurants in the wake of the COVID-19 scare. The arrival of domestic tourists and foreigners especially, has taken a hit. Though we are not denying rooms to foreigners, the footfalls have been very low. While liquor outlets have been closed in neighbouring Tamil Nadu till April 1, there is no clarity as far as Puducherry is concerned.”

The industry faces a big fall in revenue due to mass cancellation of bookings by tourists and travel agents. A few online travel aggregators have also written to hotels asking them to offer full refunds for travellers even if cancellations are made only one day before the reservations.

And it’s not only the foreign tourists who are cancelling their bookings. “A large number of domestic tourists from Karnataka and other States have also cancelled their bookings. Business has been very dull and is expected to go down further. We don’t know where the money is going to come from to meet salaries of staff, loans and other requirements,” Mr. Anand said.

According to a hotelier, “Business is generally dull during March. Initially, the cancellation rate was slow, but it picked up after the first week and we have zero occupancy now. Representatives from the hotel industry will meet Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy seeking some exemptions for the sector to tide over the current crisis,” he said.

The virus scare has also impacted allied industries including housekeeping and the food industry in Puducherry.

According to G. Kumar, proprietor of N.K. Foods and Beverages, a major player in the frozen food segment, “The supply of frozen food (vegetarian and non-vegetarian) has dropped by over 70 % since the last weekend. The demand for frozen foods in restaurants doubles during the weekends when compared with other days. But hotels and restaurants have reduced their average intake citing poor footfalls,” he said.