Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Gurdaspur/Pathankot, October 10
A majority of the 110-odd hotels spread across the townships of Pathankot, Gurdaspur and Batala are on the verge of closure amid losses incurred due to Covid-induced lockdown and the newly constructed bypasses on the Amritsar-Pathankot national highway have added to the hoteliers’ woes.
20% occupancy rate
We are down to barely 20 per cent occupancy rate from a comfortable 70-80 per cent during the pre-Covid days. A majority of hoteliers has become bankrupt. Romesh Mahajan, Gurdaspur Hotel Assn
They are devising new ways and means, including giving heavy discounts, to stay afloat. “We are down to barely 20 per cent occupancy rate from a comfortable 70-80 per cent during the pre-Covid days. A majority of hoteliers has become bankrupt. The main reasons are the pandemic and bypasses. Earlier, people going to Jamp;K in general and the Vaishno Devi shrine in particular would stop in the city en route to their destinations. However, after the bypasses came up, people prefer to drive straight to their destinations,” said Romesh Mahajan, president, Gurdaspur district hotel association.
Insiders say for the past 40 years, Delhi-based tour operators did a thriving business by bringing in people from various parts of the country to the Vaishno Devi shrine.
“When the bypasses were not constructed, buses stopped at our hotels due to which our occupancy rate got a massive boost. However, now only a few operators stop in cities. They prefer to make a straight run-through. Now, it has become difficult to convince people to stay in hotels in the midst of the pandemic. It is going to be a long haul till things are brought back to normal. Right now, our balance sheets are in the red,” averred Nitin Laddi Mahajan, president, Pathankot hoteliers association.
Hoteliers claim the fear of the third wave is not doing the industry any good. People are going in for online food platforms, making life all the more difficult for them.
“We have taken loans at exorbitant rates to sustain our businesses. However, we see no light at the end of the tunnel. The virus may evaporate into thin air sooner or later but the by-passes will stay here forever,” Mahajan said.
Gurdaspur, Pathankot hotels face closure
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