Air show jams city hotels

Air show jams city hotels
The Times of India

Bangalore: If you are holding a flight ticket to Bangalore, hold on. For, there aren’t any vacant hotel rooms till Aero India comes to a close. Hotels in Bangalore have had to send back scores of customers in the last one week as demand nearly doubled.

Hotels have been overbooked. Though most hotels hiked their rates during the period, customers were not willing to back away.
According to hospitality sources, about 65-70% of the people who checked in had come into Bangalore to take part in the aeroshow.

“We had to send back a number of corporate clients,’’ said Oberoi’s regional director (sales) Hemant Mediratta. Most other hotels too did not have much choice.

In fact, the average room rent for the city is expected to touch a record Rs 10,000 for February.

The five-star room strength in Bangalore is around 1,500, while there are another 1,000 rooms in the mid-size three- or fourstar range. There are about 3,500 participants at this year’s aero show, and obviously there are not enough rooms to accommodate them.

“It’s not just the aero show which is contributing to this high demand,’’ says Grand Ashok general manager Jagmohan Misra. “Our hotel, for instance, is booked till February 28.”

Since most leading hotel chains like Taj and Leela Palace were booked out, many moved into budget hotels.

According to Taj West End’s Rakhee Lalwani, the demand will see a dip soon after the aero-show. “In any case, most corporate travellers knew about it. They either made alternative arrangements or decided to stay back in their respective cities.’’

Leela Palace director (sales) Joy Ghosh said people will find it easier to get rooms in Bangalore from March 1.