With the economic slowdown beginning to bite, super-luxury rooms of five-star hotels in the Capital have seen a fall in occupancy with both leisure and business travellers switching to ordinary rooms.
"The period from October to March is considered to be the peak season. This year has seen no improvement in the occupancy level. In fact, occupancy level has gone down marginally and we have kept tariffs at the same level as last year," a senior executive of Taj Palace said.
According to industry estimates, occupancy rate in hotels across the country,
which was around 66.8 per cent in December 2010, dropped to 62.1 per cent by December 2011. Senior executives of premium hotels in Delhi expect this figure to come down to 58-60 per cent in December for the five-star hotels in the Capital. According to them, the drop is more marked in the premium segment, in which there is excess capacity.
"The average room rate hasn't picked up meaningfully as yet. There is a drop in the average room rate by three to five per cent due to low occupancy. We are seeing more demand for normal rooms than premium ones," a senior executive from The Oberoi said.
Senior executives at The Imperial and Hyatt Regency hotels also said that there is a drop in occupancy level compared to last year in the premium segment. As a result, most hotels are offering discounts on premium rooms.
"The reason is that we have seen no significant increase in number of foreign tourists and even if they come, they are tight on their budget," a top analyst from Makemytrip.com said.
"Besides, we have seen a considerable drop in the demand for premium rooms. This has forced many hotels to increase discounts on their premium room packages. The discounts are going up to 20-25 per cent on packaged deals," he added.