Too many rooms, too few bookings during C'Wealth Games

Nearly one lakh tourists were expected to visit Delhi for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) but the poor response till now has left the tourism industry worried. The corruption scandals plaguing the Games and delays in preparations seem to have taken a toll on the tourism business as well.

“Bookings have been negligible. There is nothing to report even. It is much below the industry expectations,” said Rajinder Kumar, president, Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Association of India.

The Union tourism ministry had expected around 1,00,000 tourists and estimated a need of around 40,000 new rooms for the visitors. But the estimates seem to have fallen flat. “Rooms aren’t a problem right now. The problem is to fill them,” Kumar added.

President of Indian Tourist Transporters Association (ITTA), Sarab Jit Singh, is also a worried man. “Someone has told me that the expected number of tourists has come down sharply, from 1,00,000 to around 50,000,” Singh said.

The poor response has left officials in the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CGOC) extremely worried. “The CGOC’s travel office, which is coordinating the accommodation for both delegates and visitors, has 10,000-15,000 rooms available with them, but the bookings are just 10-20%,” said a source on condition of anonymity.