After the disastrous second wave that left the hospitality industry handicapped, the rise of Omicron cases is bad news. Partial lockdowns have forded patrons to cancel hotel bookings, the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) said on January 6.
The lack of governmental support has only exacerbated the negative phase. Moneycontrol reported that the possible third wave has the sector fearing further closures.
Ratings agency ICRA, in a report, said that the virus will curb demand in the industry during the fourth quarter of this financial year.
“There were a lot of celebrations, a lot of events which were planned (around the New Year). Now, it is the wedding season. Meetings and weddings got cancelled. New Year and all those cancellations from Christmas till now have caused almost Rs 200 crore loss to the industry,” FHRAI Joint Honorary Secretary Pradeep Shetty told PTI
Shetty added that businesses had started to make efforts to bring back the workforce. They had even taken loans to restart operations. “There is a lot of anxiety, fear and worry as to what one would do because considerable capital has been put in after two successive lockdowns to reopen and restart operations,” Shetty said.
“Closures will happen and non-performing assets will rise unless the government and the finance ministry come out with another relief package or some kind of measures,” added Shetty.
The publication said its research results have shown how hoteliers revealed that 30-50 percent of their customers had sought to cancel or reschedule their bookings for January.
