beyondbrics

By Girija Shivakumar in New Delhi

India’s Commonwealth Games was expected to boost New Delhi’s tourism industry, drawing up to 100,000 foreign spectators to the sports competition – and also to the Indian capital’s restaurants, shops and historic monuments.

Instead, Delhi’s hotels, and other businesses, are worried that instead they’ll suffer a huge drop during what is normally a peak period for their businesses.

So far, the much-touted surge of foreign spectators has so shown no signs of materialising. Although Indian authorities have asked hotels to set aside 15,000 rooms for games spectators, just 2,000 of them have actually been booked. New Delhi’s worsening dengue fever epidemic may deter some who could have made an impromptu decision to come.

Meanwhile, many Delhi residents, fearing traffic snarls, security hassles and other inconveniences caused by the games, are planning to flee the expected chaos.
Mani Shankar Aiyar, the former sports minister – and a vociferous critic of the games, set the tone for the exodus by publicly proclaiming he was “getting the hell out of Delhi” during the event.

Since then, travel companies have seen a 25-30 per cent jump in outbound bookings from Delhi for this period, compared to bookings last year.

Authorities are facilitating the escape by ordering schools, colleges, and some government offices to close – as part of their plan to keep traffic congestion to a minimum. Many shopping areas have also reportedly been ordered to close as part of a security measures.

All this has left many Delhi hoteliers grumbling about the hit to their business. While athletes may be gearing up to win the gold, Rajinder Kumar, president of Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India, has told journalists, “for the games, in fact, we are likely to lose.”

Related:

Will India’s Commonwealth Games be a source of shame?

Deal of the day: India’s highways