No-vacancy at hotels as weddings, cricket, biz meets keep Kol’s hospitality space overbooked

Kolkata: Rooms in most star-rated hotels in city are sold out for the next 20 days thanks to the T20 World Cup frenzy, back-to-back wedding dates and business conferences. Kolkata is hosting several World Cup matches while the wedding season has resumed in full steam after a nearly two-month break.The city has around 7,500 rooms in five- and four-star categories and 157 banquet halls with a combined capacity of 30,000. Industry insiders say most hospitality spaces are booked for this month and most of March.
Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India president Sudesh Poddar said Kolkata's hospitality industry is currently witnessing an unprecedented demand. "The demand for hotel rooms and banquets is usually high during this time of the year but this season it has sky-rocketed. With inbound tourist flow on the rise, we feel this trend will continue till the end of March," he said.K Mohanchandran, senior vice-president, operations, Taj Group, said over the next few weeks, the city's hospitality calendar is chock-a-block with MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) events, hundreds of weddings, the T20 World Cup, an international chess tournament and a literary meet. Besides, there is the usual foreign leisure travel scheduled at this time of the year. Rooms and banquets at the group's multiple properties in Kolkata such as Taj Bengal, Taj Taalkutir, Taj City Centre and Vivanta are booked for several dates this month, said Mohanchandran.With demand soaring, patrons are being forced to shell out more to spend a night in the city. Granth Kapoor from Delhi, in Kolkata on business, found room rates way above his company entitlement. He had to take special approval from his bosses to book a room with higher tariff.Gaurav Soneja, cluster general manager, ITC Royal Bengal & ITC Sonar, said the demand was extremely robust at both hotels. "We are sold out on all wedding dates. Additionally, we are hosting several large residential conferences. Most days in Jan were booked. Feb, too, has high bookings," he said.Kamal Raja, general manager, development, Lalit Suri Hospitality, said his hotel was fully booked for at least the first half of Feb. For the rest of the month and till March 15, it is 85 per cent booked. "In Jan, too, some days were fully booked," he said.Nitu Agarwal, manager, marketing & communications, Hyatt Regency Kolkata, said, "We continue to see a healthy booking pace. Our occupancy levels vary by the date with certain days experiencing high demand across rooms and banquets."General manager of Sonet Hotel, Rajesh Ishai, pointed out that the four-star boutique property is fully booked on many days between now and the first week of March. "We are witnessing very good bookings in Feb. The rooms are sold out on around 15 days in Feb. For the rest of the month, the occupancy is around 80%," he said.