Holiday season nets good business for hotels

For the last one week, hotels in Trichy have been doing brisk business as people from several parts of the state thronged the district for holidays and Vaikunda Ekadesi festival.
The occupancy rate touched its peak in the last one week in the hotels near the central bus stand, Srirangam and Chathiram bus stand. Normal occupancy rate is only be 60 to 70 per cent.
Availing rooms in any good hotel near the central bus stand was next to impossible on Saturday and Sunday. Hoteliers say this trend is usual during December and January because of holidays for educational institutions and the temple festivals in the Tamil month of Margazhi.
"The long weekend holiday will fetch a good number of guests to the hotels here. Trichy being a connecting point for the central region of the state gets tourists from other districts for temple visits during these days. The ongoing Vaikunta Ekadesi also plays a vital role in the surge in occupancy," saidVS Sriee Ariya Kamban, general manager of PLA Krishna Inn.
People from Kerala who visit Velankanni for Christmas also bring in good business to the hotels around the bus stand as they prefer staying here and heading to Velankanni by road.
Vaikunda Ekadesi festival at Srirangam Sri Renganathsamy temple would witness lakhs of devotees from various parts of the state. The highlight of the festival would be the opening of the heavenly gate on December 28.
"Besides Vaikunda Ekadesi, we get business during the wedding season when we see good occupancy," said C Nagarajan, manager of Hotel Mayas near Chathiram bus stand.


The tariff for single and double occupany ranges from Rs 1,500-Rs 2,500 and Rs 2,500-Rs 5500 respectively.
Trichy has only three star category hotels. The increase in star category may inflate the rental as the luxury tax may touch even 35 per cent. The present GST slab has already caused a mild decline in occupancy.
A hotelier requesting anonymity termed the sudden surge in occupancy in hotels in Trichy for the past few days as inconsistent as the period from November to January would usually see a drop in occupancy because people would prefer spending time at home for Christmas and New Year.
"We need to create other tourism-related events to bring people throughout the year. Lack of trade centre and domestic connectivity are also primary factors. Trichy Travel Federation has planned for a meeting on domestic connectivity in coming days," said S A Mubashir, joint secretary, Trichy Travel Federation.

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