Himachal rains: Hoteliers seek 6-month deferment of GST, loan repayment as occupancy crashes to 5%

Heavy to extremely heavy rainfall has badly affected hotel businesses in Himachal Pradesh, where hoteliers have sought deferment of GST and loan repayment for six months. Heavy rainfall in the Himalayan state has caused massive damage to infrastructure and affected the footfalls of tourists, who have either cancelled or postponed their visit due to repeated events of flash floods and landslides.

During the current monsoon session, nearly 1400 roads were damaged by over 170 incidents of landslides and flash floods in Himachal. In July, over 70,000 domestic and international tourists were stuck due to road blockage and bad weather caused by incessant rainfall in several districts of Himachal.

India Today reported that damaged roads and bad weather have compelled hundreds of tourists to cancel their holiday trips. The en masse cancellation of hotel bookings by tourists has significantly brought down the hotel occupancies in Himachal.

While speaking to Business Today TV, the state-based hoteliers said the occupancy has dropped to five per cent and the worst hit are the businessmen who are running leased-out hotels. According to the report, many of the hoteliers have raised loans and are facing difficulties to pay the installments.

The cancellation of holiday trips has also hit the roadside eateries hard. Mahesh Kumar Thakur, a small hotelier in Mandi, said hotels have incurred huge losses from the past month when the flash floods damaged the roads. "There is no business as tourists are scared. We have been compelled to close the business as it has become difficult to pay the wages."

Raj Kumar, another hotelier who runs a 25-room hotel in Mandi, said the hotel occupancy is an all-time low from the past month. "We did not experience this type of rain fury in the past. We are only able to sell five rooms out of a total of 25 rooms. Tourists are avoiding visiting Himachal following the flash floods," he said.