Karnataka: Hotels in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi yet to recover from lockdown blow

Even before the current lockdown begins from Thursday, several hotels had suspended both dine-in and takeaway services in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.

Many feel that it was not feasible when the business is dull.

The hotels that saw hundreds of customers daily, were having only a handful of them since they were reopened in June.

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Even after the relaxation of the lockdown, the hotel industry in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada failed to recover from the complete lockdown with shortage of labourers on one hand and few response from customers on the other. Few of the hotels in Mangaluru have remained closed after reopening in June.

In Udupi district, only 40% of the hotels have remained open but there is shortage of customers.

On one hand, hotels are facing shortage of labourers on other hand, they are unable to bear the maintenance cost.

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Only a few customers

With surge in Covid-19 cases, customers are not turning towards hotels. Several hotels in Mangaluru, Udupi, Manipal are open with only a few customers, said a hotel owner.

Two hotels at Bannanje and Karavali Bypass in Udupi were sealed after a cook and an owner tested positive for Covid. As a result, people are scared to visit hotels, said the hotel owner.

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Udupi district Hotel Owners’ Association president Tallur Shivaram Shetty said, “About 60% of the hotels are yet to open in the district. After the hotels were sealed due to positive cases, even parcel services from hotels too have declined. There is a need to bring in changes in the sealdown rules.”

Having unable to bear the cost of the rent, salary of the labourers, cost incurred on the purchase of vegetables, LPG, milk and other maintenance cost, many hotels have remained closed.

Threat of closure

Only a few restaurants have opened and they are also facing the threat of closure, he added. Further, tourism sector was complementing the hotel industry in the past. Owing to Covid scare and monsoon, the tourists have stopped visiting the destinations. As no ‘sevas’ are held in temples, the devotees too are not visiting temples, said Shetty.

At present, only those who are staying in hostels, relatives of patients who have come from other districts visit hotels. Hardly, entire family members visit hotels, lamented a staff at a hotel.