With CWG nearing, activities picks up in hospitality sector

As countdown begins for the Commonwealth Games, activity picks up in the tourism and hospitality sector to cater to needs of the huge tourist inflow expected during the sporting event.

As the date for the Commonwealth Games nears, the Tourism sector has been witnessing a lot of activity in a bid to prepare Delhi for housing the nearly 1,00,000 tourists expected in Delhi from across the World during the sporting event.

With an estimated requirement of 40,000 additional rooms in the NCR region to host the huge number of tourist arrivals, the Tourism Ministry has been offering several incentives to the hospitality sector in a bid to speed up the development of hotel rooms before the Commonwealth Games, scheduled in October.

Sources in the Ministry said the Finance ministry has been urged to extend the benefits of the five-year tax holiday for hotels under construction in the national capital region (NCR) up to July 31, instead of the earlier deadline of March 31.

The five-year tax holiday for budget hotels was introduced to attract hospitality chains to build more hotels in the NCR region.

No wonder then, the recent months have witnessed renowned hospitality chains speed up the process of development and start operations in the NCR.

Sarovar Hotels and Resorts, a leading hotel management company in India, last fortnight launched a premium business hotel in the NCR.

Optus Sarovar Premiere, the new premium business hotel launched by the company at Gurgaon on January 12, would help to meet the huge demand for premium accommodation in the NCR.

The new 80 room hotel is the group's third in Gurgaon, with Park Plaza at Sushant Lok and Park inn at Civil Lines, already operational.

Talking to UNI, the Managing director of the Sarovar Hotels and Resorts, Anil Madhok said the opening of the new hotel was a step by the company in the direction of meeting the huge need for premium accommodation during the Games.

''The opening of the hotel seeks to fill the ever increasing demand for business and leasure hotels in the Capital and the NCR. With the launch of Optus Sarovar Premiere, Sarovar hotels now offers accommodation to guests at various price points in Gurgaon,''Madhok said.

With the opening of the Optus Sarovar Premiere, Sarovar hotels has now operational five premium hotels in Delhi and the NCR with a total accommodation of 310 rooms.

Mr Madhok said in the coming days Sarovar Hotels planned to launch another six premium hotels at Hari Nagar, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Shahdara with a total accommodation of over 500 rooms.

''By October, when the Commonwealth games are scheduled to be held, we would have established a total of 11 hotels in Delhi and the NCR with a total accommodation of 900 to 1000 rooms,''Madhok said.