B&B on mobile, net but it may be too late

With barely 73 days left for the Games, the Delhi Government is planning to put in place a low-cost mobile-cum-web based solution to showcase the 408 premises offering Bed & Breakfast scheme to attract tourists coming to the capital. However, the website, which is under preparation and will also have a link to the Delhi Tourism and Organizing Committee's Commonwealth Games websites, could take up to two months to become fully functional leaving very little time for foreign tourists to make a choice.

The Delhi Government's Tourism Department has approached the National Research and Development Corporation to deliver a web-based solution for promoting the B&B establishments. So far there are 408 establishments registered with Delhi Tourism under the scheme. In terms of rooms, it means about 1277 rooms with as many as 991 located in south Delhi followed by 132 rooms in west Delhi, 79 in central Delhi and 40 in north Delhi.

Uniphore, a company under the National Research and Development Corporation, is working to put in place a low cost mobile-cum-web based solution for showcasing B&B before the world.

Umesh Sachdev, CEO, Uniphore, said that it has been seen that most big hotels give tourists the option to search, choose and book accommodation of their choice from their home countries. "This facility has benefited the hotel industry tremendously but many B&B establishments in Delhi lack the facilities and infrastructure for it. As stakeholders have shown interest, we are going to provide a low cost mobile-cum-web solution,'' Sachdev said.

Uniphore is working on a solution wherein the B&B owners will be asked to give regular updates on telephone about room status and prices. These details will be uploaded on the website for B&B. Photographs for various accommodations will be uploaded to allow tourists to see the B&B facilities and make a choice. Initially payments cannot be made through this facility and tourists will have to coordinate with the B&B establishments for making payments.

When asked about the relevance of the facility considering the Games are barely 73 days away and tourists like to book at least one to two months in advance, Umesh Sachdev refused to comment and simply said the web model aims at benefiting the scheme on the whole.

A reality check of the booking status at some of the B&B establishments reveals that the rush expected before the Games is missing as of now, though the establishments are waiting in anticipation.

Sheetal Bhalla's B&B establishment offers four rooms under the banner of Thikana from her Gulmohar Park residence. Bhalla says that the scheme has helped their business and they have Commonwealth Games-related booking of a marketing company from July to November. During the Games, Bhalla has at least three of the four rooms booked for most part of October. They, however, say that the bookings can only be partly linked to trips related to the Games.

Bhalla points out that queries related to bookings during the Games have definitely gone up and many B&B establishments have hiked their room rates for that period to test the waters. "It seems even those wanting to book for the Games are waiting to see how the preparations related to the Games are turning out. The scepticism surrounding the Games is probably keeping tourists in a wait and watch mode,'' he added.

Aradhna Lanba who offers five rooms from her residence in Safdarjung Enclave says that the pace of business in the run up to the Games is slow compared to the rush the owners of B&B establishments had expected. When Lanba decided to take bookings at regular rates for the Games period, she was able to attract bookings for three of the five rooms.

Then there are some like Deepak Diwan who has a one-room set on offer at his Lajpat Nagar residence. He claims that he has not received any response to the facility over the past four to five months.