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Tourism, related sectors bear brunt of LPG shortage
A LPG cylinder shortage disrupts hospitality in Maharashtra's hill stations, causing cancellations and limiting food options, impacting tourism significantly.
The shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders has disrupted operations in the hospitality sector across popular hill stations/tourist destinations such as Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, Lonavala and Khandala, slowing down tourism activity across Maharashtra. These destinations that usually witness heavy footfalls – especially over weekends – are now seeing fewer visitors with the disruption in LPG supply affecting the functioning of hotels, restaurants and food outlets.
The kitchens of many hotels and eateries depend entirely on LPG and shortage of the same has forced these establishments to either close their kitchens temporarily or operate with limited menus. This in turn has forced hotel owners to restrict fresh bookings or inform tourists in advance about possible limitations in food services.
According to local tourism operators, the uncertainty over the availability of food has already led to trip- postponements and cancellations impacting a tourism economy that relies heavily on short holiday travel from nearby cities. Not only has the number of visitors at tourist spots in Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani dropped, tourists who have already arrived at these hill stations are facing inconvenience as many food outlets are either closed or offering only basic items due to limited gas availability. Even in Lonavala and Khandala, roadside eateries, small hotels and restaurants that cater to large weekend crowds are struggling to maintain regular operations. If the LPG shortage continues, the situation could worsen over the coming weekend when these destinations typically witness a surge in visitors.
Suryakant Jadhav, vice-president, Mahabaleshwar Hotel Owners’ Association, said that the shortage has created serious operational challenges for the hospitality sector.
“Most hotels and restaurants in Mahabaleshwar depend completely on LPG cylinders for cooking. For the past few days, the supply has been irregular or completely unavailable in some cases. Without gas, it becomes extremely difficult to run kitchens and provide proper service to guests. Therefore, several hotel owners have started limiting bookings or informing tourists beforehand about restricted food options. We do not want tourists to come here and face inconvenience. Tourism is the backbone of Mahabaleshwar’s economy and if this situation continues for long, it will result in significant losses not just for hotels but also for small businesses and workers who depend on tourism activity,” he said.
Resorts that host corporate events and training programmes have also been affected. Mukund Jakhotia, a resort owner from Lonavala, said that the shortage has started affecting corporate bookings as well.
“Our resort frequently hosts corporate training programmes, leadership workshops and team-building retreats. These events usually involve large groups and require continuous kitchen operations throughout the day. Due to the LPG shortage, it has become difficult to assure clients of full-scale catering services. A few corporate groups have already postponed their programmes because they cannot risk bringing hundreds of employees when food arrangements may become uncertain. If the supply situation does not improve soon, it could affect the entire chain of tourism-related activities in Lonavala,” Jakhotia said.
The impact is being felt by companies planning corporate outings from the Information Technology (IT) hub of Hinjewadi as well. Kritika Mishra, a human resources official from a private firm in Hinjewadi, said that their organisation had to recently cancel a planned team-building activity at a resort in Khandala.
“We had arranged a two-day offsite team-building programme for our employees at a resort in Khandala. However, the resort management informed us that due to LPG shortage, they might not be able to operate their kitchen at full capacity. Since food and hospitality arrangements are an important part of such programmes, we decided to cancel the event for now. We will plan it again once the situation becomes normal,” she said. Industry representatives warn that a prolonged disruption could lead to a further decline in tourism and tourism-related activities.
