Great expectations meet rude disappointment

They were all set to welcome foreign tourists but hotel and guesthouse owners have got a rude shock.

Five star hotels
Most of the five star hotels have got bookings from the international media and the delegates. “We have lots of international media persons staying in our hotel. We have not had many bookings from Games tourists. Currently 300 rooms in our hotel are booked for the media,” said a spokesperson of The Lalit, New Delhi.
“We have a number of delegates staying in our hotel. Apart from that, a number of tourists have also come but not to the extent we were expecting,” said Akhil Mathur, spokesman, Le Meridian.

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Budget hotels
A number of budget hotels that came up especially for the Games are also facing the heat. As the government was expecting more than one lakh tourists would flock to the city for the Games, they had auctioned 34 plots out of which many were for budget hotels. “We were expecting a lot to happen but just as the stands in the venues are empty, so are our hotels. The shutdown of markets, security and traffic scare have kept the visitors away. We have actually shot ourselves on the foot by doing so much of negative publicity just days before the Games,” said a budget hotel owner on condition of anonymity.

Bed and Breakfast
The bed and breakfast scheme was launched especially for the Games. But most of them are lying empty now. “We have been waiting for foreign tourists but so far none have come. We were expecting more foreign tourists but till now even domestic tourists haven’t shown any interest,” said Vinay Kumar Aggarwal, owner of Atithi, a bed and breakfast in Connuaght Place.
There are more than 400 bed and breakfast providers in the city. However, within a span of few months, a number of them have already shut shop owing to losses.