Hotels to go for more rate cuts

NEW DELHI: Hotels will further cut room rates in the January-March quarter to bring back foreign tourists who have cancelled tours due to the Mumbai terror attacks. Tour operators have begun re-negotiating for 10-15% additional discounts for hotels in Delhi and Mumbai. Advance bookings have come down in December and hotels fear poor business if they don���t cut rates further for the January-March season.

Travel company Le Passage MD Arjun Sharma said: ���Tour operators are renegotiating rates with hotels, reducing their cancellation charges and sending reassurances to encourage foreign tourist to come to India.��� Kuoni India COO Dipak Deva said industry has witnessed fresh foreign arrivals after the terror strikes in Mumbai. ���We will offer best deal to bring them back to India.���

Hotel rooms in Mumbai, now available for Rs 11,000-12,000 per night, are being booked at Rs 9,000-Rs 10,000 for tourists visiting India early next year. Similarly, hotel rooms in New Delhi selling at Rs 13,000-Rs 14,000 per night will cost Rs 11,000-Rs 12,000 between the January-March period. Another executive with a travel company said that hotels in leisure destinations Goa and Kerala have already cut rates.