Sunday ET: Delhi gang rape: Metro dwellers cancel new year eve's revelry, hotels hit

NEW DELHI: Following the death of the Delhi gang-rape victim, many people have toned down or dropped their party plans on New Year’s Eve. Five-star hotels in Delhi and Mumbai say bookings are down by at least 15-20% because the sentiment has been impacted by the horrific incident. “Yes, we will be much behind last year,” says Tarun Thakral, chief executive officer of Le Meridien Delhi.

The general manager of Hilton Janakpuri in Delhi, Rubal Chaudhry, says last year was an extraordinary new year for the hotel. “So this year we made efforts to better last year by organising a larger event and were expecting a far greater response, but that has not happened because of the incident as well as stricter policing and restrictions this year,” he says.

Mumbai too has joined in mourning the death of the brave girl. “Bookings have dropped for year-end parties. People are not in a party mood this year-end. It’s very tragic,” says Dinesh Khanna, executive director, Eastern International Hotels. Vivek Nair, president of the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India, who is also the vice chairman at The Leela Group, said sentiment will be low because of the incident which will impact year-end parties.