Hospitality sector continues to reel under losses; hoteliers forced to ask employees to leave

Mysuru: Stakeholders in the hospitality industry are growing more and more worried with each passing day as signs of business returning to normalcy are growing slim. The financial duress that the hospitality industry was put under following the imposition of the lockdown, stakeholders had hoped to recoup once the restrictions were eased. The mounting losses, even after relaxation of the norms, has compelled several hoteliers to let their employees go.
Starting from modestly priced hotels to five-star establishments, hoteliers are either letting their employees go or asking them to return once business picks up. Southern Star in Mysuru has asked citing the Covid-19 crisis, while another hotel Ramya Mahendra, a restaurant that was once frequented by former chief minister S Bangarappa and Siddaramaiah, has announced its closure, a four-decade old establishment put out of business by the pandemic.
President of the Mysuru Hotel Owners’ Association C Narayanagowda said that most of the establishments in the hospitality sector, including restaurants, got a reality check of the losses that they had incurred around 100 days after the Covid-19 crisis erupted in the country. “Some of us, including myself, have been forced to close the restaurants since we are struggling to pay rent. Most of the hotels are operated out of rented buildings. Many popular hotels are yet to reopen and doubt hangs over the possibility of resumption of operations,” Narayanagowda said.
The high-end star hotels have not been spared the short end of the Covid-19 stick. A manager of a star hotel with two decades of experience in the sector, said that the prevailing condition was truly an unprecedented one. “Our employees have returned to their native villages and towns, and have been forced to take on menial jobs to sustain their families. The future looks bleak since we have not received our salary for three months,” he added.