CHENNAI: For Chennai's luxury hotels, hobbled by first the lockdown and then the sharp drop in both corporate travel as well as international visitors, the cricket season has come as a welcome window of opportunity.
The India-England Test match and the ongoing IPL auction have boosted business in luxury hotel properties like the ITC Grand Chola and the Leela Palace Chennai.
The cricket boost, said hospitality insiders, was a welcome relief for an industry that has had to rely on staycation and retail footfalls to keep their room revenues ticking and has seen a sharp fall in the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) which form a major chunk of the revenue stream for luxury hotels.
ITC Grand Chola, for example, has sourced 30% of its February revenue so far from its cricket business with the entire IPL top brass, BCCI functionaries, commentators, team bosses, players all camping in one wing of the hotel. "The hospitality industry has been very badly hit by the pandemic with air travel down sharply and international travellers down to zero," said a hotel spokesperson. "Cricket revenue has come as a welcome boost."
Luxury hotels have been offering food and beverage delivery services during the early days of the lockdown and later short stay packages at big discounts which have proved to be very popular for people looking for a quick safe break without having to travel out of town.
Corporate travel is still far from normal with executives working from home though the wedding business is picking up speed and there are no discounts there.