Hospitality sector yet to recoup in Andhra Pradesh; half of rooms vacant

Vijayawada: Even with the onset of the festive season with a long spell of holidays, AP’s hospitality sector is yet to recoup in the post-Covid scenario. It is surviving on less than 50 per cent occupancy from tourists.

The AP tourism development corporation, which has 48 facilitiies including hotels and restaurants with a total of 950 rooms, had over 60 per cent bookings this time every year in the pre-Covid period. It is getting inquiries from holidaymakers for the Dasara festival.

An APTDC official said, “We have registered occupancy for around 50 per cent rooms as of now against the over 60 per cent normal. Holidaymakers especially from AP, Telangana and Odisha as also from Raipur, Kolkata etc used to visit various spots in AP, mainly Vizag, during the festive season beginning with the Dasara festival and used to stay put for a long time. This used to go on until the Sankranti festival in January. This year, their presence is yet to be felt."

Hotel and restaurant association of Andhra Pradesh president S Prasanth said, “The present occupancy is in the range of 45-50 per cent and we are expecting a rise in the festive season. People are still apprehensive of the health issues in the post-Covid phase.”

There, as yet, is no rush for booking rooms and resorts from the holidaymakers but things would be better as the festivals of Dasara, Diwali, Christmas, New Year and Sankranti are lining up for the next few months, hoteliers say.