Hotel occupancy rate in November was better than the October: Visakhapatnam!

According to Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) officials, between 60 and 70% of the 283 hotel rooms owned by the corporation were occupied by November as Rs 1.7 crore was generated via tourism as against its target of Rs 4 crore to Rs 5 crore for the month.

The occupancy rate in November was better than that of October when the corporation only registered a 30% occupancy rate. The average occupancy rate for October 2019 stood at around 80%. For instance, footfalls at the Borra Caves in October last year was a little over one lakh but fell to just 17,000 this year. In November, the number rose to around 40,000.

“We achieved nearly 80-90% occupancy for our hotel rooms from Friday to Sunday and around 50% on other days. Hopefully, we will reach 100% occupancy this December,” said Visakhapatnam APTDC reservation manager M Krishna Mohan. He said tourists from states like West Bengal, Odisha, Telangana, Chhattisgarh have started visting the city.

“We have received no tourists with Covid-19 history at our rooms. This has added to our advantage and has given mileage to our hospitality. We thoroughly check every tourist as per Covid-19 guidelines,” Krishna Mohan told TOI. The Railways too have resumed as many as 55 train services to Visakhapatnam from different parts of the country. “This will come as good news to the state’s tourism sector, particularly Visakhapatnam,” said a railway official with the Waltair division of East Coast Railway.

“We are running more than 20 originating trains from Visakhapatnam and more than 30 trains pass through Visakhapatnam effective from December 1. All these trains were special trains,” the railway officer added.

News Courtesy: ET