Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Feb 23: The hotel industry that was already tottering under the weight of woes heaped by the coronavirus pandemic, is now in doldrums on account of hike in the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas. Hotel owners who are suffering due to the blows delivered by the price rise are in a fix as they cannot increase the prices of the eatables.

The hotel owners say that to offset the increase in prices, they have to increase prices. However, they are apprehensive of losing their customers if they do so.

Representational image

After the coronavirus lockdown, some hotels had increased their prices. Some others had hiked the prices beginning January 1. Rates were increased by one to four rupees on an average per item. Because of this price rise, some hotels lost their business and closed down, a few hotel owners claim.

Some hotels have reserved only about 75 percent of their tables for the customers now but they too rue the fact that these seats do not get occupied. They are fearful that under these circumstances, if they increase the prices, a part of the current customers may stop visiting them. Therefore they are compelled to somehow manage with the situation.

A hotelier from Udupi says that vegetarian hotels are somehow able to break even in spite of rising cost of items. A hotelier running a non-vegetarian hotel at Mangaluru says that prices of palm oil, gas, fish, coconut oil etc have gone up. He says that increasing the rate of eatables now is very difficult at a time when the people and businesses are recovering from the coronavirus effect.