Online travel firms eating into hoteliers’ business

Tribune News Service

Shimla, December 10

The state’s tourism industry is on the edge as online travel companies are offering heavy discounts, cutting into profits and squeezing employment avenues.

Tourism has emerged as a major employment and revenue-generating industry, but online booking agencies are harming hoteliers as also stakeholders. “Average room rent of hotels is declining with each passing day due to heavily discounted rooms offered by the online agencies,” MK Seth, president, Tourism Industry Stakeholders Association, said.

“One of the major factors hitting the viability of the hotel industry is booking rooms on heavy discounted tariff and high commission (30 to 40 per cent) charged by these online travel companies,” he said.

The association has also decided to hold a meeting with all other associations to deal with the issue collectively in case the online travel companies do not shun the unethical attitude and exploitation of hoteliers and stakeholders.

The online travel companies are also demanding performance linked bonus, implying that one room will be given free after every five to 10 rooms and have created a monopoly of sorts to blackmail the hoteliers.

The association members alleged that these online companies were not only affecting the tourism industry, but also taking consumers for a ride by way of misinformation, booking unregistered houses and other places, which was hitting the occupancy of hotels.

They claimed that the growth of travel business had come to a grinding halt in Himachal, where there was a dire need to generate employment.

The Tourism Industry Stakeholders Association has also decided that in case these online travel companies do not stop exploiting the hoteliers and stakeholders, the association will boycott the online travel companies.