When the first case of COVID-19 in the country was reported from Kerala on January 30, little did people anticipate that the virus will turn their world topsy-turvy in the next couple of months.
The rapid spread of the virus necessitated a complete lockdown hitting hard, among other sectors, hotels and restaurants that mainly thrive on people’s movement from one place to the other. Their business nosedived owing to poor footfalls between February and March and the official lockdown announced by the government resulted in a complete lull.
The hotel industry reeled under the impact of economic slowdown and hoteliers in city hoped for a revival during the tourism season, but COVID-19 has dashed their hopes to the ground.
“Of the total 108 rooms in our hotel, only five are occupied. The guests are stranded here in view of the lockdown and we can’t ask them to vacate the rooms in this difficult situation,” says S.V. Ramana Murthy, Food and Beverages Manager of Hotel Taj Gateway. The hotel has closed its bars and restaurants for want of customers.
Former president of the Vijayawada Hotel Owners’ Association Ilapuram Raja calls the ‘lockdown’ period “the worst-ever crisis for the hotel industry. We established this (Ilapuram) hotel in 1991 but never before we witnessed such business gloom. Paying bills is mandatory and this period of uncertainty is hurting,” he says ruefully.
Even in this hour of crisis, die-hard optimists decided to see the boons of the lockdown period. The necessity of doing a lot of home cooking was fun for many at first, but the fun element has already started wearing off, reminding them how much they took chefs and restaurants for granted.
Small eateries see bankruptcy looming around. Many restaurants may not survive this shutdown because their profit margins were already paper thin and they have minimum cash resources. “The takeaway ‘relief’ does not work for small hotels. My workers keep calling me every day to know if the hotel is being opened,” says Krishna Murthy, who runs Hotel Srinu, a furlong away from Samarang Chowk in One Town area.
Matamala Ramu, manager of Temptations, a restaurant on Tikkle Road, says the place is shuttered since March 22 but he has workers from Odisha and West Bengal to take care of since the lockdown prevented them from going home.
'Unprecedented'
Ravi Kumar Parvataneni, managing partner of Hotel Aira near Benz Circle and president of Vijayawada Hotel Owners’ Association, talks of the difficulties like payment of power tariffs, GST, term loans and working loans in the face of the lockdown. “This is so unforeseen and unprecedented. The worst part is the uncertainty as nobody is sure that the lockdown will actually end on April 14,” he says.
For the more than 200 members of the association in city, the ‘lockdown’ has spelt economic disaster. “We are all waiting for the crisis to blow over,” says Mr. Ravi Kumar.
