Uttarakhand hoteliers say government’s guidelines on opening of hotels ‘impractical’, cannot be implemented

NAINITAL/HARIDWAR/MUSSOORIE: A day after the state government issued guidelines on the opening of malls, hotels and religious places, hoteliers from popular tourist destinations in the state said they feel that the restrictions aren’t practical.
While hotel owners said they are amenable to the rule that prevents them from accepting bookings from areas with a high number of Covid-19 cases, they added that the rule of a guest having to book a stay of at least seven days would be difficult to implement.“People generally stay in Nainital for a couple of days, before heading to other destinations. Therefore, making a week-long stay mandatory is not going to work,” said Ved Sah, the owner of Alka Hotel on Nainital’s Mall Road.
The fact that the government has also stipulated that the tourists will not be able to venture outside is again a hindrance as hoteliers say that tourists come to see a place and not simply to stay in hotels. “If a tourist visits Nainital, they would want to go for boating on the lake or just take a stroll down Mall Road. The government has made it mandatory for us to take an undertaking from tourists, saying they won’t visit any local attractions or public premises. Why would anyone come to Nainital to stay confined in their hotel room?” said Dinesh Sah, president, Nainital Hotels and Restaurants Association.
The other concern is that most hotels have been converted into Covid care centres by the district administration. So even if hotels are allowed to open, there won’t be many left for tourists to book. “First, the district administration took over 22 hotels and then they acquired 54 more. Several others are just lying vacant,” said Ved Sah, adding even though he managed to pay his staff in the past two months that the hotels remained closed, it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep doing that.
Expressing similar concerns, Sandeep Sahni, president of Hotel and Restaurant Association of Uttarakhand, said, “A majority of tourists come from the 75 cities that are on the government’s list of being the most affected by Covid-19. If visitors from these cities are not allowed, we’ll hardly get any footfall. There should be a ban based on containment zones and not cities.” Sahni also suggested there should be a relaxation in quarantine norms for those visiting the state for official or business purposes.
Hotel owners in Haridwar are also equally incensed with the government’s guidelines. “Many bereaved people come to Haridwar to immerse ashes. The last rites begin on the 13th day of someone’s demise and last for two to three days. How will it work out if they have to stay for a week and cannot even go out of their hotels? We have asked the government to amend the rule and let people book a minimum of three-day stay,” said president of Haridwar Hotels Association, Ashu Sharma.
(with inputs from Anmol Jain & MS Nawaz)