Taj Rishikesh Resort & Spa in Uttarakhand, The Khyber Himalayan Resort & Spa located within the Gulmarg Biosphere Reserve, and the Novotel Goa Resort & Spa were fully sold out.
An ITC NSE 0.65 % Hotels spokesperson said all ITC leisure hotels did very well during the long weekend, and properties such as Welcomhotel Amritsar saw a ‘heavy rush’ in bookings.
“The auspicious dates for weddings have also boosted this momentum. As always, Welcomhotel properties in the hills, especially Welcomhotel Pahalgam, Shimla, Chail, Katra, and Mussoorie continue to be travellers’ favourite destinations,” the spokesperson added.
Vibhas Prasad, director of Leisure Hotels Group, which operates Aloha on the Ganges in Rishikesh, Sun n Snow Inn in Kausani, Riverview Retreat in Corbett, and other properties in Dharamshala, Goa and Nainital said his properties were sold out pretty much across the entire portfolio.
“People were travelling right across Himachal and Uttarakhand. We were sold out with good average daily rates. There is uncertainty in Delhi because of the positivity rates so we are keeping our fingers crossed,” he added.
Akanksha Lamba, senior vice-president-operations, at The Postcard Hotel said all of the company’s hotels were booked to capacity during the Easter weekend, including The Postcard Galle in Sri Lanka, which has now become an attraction due to the pricing arbitrage in the country. “However, the biggest occupancy surge across all our hotels has been at The Postcard Hideaway, Netravali in South Goa. The hotel was not only sold out during the long weekend but also has been booked back-to-back from April 8 to 22 with four high profile corporate and family movements from Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Hyderabad,” she said. “This traction will continue till the end of April as the hotel has been entirely booked again from April 29 for another important corporate movement. There is a build-up of demand, which we noticed since before the Easter weekend and it continues even ten days after, with record-high occupancies for the month,” she added.
Akhil Arora, chief operating officer at Espire Hospitality Group said the long weekend was definitely a ‘high demand’ period as all the chain’s properties were sold out. The majority of the inventory at the chain’s resorts was reserved 7-10 days ahead of time. In a regular scenario, the booking window is usually one to three days ahead of the stay dates. “On this particular weekend, we have also witnessed a good movement of the corporates, with companies bringing their employees for a welcome break after the closing of the financial year which is a positive sign after two tough years of the pandemic,” he added.
Espire Hospitality Group owns and operates Country Inn Hotels & Resorts besides the luxury resort, Six Senses Fort Barwara.
