Star hotels in Karnataka face the liquor ban brunt, gaze at business loss of upto 50%

While the Centre's move of banning liquor on highways and other specified areas could be a welcome move for many, there are sectors that are utterly disappointed with the same. At least 19 starred hotels located near the highways are facing the brunt of the directive since they will not be able to serve alcohol to their guests from July 1. This will account for a 50% fall in occupancy and overall business loss of 45%-50%. It has been observed that guests from across the world avoid establishments that are dry.

Speaking to the TOI, Shekar Sawant, general manager of ITC Windsor said, "The loss of business and goodwill of customers is of course a concern for us but the larger impact will be on brand Bengaluru. Once there's a dent, recovery will be difficult."

To add to the woes of hotel owners, the state team meant for a visit to Delhi to seek denotification of highways deferred its plans. This was the only way the hotels could have either bypassed the directive or found a round about. In March, the Supreme Court had banned liquor within 500 meters of a highway and several states tweaked the law or bypassed it by denotifying the highway stretches. 

While Karnataka has secured a backseat in the denotification of the highways, some of the oldest hotels in Bengaluru- the Windsor and Lalit Ashok are estimated to incur a loss of Rs 38 crore to Rs 40 crore annually once liquor is taken away. It is reported that nearly 60% of the guests in Windsor are foreigners. Sawan said, "Overseas, a glass of wine or chilled beer is nothing out of the ordinary. Our customers will think this is an avoidable inconvenience... We are bound to lose a lot of business."

There is more to it, even the occupancy would be affected by 50% all over India. President of the Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India, K Syama Raju said, "There is no escaping that. While occupancy will affect overall revenue, the immediate direct loss from not having liquor sales will be significant for all hotels. We've been in touch with the government, but for some reason there seems to be little action on the ground. We've been told that the ball is now in the Centre's court."

The general manager of Lalit Ashok, T Bhaskaran agrees. He said, "One hundred per cent of our guests are business customers and to not be able to serve liquor to them will see us lose at least Rs 35 crore if not Rs 40 crore annually, Rs 25 crore of which will be direct losses from the liquor business.Almost all our guests are from other countries and cities and they may now find it inconvenient to host meetings and other events in Bengaluru."

Employment will also be affected as bars will be shut. At a luxury hotel, a bar can employ upto 100 people. They will be sitting idle now. Meanwhile, the state government has brushed off its responsibilities in the matter and said that it was for the Centre to resolve the issue. M Lakshminarayana, principal secretary of the public works department said, "Our proposal to get stretches of national highways in the heart of the city denotified has been sent. But we are yet to hear from the Centre."

• karnataka
• south