A month after reopening of restaurants and hotels, about 60 percent of establishments across Maharashtra have restarted their businesses.
There are approximately four lakh hotels and restaurants in Maharashtra of which 2.40 lakh have reopened their establishments.
The reasons are many: fear psychosis of Covid-19 virus, acute shortage of labour, lack of transportation, timing restrictions and also no feasibility due to restriction of allowing only 50.percent clients.
Both Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and Indian Hotels and Restaurants Association (AHAR) argued that multiple reasons have dissuaded hoteliers from reopening their establishments.
“People are still afraid to come to the hotels due to fear of the spread of Covid-19. This has hit our business very badly. So many of the establishments who have not opened are adopting a wait-and-watch policy as the hotels which have opened have hardly any business,” said Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, FHRAI.
According to Shivanand Shetty, President, AHAR, majority of those who have not opened were on leased premises. “It is not feasible for these restaurants to operate in the current circumstances by paying such exorbitant rents. Many of them have even permanently closed down their business,” said Shetty.
Many hoteliers who have not opened said that staff shortage and lack of transport are one of the teething problems faced by them.
“The staff, mostly migrants, is reluctant to come as they hardly have any cases in their state. My local staff who lives in the suburbs cannot travel as they are disallowed in local trains. In such a situation, I decided not to open,” said Kamlesh Barot, who runs Revival Hotel at Girgaum chowpatty.
The Maharashtra government allowed hotels and restaurants to reopen from October 5 after a gap of close to seven months. However, it restricted operation at 33% capacity for Mumbai eateries and hotels and 50% for such businesses across the state in order to enforce social distancing norms deemed necessary to prevent the spread of Covid-19 infection.
Savio D’sa, a consultant in the hospitality industry, says it will take till the end of the year to get things to normal. “Many of the hoteliers are facing a monetary crisis after being closed for such a long time and hence are not opening up. Many who have taken place on lease are negotiating with landlords to lower the rents. Since there are fewer outstation trains, many are deferring the opening date as they cannot open with such fever staff,” said D’sa.
