Over 20 hotels face closure in Mysuru

After losing its iconic Southern Star hotel, the hertage city of Mysuru, which thrived on tourism for decades, is now facing the heat of Covid-19 pandemic, with more than 22 hotels set to follow suit. Industrialists in the city are undecided about the future course and are keeping their fingers crossed.

Before Covid-19 struck, the tourism industry was tottering from the economic slow down and the coronovirus has dealt a deadly blow to the industry.

Mysuru Hotel Owners Association president C. Narayana Gowda told that Southern Star was just the begnning and iconic hotels like Roost on the Hunsur road, Rajbhavan in Vontikoppal and other 22 hotels have decided to close down. The worst part is that five lodges, which were not having restaurant facilities, are also mulling closure.

Narayangowda, who has also decided to close his Vishnubhavan hotel in Kuvempunagar, said, "The figures may worsen and we will have clarity on how many exactly will close down once the hotels are permitted to open. Even after the lockdown is lifted they expect a 25 per cent drop in the business. It will take at least six months for the hotel business to return to normalcy, let alone recovering the losses incurred during this period."

Around 30 per cent people in Mysuru depend on tourism for their survival. The city has 405 hotels with 9,500 rooms and 65 percent of these are in rented buildings. They are suffering a loss of Rs 10 crore per day due to the lockdown.

The city has seen closure of only one major unit, RTIL Ltd, formerly Reid and Taylor (India) Ltd. Mysuru District Industries Association president Suresh Kumar said as of now no industrial unit has decided to down the shutters, as owners are waiting to see what happens in the next six months. ''There is a lot of uncertainties and assurances are being made. Once the situation is clear, many may decide to either shut or sell their units,'' he said.

Though permission has been granted for industries to run, hardly 40 per cent of the 26,000 units have begun functioning in Mysuru.