Hotels, clubs back in business

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 18

The ban on liquor is up and hotels, restaurants in Sectors 26, 43 and 35 are on the recovery mode. Though the business is not as brisk as it used to be, the sales have started picking up. The last five months have been quite harsh on owners, with the Supreme Court banning liquor within the radius of 500 m from national and state highways.

The hotel owners said the footfall had increased by 50 per cent in the last 15 days and that they were expecting the number to increase in the coming days. Gurvinder Juneja, Secretary, Chandigarh Hotel and Restaurant Association, said though regular customers had started returning to hotels, it would take time for things to get back to normal.

Ankit Gupta, another hotelier, said the footfall had certainly increased, but the sales were not as expected.

He said during the last five months, they had not only lost customers, but staff too. The Administration, on August 29, renewed the bar licence of hotels, restaurants, discs and clubs following the Supreme Court clarification on the ban.

Vipul Dua, owner, Peddler Bar and Restaurant, said he had already opened a new bar at the Peddlers in Sector 26, which was doing well.

Brew Estate Microbrewery has also returned to Sector 26. It was closed down following the ban. Some prominent clubs are too getting a good business. Aman Agrawal, owner, Sip N Dine, Sector 7, said the response was good but not as expected.

Gurvinder Juneja said they were offering discounts and other attractive offers to customers, but the business was yet to get on the track.

Arvinder Pal Singh, president of the Chandigarh Hotel and Restaurant Association, said losses had forced the hotel industry to lay off 5,000 employees post-ban. “It will take some time to get the workers and customers back,” he said.