Liquor ban on rival hotels has CITCO on a high

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 13

The ban on liquor in all establishments falling within 500 metres of national and state highways has proved a boon for hotels of the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO).

Both hotels of CITCO - Mountview and Shivalikview - have witnessed a profit of over 33 per cent in the past four months in comparison to the corresponding months of the previous years.

While the rival hotels of CITCO like Taj and JW Marriot stopped serving liquor since April 2017 due to their proximity to the national highway, hotels of CITCO survived the ban.

Both hotels had been facing losses for years due to a stiff competition from other five-star hotels in the city.

Sources said the sale of Mountview and Shivalikview had witnessed an increase of over Rs 2 crore each in the past five months. According to the figures discussed at a meeting of the Board of Directors of CITCO held recently, Mountview recorded a sale of Rs 7.59 crore from April to July 2017 in comparison to Rs 5.25 crore in the corresponding period last year. Similarly, Shivalikview recorded a sale of Rs 7.50 crore in the first quarter of the financial year in comparison to Rs 5.50 crore during the corresponding period last year.

Anurag Walia, General Manager of Mountview, said the sale had increased due to the overall performance of the hotel. He said while the liquor ban in rival hotels might be one of the reasons, the overall strategy for promotion led to an increase in the profits.

The figures

According to the figures discussed at a meeting of the Board of Directors of CITCO held recently, Mountview recorded a sale of Rs 7.59 crore from April to July 2017 in comparison to Rs 5.25 crore in the corresponding period last year. Similarly, Shivalikview recorded a sale of Rs 7.50 crore in the first quarter of the financial year in comparison to Rs 5.50 crore during the corresponding period last year.