Hoteliers prefer outside agents to locals for secure business
The mass hotel bookings by online travel companies like MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, Yatra has sounded a death knell for local travel agents who are not in a position to book the rooms for their clients.
Most of the hotels and houseboats – high-end as well as budget category – have tied up with these multi-million dollar companies to secure advance bookings of their rooms. These online travel portals block hotel rooms in advance leaving minimum share for the local travel agents. This has paved way for the tourists to prefer online portals over local travel agents whose role has been reduced to only providing cabs.
“Whoever comes to us first with money, we offer rooms to them. Online travel portals give us advance bookings on regular basis which we accept. This secures our business. We have no option but to accept their offers. They also pay in advance,” said President Kashmir Hotels and Restaurant Owners Federation (KHAROF) Javed Burza.
He, however, said that locals are also welcome if they can block rooms.
“Money comes before bookings. You can offer advance money and get rooms booked,” said Burza who himself offers rooms of his hotel properties to online travel agencies in advance.
Many a times, even the local travel agents, visit portals to offer rooms to their clients.
“Most of the times rooms are not available with the hotels but when we try to book the same room through these travel agencies they are available at discounted rates,” said a local travel agent.
The travel agents are also furious over the discounts offered by the online travel agencies making it difficult for them to offers such deals to their own principal agents and customers.
A top employee at reservation desk of one of the Valley’s leading hotel chains said they offer bulk rooms to online travel agencies in advance.
“Hoteliers prefer to bock rooms for online travel companies like Makemytirp and Goibibi. The hoteliers have also tied up with some big travel agents from Mumbai and Delhi who take advance bookings of the rooms. Around 75 percent of the rooms are blocked by these agencies. It has affected local travel agents badly for whom there are little rooms to sell,” said the employee wishing not to be named.
Most of the hotels and houseboats have also erected the signboards of these online travel agencies to promote bookings through these portals.
The hoteliers also promote online booking through advertisements on social media and their websites.
In one case, the timeline of the facebok page of one hotel ‘Ch Too’ reads, “Book Us On MakeMyTrip & Goibibo & Get Additional Flat Discount Of 10% On Each Booking….!!!!!!!!”
Secretary General Travel Agents Society of Kashmir (TASK) Ather Yameen said the hoteliers’ tie-up with online travel companies has marred their business.
“Every year, new online travel company is established. The hoteliers provide them rooms in advance. When we need rooms for our clients, hoteliers say their properties are sold out. The travel companies offer rooms at very cheaper rates than what hotelier offer us,” said Yameen.
The department of tourism Kashmir has registered over 1200 travel agents. Many unemployed youth also ventured into travel business for the past few years due to increasing tourist flow to Kashmir. However, most of them rue investing in the business.
Travel agents have demanded cap on such bookings by online travel companies so that their business is also secured.
“It seems there is a kind of scam run by these companies to destroy our business. If this trend continues, we will have to switch to other business. Our roles have been confined to only providing cabs,” said TASK General Secretary.
