The Hospitality industry in the city is expected to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Government of NCT of Delhi to reduce the fee for big event venues in the capital city to attract big concerts and entertainment events into the city.
The decision of the government of NCT of Delhi to convert the national capital into a “creative capital” and an “entertainment hub” by removing the policy bottlenecks faced so far by the events and entertainment industry has lit up the Diwali celebrations this year a bit early in the city. The big announcement to unlock the dormant orange economy of Delhi came with nearly a three-month long calendar of high profile events across the national capital.
In order to make that happen, the government has announced a drastic reduction in permit fees for mega event venues including stadiums in the city. The Chief Minister, Reka Gupta, expressed the opinion that the move alone will make the capital city “event-friendly”. Key agencies like Sports Authority of India (SAI) have supported the initiative by not only reducing the rental cost drastically as well as making the permissions easy for the potential organisers.
High profile names of the entertainment industry will be performing in the capital city in the next couple of months. These include iconic artists like Travis Scott, Papon, Akon, Zakir Khan, Acyuta Gopi, AP Dhillon, Anubhav Singh Bassi, Armaan Malik, among others. The government expects these events to generate a revenue of approximately INR3,000 cr for the government.
Such mega shows draw crowds and fan-followers to the city from far away places. In the process, it leaves its imprint and impact on multiple other sectors of the local economy. The mega events in recent times like the Coldplay concerts in various cities have amply proven how it plays out in sectors like travel and hospitality in Indian cities.
Therefore, the Delhi government’s decision to bring real ease of doing business for big event organisers, has really lit up the Diwali for the hospitality stakeholders in the Delhi NCR.
Commenting on the new development and its positive impact on the hospitality business in the region, KB Kachru, president of Hotel Association of India (HAI), and chairman of Radisson Hotels Group – South Asia, (RHG), said, “As the national association of hotels, HAI welcomes the government’s vision for developing Delhi as a vibrant Entertainment Plus hub. We believe that this initiative will facilitate hosting of large scale concerts, cultural festivals and global events in India. In addition to being the capital city, Delhi is a major gateway for domestic and international tourists. Making it a centre of culture will add to Delhi’s appeal and elevate its status as a preferred destination.”
The hotel industry, he said, will be a direct beneficiary of any economic activity which draws people into a city, especially for mega entertainment events. “The economic activity in the city will increase manifold while creating jobs and adding to the state’s revenues,” he informed.
Due to difficulties in getting permissions and very high rentals, big event organisers have been avoiding Delhi for the last few years, said Mina Bhatia, Vice President and General Manager of Le Meridien New Delhi, who has been tracking and following up with many event organisers. “Delhi has been losing out its share of mega event business in the last couple of years,” she said. In that context, she welcomed the government decision to bring real ease of doing business. “Besides the political capital of the country, Delhi has been known as the cultural capital. Therefore, besides the business benefits out of it, the decision will bring the cultural grandeur back to the city,” she said.
“It’s a welcome initiative on the part of the government of NCT of Delhi and it’s good for tourism and hospitality sector in the region,” said Gressh Bindra, Vice President of The Suryaa New Delhi and chairman of sports tourism committee of FICCI, and an avid Golfer. Apart from big concerts, the decision to cut the rental for stadiums would also help organisers of many cricket leagues and other sporting events to consider Delhi stadiums as venues, he said.
While big events will trigger demand for rooms, food,etc, and help hotels to push ADRs and drive ancillary revenues, the challenges of logistics, crowd management, safety and security are not compromised, feels Rakesh Sethi, General Manager of Radisson Blu Dwarka. “We have to make sure small businesses and residential neighbourhoods are not negatively impacted due to these mega events,” he said. Sethi suggested close coordination among different agencies of the government and the trade and industry to make sure people are not inconvenienced.
PK, a restaurant manager from Delhi’s most happening hang out of youngsters, Defence Colony market, endorses what Sethi cautioned about the negative impact on small businesses and neighbourhoods when such mega events come to the city. PK and his team had to grapple with tantrums of many small groups of customers, totally new to the place and city, when a couple of them tried to sneak out without settling the bill at their bar, on the eve of the Travis Scott show at the JLN Stadium.
In a city which is already bursting at the seams in every sense, hosting such mega events could literally throw civic amenities out of gears and invite huge backlash if not planned and executed well.
