NEW DELHI: With competition becoming fiercer, some top hotels are offering lip-smacking discounts on beverages. At the Taj Palace in Delhi, at its long-bar, The Blue Bar, customers can drink to their heart’s content

Over the years, revenues from food and beverage in hotels have been growing across chains in India and some hotels are reporting nearly 50% of the entire revenue from this segment alone. Today, five-star hotels like The Taj, TheLeela, The Claridges, The Lalit, as well as the Eros Hotel are offering substantial discounts on wines, whiskeys and other alcoholic beverages to boost sales.

Another factor that has led to discounts is increase of external competition from standalone restaurants which is making hotels revisit pricing strategy.

In the past decade, several hundred new restaurants have mushroomed in the metros. So, in order to offer better value to customers, hotels have to offer a better bang-for-the-buck exexperience, explain restaurateurs.

“People in metros are eating out two to three times a week. This was never the case. To go out more often, customers need to spend a lot less. So, while they may not always want discounts, they want a more value-sensitive proposition even if they’re going to 5-star hotels,” says Riyaaz Amlani, chief executive officer of Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality which owns Smoke House Deli and Social Offline.

The Claridges in Delhi has a free-vodka cocktail “ladies evening” till midnight on Friday when it typically doesn”t even need to run offers. While the Eros Hotel, also in Delhi, is offering single malt trails, ladies nights as well as Caribbean nights. The main aim is to create a buzz with the new and younger target group as well as regular patrons. “We think it”s a great way for guests to start the weekend. Since we began the offer, our numbers have trebled,” says Atul Lall, vice president, operations and general manager at The Claridges, New Delhi.

The Leela, Bangalore, ran a whisky and cigar promotion pairing limited edition which saw a complete sell-out of stock within weeks. Another 5-star chain, The Lalit, has happy hours in its Delhi and Jaipur hotels.

Source: https://in.newshub.org/food-and-beverage-revenues-hotels-growing-across-chains-india-14858042.html