The six-day expo begins in Gandhinagar on Wednesday, and because of that, around 8,000 rooms have been booked in city hotels by attendees
Mansoor Qureshi (name changed), a senior official of a private company had to visit over two dozen hotels in the city to find a room for a senior executive visiting the city. Plastindia 2018 is to be blamed for Qureshi's plight.
The six-day expo begins in Gandhinagar on Wednesday, and because of that, around 8,000 rooms have been booked in city hotels by attendees.
To add to the troubles of those like Qureshi, the hoteliers have allegedly hiked room prices by as much as 100%. He told DNA that a regular room may now cost Rs 9,000 - Rs 10,000, depending on the range of the hotel, because of the high demand. Sources said that even budget hotels were charging Rs 5,000 for a room that would be Rs 1,000 otherwise.
Plastindia organisers said that close to two lakh visitors from India and abroad will be attending the expo.
Hoteliers admit that this was a good time of the year for them in terms of business because of the inflow of people for Plastindia and Vibrant Gujarat, which are held every alternate year. While Vibrant Gujarat is held in January, Plastindia is held in February.
"This happens every time during Plastindia and Vibrant Gujarat Summits," said Sanjay Kaushik, General Manager of Crowne Plaza hotel in the city. "All the rooms are now occupied. Even fares in city hotels have risen by about 25%-30%." He added that while prices are higher, they are not as high as it is during Vibrant Gujarat Summits.
Narendra Somani, President of Hotel and Restuarant Association – Gujarat, admitted that there was a mad rush to book the rooms in city hotels. However, he said rooms were still available because of cancellations. "Most of the rooms in the hotels in the city are booked," he told DNA. "Travel agents have booked them in advance. So, till a few days ago, all the rooms were booked. However, it is not that rooms are not available. This is because of a large number of cancellations that have taken place just ahead of the event." Plastindia 2018 Vice President Rajiv Raval said Plastindia was one of leading expos across the world, and the largest expo for raw materials in Asia.
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