Cricket fever in World Cup season gives a boost to hospitality industry in Bengaluru 

With many cricket fans, from home and abroad, travelling to Bengaluru to watch the matches at the Chinnaswamy stadium, the occupancy at hotels and patronage at restaurants have gone up by 5%-10% when compared to the previous month. 

After over a decade, the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament has come back to India and with a few matches scheduled in Bengaluru, the hospitality industry has received a much-needed boost to business. With many travelling to the city, even from other countries, to watch the matches at the stadium and various events being hosted, the occupancy at hotels and patronage at restaurants have gone up by 5%-10% when compared to the previous month. 

“On the days before and after the matches here in Bengaluru, the number of bookings at hotels are significantly more, especially for the match that India will play here. Along with cricket, since there were also long festival holidays, there has been an additional 10% business at hotels,” said P. C. Rao, president, Bruhat Bengaluru Hoteliers Association (BBHA). 

While there has been a steep increase in room prices in some other cities where cricket matches are being played, Bengaluru has not seen a significant increase mainly due to the presence of higher number of hotels across various price ranges, hoteliers noted.  

“Those who come to watch cricket matches, especially international guests, book only 3-star or 5-star hotels. Apart from that, the business potential at hotels has increased as players, umpires and other cricket board officials are also staying there. Some prestigious clubs are also hosting dinners for international teams,” Mr Rao explained.

Apart from that, many star and deluxe hotels, resorts and clubs have also put-up big screens from afternoon to night (match hours) to attract more customers along with specialty food. 

Many popular restobars have also seen an increased inflow of people since the World Cup took off. Themed food and drinks have also been curated at these places. For instance, at SOCIAL, which has branches all over Bengaluru, dishes like ‘Middle Over Grazing’, ‘The Doosra Shawarma’ and ‘The 1983 Samosa Sampler’ have been put up.