The association has called a meeting on Friday to discuss the strategy to deal with this problem.

You must check your hotel booking with the hotel if you are travelling to Ahmedabad these days. Hoteliers of the city are planning to boycott the online booking platforms including MakeMyTrip and Goibibo from December 1 over commission and indiscriminate discounts offered by these portals. “The way MakeMyTrip and Goibibo are offering discounts on online booking, it is hurting our profitability. Moreover they have increased commission from 15% to 35%. All these factors are posing business sustainability issues for us and therefore we have decided to boycott these portals from December 1,” said Narendra Somani, president of Hotel and Restaurants Association – Gujarat (HRA-Gujarat).

The association has called a meeting on Friday to discuss the strategy to deal with this problem. Over 300 hotels from Ahmedabad will join the boycott. It is also in touch with other cities hoteliers in Gujarat and India for their support.

Somani said, “This problem is not limited to Ahmedabad but all the hotels in Gujarat and across India are facing the similar issues. We are in touch with Rajkot, Surat and Baroda based hoteliers and will take up this issue nationwide. Most of the hotels are in our support.”

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The December-February period is crucial for Gujarat as wedding season has already begun, Non Resident Gujarati (NRGs) will be visiting their native places and it is also a run up to the Vibrant Gujarat Summit to be held in January next year.

Somani said, “About 56% of booking comes from online portals as now people ensure occupancy of rooms before travel. As Ahmedabad is business centre of Gujarat, importance of online booking is much in hotel business.” According to the association, Ahmedabad has an inventory of about 11,000 rooms against a demand of about 5,500 room. It is mostly during Vibrant Gujarat Summits and other industrial expos, that hotels witness heavy bookings.