KARACHI, Feb 27: Leading hotels in the city are experiencing a phenomenal drop in room occupancy due to reduced travelling by foreigners and travel advisories issued by many European countries asking their nationals not to visit Pakistan.

Many groups of foreigners and even Pakistanis working abroad have postponed their visit to Pakistan after the reaction that sparked anger among the Muslim world after blasphemous sketches appeared in some European newspapers.

However, some hotels are expecting to see the reversal to normal situation after the March 3 countrywide strike called by various political and religious parties. Some hotel owners appear sceptical that the Expo 2006 in Karachi next month and other international and big local events may not attract a large number of foreigners in view of ongoing situation.

Shazia Sultan Khan, public relation manager, Hotel Marriot Karachi, told Dawn that room occupancy had dropped by 40 per cent in the last four days. “We still consider it as a normal as we were expecting a disastrous situation in room occupancy in view of the prevailing situation,” she said.

She said that many groups of foreigners had postponed their reservation (not cancelled) and they were expected to reconfirm the date of their arrival after the March 3 protest.

In reply to a query whether the hotel management has slashed the rates owing to thin arrival of foreigners, she said that room rates fluctuated depending on guests’ arrival.

A spokeswoman for the Pakistan Hotels Association (PHA) told Dawn that the public reaction had affected the hotel industry in the last two to three weeks. She said that a great number of confirmed reservations for Karachi hotels had been cancelled, resulting in a decline in room occupancy.

She said that the short-term impact was severe, with daily cancellation from overseas visitors. “The current impact is yet to be calculated, but industry-wise it will be substantial and it is assumed that the fallout will be high,” she added.

So far room rates (charges) are not affected, but major hotels have prepared budgeted forecast and spent high amounts on expansion of services, which are to be recovered over a certain period of time. In the prevailing situation, it will be difficult for hotels to get desired results. “A decrease in booking is expected, which will subsequently have a strong impact on the rates of rooms as well as conference halls,” she added.

The spokeswoman said that under the current scenario almost all the hotels in major cities of Pakistan had been affected.

She said preferred destinations of westerners in Pakistan are major cities like Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta, Faisalabad, etc., depending on the purpose of the visit.

She said she could not give the current scenario of room occupancy in the upcountry hotels, especially Islamabad.