How Events and Festivals Bring Life to Hospitality Industry
India is a country rich in festivals, celebrations, and events.
From religious festivals and cultural festivals to weddings and sporting events, there is never a dull moment.
These celebrations bring joy and togetherness for sure, but are also an enormous boost for business, and in particular the hospitality industry.
Hotels, restaurants, travel companies, and event planners all see an increase in activity.
This blog will give you an insight into how various events and festivals can bring vibrancy, excitement, and revenue to the hospitality industry.
1. The Festival Effect
Festivals are peak periods of travel, dining, and celebration.
They bring families together, create a festive atmosphere, and significantly boost hotel and restaurant business.
- Festivals such as Diwali, Holi, Eid, Christmas, Navratri, Durga Puja, and Ganesh Chaturthi attract an incredibly high volume of people.
- Coming back to their hometown, visiting family and friends, briefly travelling, and indulging in temple visits, fairs, and locality events.
- This results in an increase in hotel reservations, restaurant reservations, food delivery, and so on.
Travel companies provide special packages. Restaurants have festive menus.
Hotels will decorate their establishments or provide discounts to lure in guests.
2. Weddings and Family Events
India’s wedding season is a goldmine for the hospitality industry.
Hotels transform into wedding venues, and even small businesses benefit from the overflow of celebrations.
- India hosts thousands of weddings every year, typically during the wedding season.
- November to February and then again from April to June.
- Weddings can be a full-scale event with venues, catering, rooms for guests, decorations, entertainment, transport, etc.
- Hotels and resorts tend to be quite popular for weddings. They are a complete destination for weddings.
- They provide packages that have halls, food, stay, and decoration included.
- In terms of revenue earned, because of the size of weddings, they are great money makers.
As there is revenue gained not only from the wedding day itself but from many events around it, such as mehendi, sangeet, reception, etc.
Even small hotels and small banquet halls are very busy during this wedding season.
3. Religious Events and Pilgrimages
Events like the Kumbh Mela, Rath Yatra, Amarnath Yatra, and Sabarimala pilgrimage draw thousands of devotees from all over the country.
- These religious events create a huge demand for accommodation, food, and transport, with local hotels, dharamshalas, and lodges booked out, restaurants packed, and food stalls busy with customers.
- Hotels plan for these times, and travel agencies will also wrap up commerce around special pilgrimage tours.
- The accommodation, food, and transport infrastructure support the pilgrim experience by making the whole trip comfortable and smooth.
4. Cultural and Local Events
Cultural fairs, music festivals, exhibitions, literature fests, and state tourism events bring a different audience to your doors.
- In the form of a sizable cohort of young people, tourists, and art-loving communities.
- Events like the Jaipur Literature Festival, Sunburn Music Festival.
- Rann Utsav attracts thousands of attendees, both domestic and international, bringing together people from diverse backgrounds.
- These new visitors will need lodging, food, and leisure, and local lodging/mid-range.
- Hotels will typically put together festival packages of sorts, and local cafes and restaurants may offer theme nights or live music nights.
Tourism, travel, and event companies collaborate to offer unique experiences at these events.
These events seamlessly tie into tourism, boosting local economies and providing a platform to showcase regional culture and traditions.
5. Sports and International Events
Sporting tournaments such as IPL, World Cup cricket, or other major sports often provide a huge focus for excitement:
- Travel for spectators, mass movement of people, and certainly a focus of promotion.
- Over the duration of these events, hospitality sector firms would always provide
- An unprecedented demand for hotels, travel, food and beverages, actual events, and entertainment.
- Restaurants may screen the matches live or provide themed food, and hotels may host players/staff/fans, so cities that are able to accommodate match attendees will definitely have an increase in business.
- International events such as G20 Summits or Film Festivals also showcase the hospitality industry.
6. Function of online platforms
Online booking platforms make it easy to connect with customers and the services they require, especially during peak seasons.
Booking platforms offer discounts, bundles, and options for bespoke services, in addition to the benefits of social media advertising.
Digital platforms also support small hotels and eateries by creating exposure during festivals, which can level the playing field with larger-name and more established brands.
7. Employment
Events and festivals also create jobs and employment. Hotels hire extra staff, restaurants bring on shorter-term restaurant workers, and transport and travel companies add staff to their workforce.
Individuals find seasonal employment and extra income from festivals as riders, decorators, hosts, servers, temporary drivers, and chefs.
The short-term increase in jobs and employment is quite beneficial, especially to citizens from smaller towns and rural areas that do not offer exponential job opportunities year-round.
8. Boost to the local economy
When we travel and holiday, we spend not just on hotels and food, but also on shopping, souvenirs, recreational experiences, transport, and so on.
People spend their money in the local economy, which spreads through small vendors and service providers.
Vendors like taxi drivers, flower sellers, tailors, mehendi artists, street vendors, and photographers all experience good business during festivals and big events.
Conclusion
Events and festivals mean more than celebration.
They serve as a lifeline for the hospitality industry, driving demand for accommodations, dining, and services.
Whether it is a huge wedding celebration, a religious yatra, a cricket match, or a music festival, every event attracts new customers, more bookings, and renewed energy into the industry.
For hotels, restaurants, travel companies, and small businesses alike, the hospitality industry gets to showcase its strengths.
And the customer gets to have their celebrations made easier and more enjoyable.
The hospitality industry just enhances the experience, adding comfort to the festivities.
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