Puneet Chhatwal, MD & CEO of Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), on Monday, said that the company is ready to help the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in terms of accommodation as there is a surge in the COVID-19 cases.

IHCL has vivid brands like Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta, The Gateway, Ginger, Expressions, and TajSATS.

Speaking in an interview to CNBC-TV18, Chhatwal said, “We have been at the forefront for the last 14 months, working very closely with the BMC. I spoke with the Municipal Commissioner last night in trying to figure out how we could work together with BMC and with the hospital in terms of when patients turn negative if they could be moved out of hospital facilities and given some kind of accommodation in our properties.”

Talking about business, he said, “Occupancy increase has stopped. We did see a good period between November 15 and March 15 and since then the pickup slowed down and now there are either cancellations or rescheduling of trips, events, weddings and other functions that were supposed to happen. It is also worth mentioning that domestic leisure has not slowed to the extent that it should have with the rise in cases and we are still seeing strong leisure occupancies.”

For entire management commentary, watch the video

(Edited by : Priyanka Rathi)

First Published:Apr 12, 2021 11:58 AM IST