(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) If you plan heading to Salalah for Eid holidays to enjoy the Khareef season and haven't already booked a hotel you may be in for a rude shock. Not only have hotels hiked room rates more than hundred per cent many properties have stopped taking advance bookings waiting to make a killing once tourists land at their doorsteps.
Booking sites show that not a single hotel property in Salalah is offering a room for less than RO50 a night. This goes for unrated and small hotel apartments too. The sites also show that most properties are nearly full indicating a high demand.
High demand during Khareef is nothing new but what has changed this time is that Eid falls in the middle of the monsoon and hence for hotels it's an opportunity to make good money that cannot be missed.
'Khareef is spread over a couple of months while rest of the year tourists come in a trickle. That is why the hotels mostly the unrated ones charge exorbitant rates' said a hospitality industry expert who manages two properties.
He added that this is because the hotel industry is unregulated. 'There should be some binding on the industry which is currently missing in the country.'
It is a normal practice to bring down rates in low season and hike them during peak season but it is according to set parameters and rack rates finalised in advance for a period of time in a calendar year he added. 'But to charge over the rack rates when you see there is a chance is like stealing. This should be regulated' he said.
Mohammed Asim who had planned a trip to Salalah during Eid is not optimistic anymore. 'I tried all options from calling my friends in Salalah to book a hotel for me to searching it online myself. Most hotels my friends approached were not taking any bookings for the holiday. They said they would rent it directly to customers once they turn up at their properties during the Eid break' said Asim.
When Muscat Daily called one such operator it was told the same thing. 'We have enough rooms more than a thousand but we will give it to you once you are here.'
Zainab Ansari another resident looking to book a hotel stay in Salalah during the Eid break thought she would manage to get a decent hotel at a fair price.
'My relatives had visited Salalah two years back during Eid and had rented a three bedroom hotel apartment for RO80. Now the same hotel is asking for RO170.'
She added that another friend stayed at Liyali Hotel Apartments last year after paying RO40 for a two bedroom apartment but this year the rate is close to RO100.
A quick check over the booking sites revealed a similar trend. Salalah Plaza is offering rooms for RO20 during Ramadan while the Eid rate quoted is RO70.
Ajwan Hotel Apartments is charging RO175 for a two bedroom set for the holiday period; the same set is for RO35 during Ramadan.
The difference is more than hundred per cent for star hotels between now and the holiday period.
An official from the Shanfari group of hotels which operates Haffa House Hotel and Samharam Tourist Village said that there is an exceptionally good demand for the Eid break. 'We have great demand from expats and GCC tourists and expect to sell out soon.'
On the high rates he said that his properties have maintained the rates for last couple of years. 'The high rates during such times is normal for Salalah with some properties hiking by two hundred per cent.'
Manuel Levonian general manager Crowne Plaza Resort Salalah said that he too was expecting full house for the holiday period. 'We are receiving lots of requests and are prepared to cater to a full house. The room rates offered are normal seasonal price as this is the peak period' he said.
When contacted the Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP) said that it does not regulate the hotels sector and one should contact the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) helpline. An MoT official too said that rates are not controlled by the ministry. 'Each hotel property manages the rates according to its demand and supply factors.'
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