Cafe attack aftershock hits Gulshan hotel business

Our sales dropped 90 per cent immediately after the attack. We have been devastated. We have nothing to fall back on. Our sales have literally drowned Mehedi Hasan manager, The Village

Gulshan has always been considered one of Dhaka’s posh areas, but there has been a dramatic change after the militant attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1.

One five-star hotel, and several hotels and restaurants are situated in Gulshan. It was essentially a residential area before, but has been transformed into a commercial zone over the past few decades.
Most of the better-known hotels and restaurants are located here and were doing great business until the Holey Bakery attack. 
The situation has drastically changed since then and so have their businesses prospects.
“Our sales dropped 90 per cent immediately after the attack. We have been devastated. We have nothing to fall back on. Our sales have literally drowned,” said Mehedi Hasan, manager of a prominent hotel The Village.
“Operating a hotel in Gulshan is an expensive proposition. The business simply crashed after the attack, so I had to cut 20 of my staff strength of 55,” said a hotel owner.
“We used to have 80 to 90 per cent hotel occupancy, but now the rooms are hardly occupied and most of the guests are afraid to come,” said a hotel employee. 
“After the tragic occurrence, we have refurbished the hotel security system. We used to have 25 CCTV cameras, but now we have augmented this to 32,” said a manager of a renowned hotel.
“Most of the restaurants have changed their timings to 12am to 10.30pm. But there are days when nobody comes. The roads look terribly empty at night. There is no possibility of getting diners at night,” said the executive at a local hotel, Samsun Nahar Rani. 
“We are under pressure from the hotel management. To restore customer confidence, we started doing digital marketing. We are hopeful the situation will change,” said hotel staff member Liton.
“Each floor of our restaurant has the capacity to seat 100 to 150 people. Before the attack, our occupancy rate used to be 30 per cent corporate guests, families 30 per cent, 20 per cent foreigners and 10 per cent of walk-in guest all the time. But now the scenario has changed completely and it seems we are in the worst condition ever. All the percentages have come down to zero,” said a restaurant owner.
“On weekends, there are people who come to the restaurant, but the numbers are not enough. We used to operate a home-delivery service, but the situation has become so difficult that we have had to suspend it temporarily,” he lamented.
“To overcome this situation, we have taken a few initiatives to retain customers. The strategies include discount on the food prices, continuous follow-up with our existing clients. But it seems we have failed to fully regain customers,” he added.
 “Majority of the restaurants in the Gulshan area are situated in rented places. The daily fixed cost of my restaurant is Tk 9 lakh, irrespective of whether I have open it or not. I am planning to move out and set up a restaurant in some other place,” said the proprietor of a renowned hotel.
The government has taken the initiative to evict all the unlawful restaurants and hotels in the Gulshan area. 
A federation of Hotel Guest House and Restau-rant Owners’ Association (FHGHROA) has taken steps to negotiate with the government and work out something pragmatic.      
“Initially, before the attack, our occupancy rate used to be more than 90 per cent. Right after the attack, it dropped to 15 per cent. But it has started picking up and the figures have changed as well,” said the director (PR and liaison) of The Westin Dhaka, Selina Momen.
“Now, the current occupancy rate of our hotel is on average 40 per cent and this seems to be an upward trend. So, we are optimistic and hopeful of recovering soon,” she added.
“Westin is a renowned international business hotel. It has immense value on the international market. We have the highest security surveillance for all our guests. We have an emergency system that connects to the Gulshan police station. If anything happens, they will be here with reinforcement within 30 seconds. Our hotel management is so generous and benevolent that we have not had to lay off any employees so far. So, we hope and pray that the entire hospitality industry will revive soon,” she said. 

Cafe attack aftershock hits Gulshan hotel business

Our sales dropped 90 per cent immediately after the attack. We have been devastated. We have nothing to fall back on. Our sales have literally drowned Mehedi Hasan manager, The Village

Gulshan has always been considered one of Dhakas posh areas, but there has been a dramatic change after the militant attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1. One five-star hotel, and several hotels and restaurants are situated in Gulshan. It was essentially a residential area before, but has been transformed into a commercial zone over the past few decades. Most of the better-known hotels and restaurants are located here and were doing great business until the Holey Bakery attack. The situation has drastically changed since then andso have their businesses prospects. Our sales dropped 90 per cent immediately after the attack. We have been devastated. We have nothing to fall back on. Our sales have literally drowned, said Mehedi Hasan, manager of a prominent hotel The Village. Operating a hotel in Gulshan is an expensive proposition. The business simply crashed after the attack, so I had to cut 20 of my staff strength of 55, said a hotel owner. We used to have 80 to 90 per cent hotel occupancy, but now the rooms are hardly occupied and most of the guests are afraid to come, said a hotelemployee. After the tragic occurrence, we have refurbished the hotel security system. We used to have 25 CCTV cameras, but now we have augmented this to 32, said a manager of a renowned hotel. Most of the restaurants have changed their timings to 12am to 10.30pm. But there are days when nobody comes. The roads look terribly empty at night. There is no possibility of getting diners at night, said the executive at a local hotel, Samsun Nahar Rani. We are under pressure from the hotel management. To restore customer confidence, we started doing digital marketing. We are hopeful the situation will change, said hotel staff member Liton. Each floor of our restaurant has the capacity to seat 100 to 150 people. Before the attack, our occupancy rate used to be 30 per cent corporate guests, families 30 per cent, 20 per cent foreigners and 10 per cent of walk-in guest all the time. But now the scenario has changed completely and it seems we are in the worst condition ever. All the percentages have come down to zero, said a restaurant owner. On weekends, there are people who come to the restaurant, but the numbers are not enough. We used to operate a home-delivery service, but the situation has become so difficult that we have had to suspend it temporarily, he lamented. To overcome this situation, we have taken a few initiatives to retain customers. The strategies include discount on the food prices, continuous follow-up with our existing clients. But it seems we have failed to fully regain customers, he added. Majority of the restaurants in the Gulshan area are situated in rented places. The daily fixed cost of my restaurant is Tk 9 lakh, irrespective of whether I have open it or not. I am planning to move out and set up a restaurant in some other place, said the proprietor of a renowned hotel. The government has taken the initiative to evict all the unlawful restaurants and hotels in the Gulshan area. A federation of Hotel Guest House and Restau-rant Owners Association (FHGHROA) has taken steps to negotiate with the government and work out something pragmatic. Initially, before the attack, our occupancy rate used to be more than 90 per cent. Right after the attack, it dropped to 15 per cent. But it has started picking up and the figures have changed as well, said the director (PR and liaison) of The Westin Dhaka, Selina Momen. Now, the current occupancy rate of our hotel is on average 40 per cent and this seems to be an upward trend. So, we are optimistic and hopeful of recovering soon, she added. Westin is a renowned international business hotel. It has immense value on the international market. We have the highest security surveillance for all our guests. We have an emergency system that connects to the Gulshan police station. If anything happens, they will be here with reinforcement within 30 seconds. Our hotel management is so generous and benevolent that we have not had to lay off any employees so far. So, we hope and pray that the entire hospitality industry will revive soon, she said.