IPL@DHARAMSALA: Tickets sold out, hoteliers await bookings

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, May 3

The town is going to host two IPL matches on May 5 and May 9. The matches would be between Punjab Kings XI and Chennai Super Kings on May 5 and Punjab Kings XI and Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 9.

As per sources, tickets for both matches have been sold out. The minimum ticket cost of tickets for the match was Rs 3,000, while the maximum ranges between Rs 35,000 and Rs 40,000 for corporate boxes.

Though the tickets have been sold out, these have so far not translated into hotel bookings in Dharamsala. Sources in the hotel industry here say that but for a few hotels in lower Dharamsala that have been booked by IPL teams and their officials, others are reporting just about 40 to 50 per cent bookings even on the days matches are being held.

Sanjeev Gandhi, general secretary of the Hotel Association of Smart City Dharamsala, said there were a few bookings for the matches in Upper Dharamsala. The basic reason for this was the non-availability of tickets. In my hotel, three booking were cancelled by customers as they could not get tickets for matches. The Dharamsala international cricket stadium has a seating capacity of about 25,000. If all tickets were sold, hotels of Dharamsala should be jam-packed. It is a mystery that while the tickets are sold out, why this was not translating into hotel bookings? he wondered.

Ashwani Bamba, president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Dharamsala, also said that hotels in Upper Dharamsala were reporting just about 50 per cent bookings on match days. He, however, said that on the match days, they were expecting walk-in bookings from tourists of Punjab.

Tourists from adjoining areas generally do not book in advance, he added.

Meanwhile, highly placed sources told The Tribune that generally just about 12,000 tickets were available for open sale during the IPL matches hosted in Dharamsala against the seating capacity of 25,000. The rest are given as complementary tickets to the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), sponsors of matches, the local administration and VIPs and VVIPs in the state.

Since about half of the tickets for the matches were given as complementary, the tickets are not available for tourists who want to come to Dharamsala for these matches.

Hoteliers of the region demand that tickets for IPL and other cricket matches should be made available to tourists who want to come to the region freely so that the area can benefit from such cricketing events.

Tickets sought for tourists

Since about half of the tickets for the matches were given as complementary, the tickets are not available for tourists who want to come to Dharamsala for these matches. Hoteliers of the region demand that tickets for IPL and other cricket matches should be made available to tourists who want to come to the region freely so that the area can benefit from such cricketing events.