Cricket fans during the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup one-day international (ODI) match between Australia and Pakistan, at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru on October 20, 2023.
| Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K

After over a decade, the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament has come back to India and with a few matches scheduled in Bengaluru, the hospitality industry has received a much-needed boost to business. With many travelling to the city, even from other countries, to watch the matches at the stadium and various events being hosted, the occupancy at hotels and patronage at restaurants have gone up by 5%-10% when compared to the previous month. 

“On the days before and after the matches here in Bengaluru, the number of bookings at hotels are significantly more, especially for the match that India will play here. Along with cricket, since there were also long festival holidays, there has been an additional 10% business at hotels,” said P. C. Rao, president, Bruhat Bengaluru Hoteliers Association (BBHA). 

While there has been a steep increase in room prices in some other cities where cricket matches are being played, Bengaluru has not seen a significant increase mainly due to the presence of higher number of hotels across various price ranges, hoteliers noted.  

“Those who come to watch cricket matches, especially international guests, book only 3-star or 5-star hotels. Apart from that, the business potential at hotels has increased as players, umpires and other cricket board officials are also staying there. Some prestigious clubs are also hosting dinners for international teams,” Mr Rao explained.

Cricket-themed curated menus

Apart from that, many star and deluxe hotels, resorts and clubs have also put-up big screens from afternoon to night (match hours) to attract more customers along with specialty food. 

Many popular restobars have also seen an increased inflow of people since the World Cup took off. Themed food and drinks have also been curated at these places. For instance, at SOCIAL, which has branches all over Bengaluru, dishes like ‘Middle Over Grazing’, ‘The Doosra Shawarma’ and ‘The 1983 Samosa Sampler’ have been put up. 

“Even though there were festivals during which people do not usually venture out, we still had slightly more business this month when compared to last month as people came out to watch these World Cup matches, especially when India is playing. The crowd is mostly comprising youngsters and corporate workers,” said Alister Braganza, Senior Regional Business Manager- South at SOCIAL. 

Dwindling interest in ODI

At some other places, while the numbers are not as good as expected yet, they are expected to pick up as the tournament gets more interesting, around the qualifier matches.  

“Navaratri is usually a low business time for us as people do not consume non-vegetarian food or alcohol during those days. There was also the long weekend due to which many people went out. However, we are hoping for things to improve by the time of qualifier matches. We have screenings and a special menu, while we also play live commentary during India matches to provide a stadium like atmosphere,” said Mukesh Tolani, Head of Bengaluru Chapter, National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) and the co-founder of Toit Brewpub. 

However, some within the hospitality industry said that the craze around long format cricket matches has reduced in the era of 20 over matches. “Usually during Indian Premier League, we see people coming out to restaurants and pubs to watch cricket. It now seems like the craze for 50 over cricket has reduced,” said Nakul Rajaram of The 13^th Floor Bar.