Demonetisation fails to dampen New Year spirit in Odisha

It seems demonetisation has failed to dampen the New Year spirit as hotels in Bhubaneswar have lined up numerous events to welcome 2017 with great fanfare.

There are celebrity nights, musical concerts and parties for the party hoppers. Many Bollywood singers and popular DJs will perform in the capital city during the New Year celebrations.

Hoteliers said there was a marginal impact of demonetisation on the New Year revelry plans.

"Demonetisation has no impact on our business so far. We have planned several events to celebrate this New Year. The celebrations will be bigger than the previous year," said Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, general manager (sales and marketing), Mayfair Lagoon.

Another prominent hotel, Swosti Premium, has also made elaborate preparations.

Karnika Sharma and DJ Rocky will be enthralling the guests at the hotel.

"There is a marginal impact of the note ban on several hotels. There is no overwhelming response from people like the previous years. However, we are expecting a good response on December 31, which falls on Saturday," Swosti Premium vice-president Priyanath Behera told IANS.

Bollywood actress Sunny Leone will perform at the Bang Bang Again 2017 event at Janata Maidan.

"There is a lot of enthusiasm among the youth to see and enjoy the dance moves of Sunny Leone. We are expecting 4000 people at the event. While online ticket sale has started, we will sell tickets at a counter on December 31 morning," said Lingaraj Barik of FGF Studio which is organising the show.

He said they would accept both cash and transactions through swiping machines at the counter.

Another hotel Sandy's Tower is also organising a plethora of events -- fashion show, rock show, DJ Night and belly dance.

"The impact of demonetisation is very minimal. People are responding well to different New Year packages being offered by the hotel this year," said an official at Sandy's Tower.

--IANS

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