India looks to host the 'B and B' Games in 2010

As New Delhi prepares for the Commonwealth Games in 2010, a shortage of hotel rooms has left organisers scrambling to house the 100,000 spectators expected to descend on the Indian capital.

Planners insist that the 39 planned hotels will be finished by the time the Games are due, but the numbers tell a different story.

Only 19 of the hotels have begun construction work, according to a parliamentary report, which predicted a shortfall of 14,000 hotel rooms.

Partially-completed hotels litter the outskirts of New Delhi, eyesores among the sprawling mini-cities that have sprung up in recent years.

The situation has forced the government and tourism officials to look elsewhere for accommodation, and private homes are topping the list as part of a bed and breakfast scheme that has proved popular with homeowners who have room to spare.

More than 300 houses and 800 rooms have been registered as bed and breakfasts in the year and a half since the plan was launched, according to the Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation DTTDC, which is responsible for the program.

Most applicants live in the posh southern and central parts of the city, where large, landscaped houses in gated communities are nestled among plenty of green space and upmarket shopping areas. Many are older couples or retirees who have extra space and time because their children have left home.

Tourism officials also hope promoting the more personal homestay option rather than costly luxury hotels will boost flagging tourism numbers, which have declined steadily in recent months due to the global financial meltdown and November's Mumbai attacks.

Government figures show that foreign tourist arrivals decreased by 12.5 percent and 17.6 percent in December and January respectively, as compared to the same periods in 2007.

The bed and breakfast concept, while popular in Europe and North America, has taken time to catch on in India, and tourism officials say the Commonwealth Games present an opportunity.

"Necessity is the mother of invention. In India we had never thought these kinds of schemes can work," said Vijay Thakur, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators IATO, which suggested the bed and breakfast plan to the government.

While the focus is on the Commonwealth Games, Thakur said there was wider potential for attracting tourists "who want to see India on their own and experience Indian hospitality."

Various government promotions mean the concept is "slowly and steadily picking up," despite some initial teething problems, said Pervez Hameed, who runs the three-room Delhi Bed and Breakfast with his wife and mother.

"People are scared to open their houses for many reasons. After all, Indians are conservative as well," he said.

Hameed registered his three-storey home in south New Delhi in 2005 under a previous government tourism program after stumbling upon another bed and breakfast in the city.

"I didn't understand much about it. I thought it was like a hotel," he said. "But then I did a Google search on it and it appealed to me."

New Delhi's state tourism department has tried to lure participants by offering incentives such as non-commercial utility rates and allowing owners to set their own room prices to make a tidy profit, although "quite a few of them are from the higher to middle income group," said Thakur.

"It's the ability to talk to people. It's a long journey and you've got someone who welcomes you," he said.





Children play on top of rocky desert cliffs at sunset. AP Photo/Hasan Jamali