Category Archives: Hotels

STR’s hotel pipeline data for the Asia Pacific region showed 2,109 projects accounting for 470,650 rooms in construction as of July 2019. Five countries reported more than 20,000 rooms under construction including India where 24,801 rooms, 8.4% of existing supply is under construction. China led with 244,233 rooms, which represented 9.4% of the country’s existing supply and Japan with 43,012 rooms, 6.3% of existing supply.

Domestic hotel operators dominated signings over international operators with the ratio of 68:32 in the first half (H1) of this year, revealed the Hotel Momentum India (HMI) report released by JLL. The report revealed that 36 per cent of new signings are conversions of old hotels. Also, it was seen that Gujarat had the highest number of branded hotel signings (1593) amongst all states, while West Bengal had highest number of branded hotel openings (926) from January to June, 2019.

Almost all markets in India witnessed an increase in Average Daily Rate (ADR) of hotels in the first half of 2019 except for Ahmedabad.  Bengaluru recorded the highest ADR percentage change of 9.3 per cent in this period over the same period last year, followed by Hyderabad at 9.2%, and then Jaipur at 6.7% The figures were revealed by JLL in a report titled Hotel Momentum India (HMI) that gave the performance report of hospitality industry in 11 markets across India.

Talking about the association of InterGlobe Hotels with brands besides ibis, J.B. Singh, President and CEO, InterGlobe Hotels, says, “Besides ibis, we are also looking at Novotel. We have one under construction now in Bengaluru and are not averse to the idea of doing more properties. But it all depends on the opportunity the market offers. But we are pretty sure, we will come up with a few more.”

“This decision of the government will help the people of Jammu and Kashmir the most because It is estimated that almost 50-60% of total population of J&K is directly and/or indirectly engaged in hospitality, tourism or related ancillary related activities, says, Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India. According to him, tourism contributes about 15% to the state GDP. “Till now, despite being a leading industry of J&K, concrete steps of its economic impact on state are still lacking. This move will bring in more investment in all sectors, more industry movements, more private educational institutions, more jobs and more revenue will eventually come by, giving the otherwise bogged down state a huge impetus. Despite Kashmir ticking all the right boxes as a Hospitality & Tourism magnet, its presence and business in the state is dismal. Poverty and dependency on almost non-existent hospitality and tourism, except only in a couple of cities or areas lead the citizens to be misdirected towards nefarious activities which would now be to a large extent stand eradicated, he adds.

According to the sixth annual Global Travel Forecast, published by CWT and GBTA, India’s strong economic growth is fuelling a greater demand for business travel and driving up prices. Airfares are forecast to increase 5% (in local currency terms; 0% in USD terms), while hotel rates and ground transport prices are expected to climb 6.8% (1.8% in USD terms) and 4.5% (-0.5% in USD terms), respectively. While the global economy is doing well overall – and expected to grow a solid 3.6% in 2020 – a raft of uncertainties are set to put a damper on pricing. “Earlier this year we saw a spike in airfares after Jet Airways ceased its operations in April, so we’re already at a high base in 2019,” said Vishal Sinha, CEO, India, CWT. “With other airlines adding capacity to fill the vacuum, fares have begun to normalize and we expect that to continue next year. However, if the rupee weakens against the dollar, Indian carriers could be faced with bigger fuel bills and we might see that being passed on to travelers.” “Hotel rates are also expected to rise, as the demand for rooms outpaces supply, especially in secondary cities like Chandigarh, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. At the same time, the commercialization of mid-tier properties by players like Oyo are also pushing prices upwards.”

According to the recent Hotel Momentum India 2019 (HMI), release by JLL, Gujarat is the leading state in  brand signings, while West Bengal leads for hotel openings in first half (H1)2019. Additionally, domestic hotel operators dominated hotel signings over international operators till June 2019 with the ration of 68:32. Importantly, 36 per cent of new signings are conversion of old hotels.

Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) has banned single-use plastic in all its hotels. Nikhil Desai, Managing Director, GTDC, says, “GTDC hotels will strive to be plastic free. We have already started with our head office where we have banned all the plastic bottles etc. We have decided that we will reduce or completely do away with anything that has plastic. In the next step, all our hotels will stress on minimise the use of plastic like water bottles, and will shift to eco-friendly options like paper-based products, metal products or recyclable options, instead of going for one-time use plastics. Followed by its success, we will also ask the private players to join us. First we will show that it is possible for us to do it and lead a plastic free life. Once we are successful, we will request them that they should also follow the same.” This initiative comes in line with the bid to achieve the target that the state government has of making the state plastic-free by 2022.

Amatra Hotels and Resorts has launched two properties in Haridwar and Mussoorie, Uttarakhand. The company is also looking to have 3,000 rooms and inventory of over 45 hotels in the next 3 years across strategic locations in India. In India, the company is looking to acquire properties in Goa, Rajasthan, Kerala, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and few other leisure locations across the country. In 2019, it plans to add five hotels to increase its total tally to 7 hotels. “We are launching these two properties in India with a clear focus to provide unmatched and distinct luxury in India, which is affordable for the masses. As we create a different league of identity for us in luxury hospitality, travellers will witness many firsts in this segment. We are also looking to acquire properties in other regions across India and will launch few more properties this year,” Sabry Salahudeen, Chief Growth Officer, Amatra Hotels said. The resort chain offers value for money offerings in the leisure category with handpicked properties in key destinations across the leisure landscape of India.

The Hotel Monitor 2020 by American Express Global Business Travel (GBT), predicts that hotel prices in most key cities will experience only modest rises in 2020. Bengaluru is one of the top business destinations in India. Demand from business travellers will lead to rise in room rates by 5% in 2020, even as supply grows at double-digit rates. Ashish Kishore, Managing Director at American Express Global Business Travel India, said “India is leading the way in global technology advancements, which we’re seeing through the increase of business travel opportunities to Bangalore.” Joakim Johansson, Vice President, Global Business Consulting at GBT, said: “Despite signs that the global economy is facing challenges, the number of people travelling for business and leisure continues to grow. But, in most cities, a full hotel development pipeline means this sustained level of demand will not feed into big rate rises.”