The performance of the Indian hotel sector in 2023 mirrored optimism, with key performance indicators witnessing significant growth. The sector closed calendar year 2023 with a nationwide occupancy rate in the range of 63-65%, up 3-5 percentage points (pp) from the previous year and nearly reaching the pre-pandemic level of 65-67% in 2019. The ARR for 2023 reached an impressive INR 7,400-7,600, which surpassed the figures from 2022 by 21-23% and 2019 by 24-26%, highlighting the sector’s ability to push rates driven by the buoyant demand. The growth in average rates helped RevPAR to reach INR 4,662-4,940 in 2023, indicating a significant increase of 29-31% from 2022 and 19-21% in 2019.

According to data by NLB Services, with the continued growth momentum, the tourism sector is all set to add 58.2 million jobs by 2033 throughout the country. Post the pandemic recovery tenure, this was one of the sectors that saw the quickest recovery. Talent demand in tourism recorded a 44% spike in August 2023, and 1.6 million additional jobs were expected to be added within CY 2023. The growing synergy of the sector has led to steadfast employment generation across the country both in Tier I and Tier II locations.

NS Rathor, Chairman, IATO Western Region, says, “We are facing a lot of problems with the cruise guide rates. We have a lot of international cruise liners coming into Mumbai. For cruise passengers we have to negotiate rates locally with Tourist Guides Association (TOGA). They are asking us to pay 15-20% more than the current rate negotiated with TGFI! We have not yet agreed on that. We have offered them 10%. We will discuss this issue with our members and offer TOGA this rate. We hope they will agree with this.”

Feeling relieved, Mahendra Vakharia, Executive Committee Member, Immediate Past President – OTOAI & MD, Pathfinders Holidays, says, “Finally a long pending wish list of both the Indian travel trade as well as the Indian traveller is becoming a reality! This should have been done immediately post Covid to take full advantage of the upsurge in holiday demand to Schengen countries. But as we say, better late than never’! Indian Nationals can now apply for a multiple entry Schengen visa with longer validity.”

According to CAPA India, Delhi Airport is the largest airport in India and one of the ten-largest in the world, handling 74mn passengers in FY2024. The airport has the potential to become a major hub given its extensive terminal and runway infrastructure, well-developed airport hotel capacity, and favourable geographic location. Delhi is an asset of GMR Airports, the longest established and largest private operator in the country by passengers handled, whose portfolio includes four operating airports and one under development in India, as well as overseas projects in Greece, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Sigmund introduces “Travel & Tourism RFP HUB” its latest innovative solution to revolutionise the way tourism professionals find new business. It has streamlined the process of wading through government, NGO, aid and tourism board websites in search of various RFPs for business and made it function as “Tinder for Tenders!” The new hub consists of opportunities for professionals who offer Consulting (sustainability, accessibility, development), Marketing (web, social, app, advertising, PR) and Research (branding, surveys, data analytics). Speaking with Tourism breaking news, Ally Stoltz Labriola, Director Sigmund shared more details on this exciting new platform. Labriola shared, “Sigmund’s new A.I.-powered RFP Hub makes finding travel and tourism contracts more efficient and affordable than ever before–at just $129 per year. Any tourism professional who signs up can access the hub. It caters to those offering consulting, marketing, or research services to entities like governments and NGOs that issue RFPs.” Among its unique features is that, “the hub is affordable, powered by A.I, and is tailored specifically for the travel and tourism industry, eliminating the need to sift through unrelated RFPs from other industries.” She reiterated how it helps in marketing, research, and analytics from a tourism marketing perspective, and how it can generate new business. “The RFP Hub provides marketing, research, and analytics consultants with specialized access to relevant RFPs in the tourism sector, helping them identify opportunities that match their expertise and utilize their skills to win contracts and expand their business. The annual subscription is $129 USD. A special rate for TravTalk readers of $99 USD for the first year is available with the code TravTalk99 at checkout.” In conclusion, she shared that, “a minimal investment can yield significant returns. Winning …

Europamundo, a JTB Group company, now introduces new and exciting programmes that you can promote to your clients. From new routes in Europe and river cruises, and more than 60 itineraries in USA and Canada, the company has created distinct and immersive itineraries that will take travellers through memorable journeys across three continents.   Scandinavia including Norwegian fjords This nine-day series offers a more extended itinerary in Norway including stay in Trondheim, scenic drive of Great Atlantic Road and the spectacular Geiranger Fjord which is a UNESCO world Heritage site. It covers Copenhagen leading onwards to Odense where is scenery is attractive woodlands and mountains in Norway with the first view of the fjords. It also includes some time to explore Flekkefjord – a town on a fjord, with wooden houses and tiny restaurants – as well as Oslo and Stockholm city tours.   North America & Mexico The USA and Canada Panorama offers more than 60 itineraries starting from four days up to 16 days covering the East and West coasts. The new series introduces new routes including Yosemite and the Great Sequoia National Park in West and Detroit and Chicago in East. A combination of Canada and USA is also available. For those who want an extended trip can choose the 19-day tour that includes USA, Canada with Chicago.   New regions in Europe This year will see new circuits in the South of France and Alsace, which is a historical region in northeastern France on the Rhine River plain and borders Germany and Switzerland. Europamundo has also introduced a combination itinerary with Germany’s Black Forest and Luxembourg. Travel agents can also sell its new routes in Italy, …

According to CAPA India, the combination of India’s outbound potential, supplemented by other South Asian countries as extension markets and the opportunity to capture intercontinental transfer traffic via Indian hubs, makes this arguably one of the most exciting long-haul markets in the world. Indian carriers currently only have around 65 widebodies (of which some are not operational). In contrast, the ME carriers have close to 500 widebodies, of which more than 250 are with Emirates alone. As a result, 6th freedom carriers accounted for the dominant share of long-haul traffic (64%) and ultra-long-haul traffic (80%) to/from India prior to the pandemic.

Speaking about the latest update from Vistara, Jay Bhatia, TAAI VP, says, “The airline has said that the agents can use the credit cards on the list they have circulated to the travel agents as a payment option on the GDS. However, other cards were not listed. Therefore, TAAI had taken this issue up with them and now the airline has added multiple cards on this list that agents can use to book.”

Highlighting the inability of hotels in utilizing the increased Floor Area Ratio, Pradeep Shetty, FHRAI president, says, “It is contributing to a gap between the increasing demand fuelled by the escalating influx of airline passengers. However, hotel infrastructure is not growing in Delhi. Addressing these issues would lead to sustainable growth. The current challenges faced by hotels in Delhi regarding the utilization of additional FAR are hindering the sector’s ability to keep pace with the dynamic demands.”