Hotel Room Signings in India Up 40% - India Report

22.08.2024 - 04:45 / skift.com / Mark Hoplamazian / Sébastien Bazin / Bulbul Dhawan

Branded hotel room signings in India during the April to June quarter surged by nearly 40% from the same period in 2023, according to data by real estate services company JLL. During the quarter, over 9,700 new keys across 82 branded hotels were signed, while another 50 hotels opened during this period. 

Hotel brands continued to focus on Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, which accounted for 70 of the hotel signings and 45 hotel openings. Midscale and upscale hotels dominated the signings and openings during the period, while a total of only four budget hotels were signed and opened. 

JLL also reported a significant increase in revenue per average room (RevPAR) in five key markets: Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. Goa however saw its RevPAR decline by 6%, even as the occupancy rate in the state increased by over 1.5%. Hyderabad reported the most significant increase in the average daily rates – 15%. This translated into a nearly 12% increase in the state’s RevPAR during the quarter. 

JLL India hotels and hospitality managing director Jaideep Dang said, “There is strong momentum on both greenfield developments as well as operating assets across business and leisure markets. Although the summer season has brought down corporate room night demand in Q2 2024, the sector continued to demonstrate growth in average daily rates compared to Q2 2023.”

The Gap in India’s Hotels: India is an underserved market in the hospitality segment, as Accor chairman and CEO Sébastien Bazin said earlier this year. According to Bazin, India has less than 200,000 branded hotel rooms – compared to 3 million unbranded keys – even as it has a population roughly the same as China. 

The top five hotel operators in India collectively have less than 1,000 hotels, while this figure in China is 25,000, Bazin had highlighted, adding, “The question before all of us is how we could collectively go from 1,000 hotels to 15,000 hotels without having to wait 15 years for it. There is a demand and there is the emerging middle class that needs affordable accommodation and wants to discover the country.”

The supply of operational inventory in the six markets increased by less than 1%, while demand was up 2.7%. This mismatch is also a positive attribute for the India market, Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian had said earlier.

Full-service airline Air India has introduced a wireless in-flight entertainment system called Vista for its older widebody fleet. The move is meant to provide the service to passengers flying on the routes where new or retrofitted planes are not yet operational. 

Air India has partnered with digital services provider Bluebox for this service, and Vista is being deployed on Bluebox’s digital services platform. With Vista,