India's Hotel Gold Rush Lures Marriott, Hilton, and Other Giants

28.04.2024 - 12:15 / skift.com / Asia Pacific / Mark Hoplamazian / Paris Hilton / Sean Oneill / Chris Silcock / Rajeev Menon

The world’s biggest hotel chains are doubling down on India, betting that the country’s rising affluence will fuel a surge in travel demand for years to come.

In the past six weeks, all the global hotel groups — including Marriott International and Hilton Worldwide — have unveiled ambitious expansion plans in India. They see a golden opportunity to establish a bigger foothold on the subcontinent in what may become the world’s third-largest economy as soon as 2027.

“I have such incredible respect for entrepreneurs who have elected to get into the development and ownership here in India,” said Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian at the HICSA hotel investment conference in India this month. “It’s not easy.”

“If you’re willing to put up with that difficulty — the barrier to entry is very high — your returns can be very high,” Hoplamazian said. “Thankfully, given the operating performance that we’ve seen over the last couple of years, that’s coming true.”

The numbers back up the heightened interest: Hotel daily rates in India’s major markets in February were 30% higher than the February 2019 numbers, on average, according to HVS, a hotel valuation firm.

On the supply side, ratings agency ICRA forecasted that the premium supply pipeline may rise nearly 30% through 2025.

Here’s an update on the latest announcements from a half-dozen major hotel groups about their development plans in India.

Marriott generated about $1 billion in top-line revenue in India last year.

Marriott launched Moxy in India in early January with the Moxy Bengaluru Airport Prestige Tech Cloud, as Skift reported.

This year, the world’s largest hotelier plans to open a dozen hotels in India, said Rajeev Menon, Marriott’s president, Asia Pacific excluding China.

It hopes to have 250 hotels in India by 2025.

Menon elaborated on Marriott’s strategy on-stage at the Skift India Summit in Delhi-NCR, shown in this video.

Hilton added a new face to its marketing ads through a deal with Bollywood superstar Deepika Padukone that it revealed in February.

“Our partnership with Deepika is probably unique and only parallel in some way to Paris Hilton,” said Chris Silcock, president, global brands and commercial services, in an ET interview. “It’s a global partnership.”

“Hilton is gearing up for what it believes will be its best year yet in India,” Skift reported earlier this month. “Currently operating 26 hotels in India, it’s set to double its footprint in the country in the next 3 to 4 years.”

The Paris-based hotel giant also has India in its sights.

“India has been taking the lead in terms of economy and is the fastest-growing country in the world right now,” said Group CEO Sébastian Bazin when speaking at HICSA 2024 conference in Bengaluru this month.

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