While leisure travel is undertaking effectively at present, a complete revival in demand for the hospitality market in major metro cities is most likely to take spot by May on the back of enhancing corporate travel, according to Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), a Tata group hospitality arm.
“It (demand from 10 big cities) is already coming back. It is not at the same level of leisure travel, which is normal. Corporate India has started moving. Now for corporate, there is a movement in middle and lower management levels,” IHCL MD & CEO Puneet Chhatwal mentioned.
The corporation is India’s biggest hospitality player with 148 hotels in the nation. Chhatwal is also the president of the Hotel Association of India.
Leisure travel is undertaking effectively at present as men and women are going to well known domestic destinations like Goa, Rajasthan, Rishikesh and components of Kerala in the course of holidays and vacations just after easing of the lengthy Covid-19-induced travel restrictions. “In another three months — March, April and May — I think there will be full revival in demand from metros, subject to no mutation of virus in India, no big waves and the speed of vaccination,” Chhatwal told FE.
He mentioned metros like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru are fantastic markets for IHCL and it is crucial that these markets do effectively in terms of enterprise. During the pre-Covid time, about 40% of the enterprise used to come from 10 massive cities. A complete revival of corporate travel is really critical for the domestic hospitality market as about 60% of the enterprise used to come from this segment ahead of the Covid-19 outbreak. Currently, corporate travel accounts for about 40% of the enterprise although about 60% is from leisure travel.
“We have definitely seen good recoveries in December, January and February. The outlook is more positive than it was a few months ago. Travel is definitely related to the level of vaccination,” Chhatwal mentioned.
After declaring its outcomes for the third quarter in February, IHCL mentioned its enterprise has been impacted in the course of the period on account of Covid-19. “The Group witnessed softer revenues due to the lockdown imposed during the first six months of the year and a significant number of the Group’s hotels had to be shut down. With the unlocking of restrictions, all the Group’s hotels have been opened and business is expected to gradually improve across all hotels. During the current quarter, the Group witnessed some signs of recovery of demand, especially in leisure destinations as compared to previous quarter,” he mentioned.
Consolidated income from operations of the corporation, which has hotels beneath the Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta and Ginger brands, for October-December final year fell to `559.86 crore from `1,372.72 crore for the identical period final year.
The hospitality key, nonetheless, is going ahead with its expansion plans. There are 51 properties in the pipeline — 13 Taj, 3 SeleQtions, 11 Vivanta and 24 Ginger.
IHCL, in December final year, announced the opening of Taj Chia Kutir Resort & Spa, Darjeeling, in West Bengal. The resort is situated in the Makaibari Tea Estate. This new hotel has been created by Kolkata-based Ambuja Neotia Group although the Tata group hospitality arm is managing it.
IHCL, in partnership with Ambuja Neotia Group, will open 4 more hotels in the East– two in West Bengal, and one every single in Sikkim and Bihar. They are beneath building. “One property in Kolkata will partially open in three months, then another hotel will open up. Next year, we will open Gangtok and Patna hotels. East is a very important region for us,” Chhatwal mentioned.