 "Thanks to wedding season, hotel industry likely to sustain growth in H2FY24")
After the hospitality industry registered impressive growth in the first six months of the ongoing financial year 2023-24 (FY24), the sector is likely to continue its healthy growth for the remainder of the FY24, The Economic Times (ET) said. With this, the average revenue per available room (RevPAR) in the hotel industry is expected to grow by 15-20 per cent, according to analysts. The sector registered a 14 per cent revenue growth in the RevPAR in the first half of FY24, the newspaper reported.
Hotel industry benefitting from the wedding season
The positive sentiment is based on continued improvement in several areas. Wedding season has been the main contributor to the rise in demand for hotel rooms. There are likely to be 3,800,000 weddings during the ongoing wedding season, according to the ET report, which cited estimates from the Confederation of India Traders (CAIT). The wedding season is expected to generate Rs 4.7 trillion worth of business opportunity, which is 25 per cent more than what it generated last year. Analysts have predicted that the wedding season will fuel the demand for hotel rooms.
The ET report cited an ICICI Securities' note on the hotel industry which said, "Our channel checks for forward hotel rates for the November and January 2024 period indicate that quoted rates are at least 10 per cent higher than the previous year."
The inflow of foreign tourists
Growth in travelling within India, besides the arrival of foreign tourists in the country, is also adding revenue to the hotel companies. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data showed that there was a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in the average number of passengers travelling by air for the first half of the FY24, the ET report said. Increased connectivity by air is also augmenting the growth in the hotel industry.