Page 5 - Hospitality Industry

Hotel chains smell business opportunity in small towns, off-beat locations

Hotel companies are working fast to take advantage of being the first mover at these locations

Radisson Hotel Group signs 11 new hotels across brands this year till April

Global hospitality company Radisson Hotel Group on Thursday said it has signed 11 new hotels across brands between January-April this year in key gateway cities and emerging destinations of the country. These new hotels are present across Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Ujjain, Raipur, Sonamarg, Manali, Kerala and Visakhapatnam, Radisson Hotel Group said in a statement. The group also announced the debut of its luxury lifestyle brand, Radisson Collection, in India with the signing of the first hotel in Hyderabad while expanding its portfolio across other brands, including Radisson Blu, Radisson, Park Inn & Suites by Radisson, and Radisson Individuals Retreats. With these signings, the group has 110 operating hotels in over 64 locations across the country. "2023 marks a significant milestone for us as we have successfully completed our 25-year journey in the Indian market. To translate our ambitious five-year expansion plan, we have signed 11 new hotels since January and have a strong ...

Chinese hospitality major H World Group sells stake in OYO for Rs 75 cr

Chinese hospitality major H World Group Ltd is understood to have sold 0.15 per cent stake of OYO for around Rs 75 crore, valuing the Indian hospitality and travel-tech firm at around USD 6.5 billion, according to sources. H World Group (HWG), which held 0.78 per cent shareholding in Oravel Stays Ltd that runs OYO, sold around one crore shares to a clutch of UAE-based family offices and institutional investors in a series of transactions, people in the know of the development said. The transactions, which were done in multiple tranches primarily over the course of 2022, have earned H World Group over Rs 75 crore, they said. "This implies a valuation of USD 6.5 billion for OYO," a person added. Following the transactions, the holding of NASDAQ-listed H World Group (HWG) has come down to 0.63 per cent, which is now valued at over Rs 300 crore. When contacted an OYO spokesperson declined to comment. HWG had acquired a stake in OYO in 2017 for USD 10 million at a reported valuation o

Indian hospitality sector on a comeback trail with promising growth-report

CBRE reports investments in the Indian hospitality sector to exceed $2.3 bn in the coming two to five years

Hospitality industry flocks to Ayodhya as religious tourism gains momentum

Hospitality industry is flocking to Ayodhya as religious tourism in India witnesses accelerated growth and the upcoming Ram Temple is adding another attraction to the historical site. From leading 5-star brands like the Taj, Radisson and ITC Hotels to budget players such as OYO, companies lining up to open new hotels there have their share in the 25,000 rooms envisaged in future by the Uttar Pradesh government. Tata Group hospitality firm Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) plans to open two new properties, and Radisson also has a similar plan. Another major player, ITC Hotels is also exploring opportunities in Ayodhya to cater to increased demand that is projected to reach 4 crore visitors annually by 2031 under the Ayodhya Master Plan 2031, up from 2 crore visitors at present. At the other end of the spectrum, OYO plans to add 50 new properties -- 25 homestays and 25 small and medium hotels with 10 to 20 rooms each -- in Ayodhya in 2023 under a collaboration with Ayodhya Development

Job opportunities in hospitality sector rose by 60% in last year: Report

The demand for jobs in the hospitality sector rose 60 per cent in the last one year, mainly due to resumption of travel post the pandemic, according to a report. There is a growth of about 60 per cent in job postings and 20.10 per cent increase in job seeker interest in the hospitality sector, indicating recovery of the hospitality industry, global job site Indeed said in its report. The report, released on Friday, is based on an analysis of data on Indeed platform from March 2022 to March 2023. Delhi-NCR emerged as the top city for hospitality job opportunities, with a 20.37 per cent rise in job postings over the past year, followed by Mumbai and Bengaluru. With increasing inter-state travels, there continues to be a rising demand for job opportunities in the hospitality sector, it added. "The hospitality sector was perhaps one of the most affected industries since... the pandemic. The growth trajectory of this field has truly been impressive as it continues to grow at a rapid pa

Tier-II cities experience expansion of Hotels as leisure travel grows

The sector closed the year with occupancy in the range of 59-61 per cent, up 15-17 percentage points (pp) over the previous year and only 5-7 pp lower than the full year of 2019

High stakes: OYO, FHRAI accuse each other of functional irregularities

Reports of the two butting heads date back to December 2018, when FHRAI accused OYO of large-scale breach of contracts, jeopardising consumer safety and violation of law

Fortune Park Hotels to add 15 new properties in next two-and-a-half yrs: MD

ITC group firm Fortune Park Hotels Ltd plans to add 15 new properties with 1,500 rooms in the next two-and-a-half years to its portfolio as part of its expansion across India, according to company Managing Director Samir MC. The hospitality firm, which currently has 42 properties with room inventory of around 3,200, is looking to cater to a strong domestic demand in smaller cities and also from pilgrimage tourism. "In a country like ours, we are very high on domestic travel, and that will just continue increasing at a higher rate than what the inbound would increase. So, definitely for a chain like ours, that's a key factor which defines our strategy of growth," Samir told PTI. Hence, he said, "We look at growing into various parts of the country, whether it's Tier one, Tier two, Tier three." Given the fact Fortune Park Hotels is a "hardcore Indian company", Samir said it understands the Indian consumers, their expectations and the behaviours very well, besides the cultural element

UK economy grows unexpectedly in Nov by 0.1% amid strong services

The UK economy grew unexpectedly in November as the tight job market increased demand for employment services and soccer's World Cup boosted hospitality. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, increased 0.1 per cent from the previous month, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday. That beat the expectations of economists, who had forecast a 0.2 per cent contraction. Despite the better-than-expected figures, the ONS says monthly GDP estimates should be treated with caution because they are more volatile than quarterly data. Economists are waiting for the release of fourth-quarter GDP data next month, which will show whether the British economy shrank from a second consecutive quarter in the three months through December. Two quarters of negative growth is one definition of a recession. November's expansion was driven by a 2 per cent growth in administrative and support activities, with employment services growing 2.1 per cent, the ONS said. ...

Have adequate funds to survive any Covid curbs: MakeMyTrip CEO Magow

In an interview with Business Standard, MakeMyTrip CEO Rajesh Magow talks about the steps the company took to emerge stronger from the Covid setback will help them withstand any uncertainty

Hospitality industry set for buoyant 2023, cashes India's G20 presidency

The domestic hospitality industry is looking to 'fly' in 2023 cashing in on India's G20 presidency, having received the 'oxygen' to run in 2022 after being crippled in the past two years by the pandemic. Domestic travel, especially the leisure segment, gave wind to the industry this year and is expected to continue into the next. Industry players believe that as international arrivals are also likely to pick up even further, the outlook for 2023 is buoyant. However, for travellers, room tariffs are likely to remain high going forward, with a demand-supply mismatch continuing in the hospitality sector. "I think it's really safe to say that we have overcome the real difficult period. I don't think any one of us can deny that it was really difficult, in all terms -- occupancies, daily average rates and revenue per available room (during the pandemic)," Hotel Association of India Vice President KB Kachru told PTI. "But, I'm really happy to state that post-COVID, we have really bounced

Hotels, resorts sold out on high demand for Christmas-New Year celebrations

The domestic hospitality industry is gearing up to make the most of full-fledged Christmas and New Year celebrations this time around after two years of washout by the pandemic, with rooms at many hotels and resorts already sold out. As people seek to make up for the winter holidays lost to COVID-19, destinations like Karjat, Lonavala, Vizag, Dharamshala, Udaipur, Manali and Gir are witnessing good demand, apart from traditional popular places like Goa, Kerala and Shimla. "The year-end festive season looks very positive and this year appears to be one of the best years so far for the hospitality sector," Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Ltd Managing Director, Vijay Dewan told PTI in an e-mailed response. He further said, "All our hotels are gearing up for sold out spaces along with high occupancy in rooms. This year we have lined up some great events during Christmas and New Year's which the guests missed out during the last 2 years due to the pandemic." Mahindra Holidays & Resorts ..

Mahindra Holidays to invest Rs 1,500 crore on expansion in next 3 years

Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd plans to invest up to Rs 1,500 crore in the next three years in expansion, including room additions and resort acquisitions, according to company MD and CEO Kavinder Singh. The company is also considering launching a new upscale brand for managing resorts, through which it would also look to further grow its Club Mahindra memberships. "We are on a growth path. We have added 1,000-odd rooms in just about two and a half years," Singh told PTI. At present, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd (MHRIL) has a total of about 4,700 rooms across 86 resorts -- 74 in India and 12 internationally, he added. When asked about future expansion, he said, "For us, we have to add resorts, that's the business we are in. We have a plan to easily add 1,200 to 1,500 rooms in about three years' time and that will happen at an estimated capital expenditure of about Rs 1,200 crore to Rs 1500 crore, which is sanctioned by the board". Among the major expansion ...

Surge in bookings, cost cutting fuel 8-fold surge in IPO-bound OYO's Ebitda

Spike in adjusted Ebitda primarily driven by a 23% QoQ rise in Gross Booking Value per hotel in Q2 to Rs 4,00,000; firm still ends with Rs 333 cr loss

FHRAI meets Nirmala Sitharaman, seeks infra tag for hospitality industry

Representatives from Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday and sought granting of infrastructure status to the hospitality industry in the forthcoming Budget. Currently, hotels built with an investment of Rs 200 crore or more have been accorded infrastructure status under the RBI infrastructure lending norm criteria. The association has requested that this threshold be brought down to Rs 10 crore to give a fillip to budget segment hotels. This will enable hotels to avail term loans at lower rates of interest and also benefit from longer repayment periods. It has also requested for hospitality to be classified as an industry that's applicable across the country and create a corpus which compensates states for any notional loss, the association argued. "FHRAI put forth to the minister specific requests with special emphasis on granting infrastructure status to the hospitality industry," a release stated. The ...

Hospitality sector's per-room revenue grew 89.6% YoY in Q3: JLL report

Room demand across business cities remained strong during the quarter, primarily driven by MICE and other business-related travel

Hotels roll out red carpet as big fat Indian weddings make a comeback

2.5 million marriages may get solemnised during the wedding season starting next week; tariff at hotels up by a record 25-30% over 2019-20 levels

Hotels may hike corporate rates by 15% from January amid surge in demand

Most hotels are already commanding 15-20 per cent higher rates compared to 2019 for the non-contracted rooms

Over 30% increase in last-minute bookings for the Diwali long weekend: Oyo

Top 5 cities in terms of bookings include Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Goa and Chennai, says the hospitality technology company