The Hospitality Entrepreneur's Playbook

Harshal Dilwali, Director and CEO of Clarissa Resorts, on navigating challenges and opportunities in India's luxury hotel industry.

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India's luxury hotel industry, which has always represented heritage properties, luxury service models, and luxury experiences, finds itself at a moment of evolution and transformation. With changing global travel patterns and the growth of the domestic affluent markets, the world of hospitality entrepreneurs is facing an interesting combination of challenges and opportunities. Hospitality entrepreneurs pursuing opportunities now require more than a love for service from their teams. They need a strategic playbook based on agility, innovation, and a sophisticated understanding of the Indian traveller and the complexities within their psyche.

Understanding the Shifting Landscape

The post-pandemic recovery in India's luxury segment has shown robust resilience sustained by 'revenge travel', increasingly across all categories of Indian affluents. The resurgence of aspirational and established middle-class clients seeking premium experiences on their travels is emerging as the real driver. The combination of new tier-2 and tier-3 cities emerging as hospitality markets, alongside destination weddings and wellness travel, is rewriting the traditional playbook used by luxury brands.

Opportunities, of course, will require matching challenges. Increasing operating costs and labour shortages, supply chain inconsistency, and government red tape are all persistent obstacles to entrepreneurs entering the market. Additionally, customers have gone from seeking a luxury stay to desiring experiential elements around personalization, sustainability, and now digital convenience too.

Challenge 1: Talent Acquisition and Retention