Hotel chains bet on resorts amid rise in leisure travel

Hotels are investing in wildlife lodges, beach resorts, spiritual destinations, and hill stations

- Varuni Khosla

India's hotel companies are expanding deeper into resort markets as strong room rates and rising demand for experiential travel reshape the next phase of growth in hospitality.

From wildlife lodges and beach resorts to spiritual destinations and hill stations, leisure properties are taking a larger share of hotel development pipelines. Operators including Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), Marriott International, Radisson Hotel Group, The Postcard Hotel, Atmosphere Core and IHG Hotels & Resorts are accelerating resort signings, betting on sustained demand from destination weddings, wellness retreats and short leisure breaks.

The shift reflects changing domestic travel patterns, with experience-led holidays driving investment towards destination markets where larger-format properties and higher room rates are improving project economics, according to consultants and industry executives.

Kapil Chopra, founder of boutique luxury chain The Postcard Hotel, said India's diversity allows scope for multiple tourism circuits. “India isn't one destination but at least 25. Cross a state line and the language, the food, the geography, the topography, the whole character of a place changes,” he said.