WRONG OR EARLY TO SAY BEST OF HOTEL EARNINGS IS BEHIND?

Even when it comes to taking a vacation, Bertie is a contrarian. He always opts to stay in Mumbai in December when the city offers its best weather.

- MARKETS with Bertie

Yet, every Mumbaikar either seems to be headed for the hills or the beaches, causing traffic to ease up in the city but hotel rates everywhere else to go through the roof.

Bertie was glumly reading a news piece about how room rates for the New Year's night had breached the million rupees mark for some of the palace hotels and villas. His glumness did not emanate from the unaffordability but from the realization that he sold his hospitality holdings too early.

In 2022, Bertie had caught on to the post-covid revenge travel theme quite early but after two blockbuster holiday seasons and an one-time demand lift from the G20 summit and the cricket world cup, he judged that the best of the earnings for the sector were behind and that hotel rates would normalize soon.

That does not seem to have happened as room rates have continued to march on. Bertie posed this question to a former luxury hotelier who answered in one word: "Supply." Bertie waited for elaboration. "Or the lack of it," continued his friend. "Just as demand for hotels stalled in covid, so did the construction of new properties. That means properties that were supposed to be delivered now will get delayed by a year or two."