Events, weddings to help hoteliers do better in H2

Room to grow

- Varuni Khosla

Hoteliers that benefited from a revenue surge in the first half of the fiscal year are looking for an encore in the second, fueled by robust room rates and wedding season demand.

Top names such as East India Hotels (EIH), which operates Oberoi hotels and resorts, Indian Hotels Co. Ltd, which operates Taj hotels and resorts, Lemon Tree Hotels, Chalet Hotels, and Samhi Hotels increased their revenues by 8% to 26% in the first half of FY25. Even though occupancies declined marginally, hopes are high for the quarters ahead.

Upcoming highways and airports indicate greater travel and room demand in future, Lemon Tree Hotels chairperson and managing director Patanjali G. Keswani said.

"There will be a gradual growth in people's aspirations to move towards more branded hotel rooms. This will lead to a long-term structural shift in demand for hotels, which will be cyclical. In the coming years, many hotels will get repriced (or increase their average room rate per night). By and large, business hotels, especially those in big cities, will do better than leisure hotels," he said.