Hotels expect new signings to rise as good times roll on

Many more hotels will be signed in India this year compared to last year with some chains even considering doubling their last year signing numbers, industry insiders said.

“While the growth in occupancy and room rates across hotels was undoubtedly a result of pent-up demand, the prevailing belief is that this increased optimism will persist. It is for this reason that we expect a 15-20% growth in new hotel signings compared to 2022. Compared to 2019, the number of new hotel signings this year would be similar if not more. At least we at Hotelivate are doing nearly double the number we had signed in 2019,” said Manav Thadani, founder-chairman of hospitality consultancy Hotelivate.

Jaideep Dang, managing director, hotels and hospitality group, India, JLL said the company’s hotels feasibility and project assessment practice has witnessed a 25% increase over last year.

“Most of our advisory and hotel operators work is emerging out of tier-2 towns and suburban markets. And Goa remains the favourite market across hotel categories further pushed by the successful opening of the MOPA airport,” he added.

As per JLL, 2021 saw 162 hotel signings spread across 13,686 keys while 2022 saw 245 hotel signings with 19,912 rooms.

Vikramjit Singh, president at Lemon Tree Hotels said, there are more than 30 lakh rooms in India out of which only 1.60 lakh rooms are branded.

“We see a lot of conversion from unbranded to branded post Covid as customer preferences changed, and that’s driving the spurt in signings for us and others,” he added.Besides Goa, more signings are expected for markets such as Amritsar, Katra, Varanasi and Manali. Nikhil Sharma, market MD for Eurasia at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts EMEA said hospitality industry has recorded great traction after two unprecedented years of 2019. “We have also recorded multiple queries for our hotels nationwide, adding to our immediate goal of mapping significant growth in 2023,” he added.

Given promising performing number of hotels operating, hospitality market is on upside this year and it’s a mix of new signings with first-time owners and conversions with existing hotel owners, said Deepak Jain, founder of MayFair Consultants.

Radisson Hotel Group signed 12 hotels last year in key leisure and business destinations and predictions for 2023 look strong, said Zubin Saxena, MD and area senior VP, South Asia at Radisson Hotel Group.