REGIONAL PROFILE
INDIA
Poised
for takeoff
Economic and infrastructurE improvEmEnts sEt thE stagE for a transformation in india ’ s hotEl markEt .
By BarBara Bohn , managing editor the Conrad Pune : Pune is one of more than a dozen cities in india that hilton Worldwide has targeted for hotels .
Change starts from within : That seems to be the lesson from India , which has been quietly planting the seeds of its transformation in the shadow of headline-grabbing neighbors like China . The country has been distracted by political turmoil after a change in government in May 2014 , even though it aimed to jumpstart development and infrastructure improvements . But a positive outlook prevails with signs of encouraging economic growth and an increase in domestic tourism pointing to a payoff for companies with the capital to seize the opportunities .
Laying the groundwork India has experienced steady , if not spectacular , growth . Its GDP nearly doubled from 2006 to 2014 and grew 7.4 % in 2014-2015 alone . The hotels , transport and communications subsectors outpaced that at 8.4 %, according to a 2015 HVS report .
It ’ s useful to take the long-term view on government-implemented improvements , accordint to HVS ’ Asia Pacific Chairman Manav Thadani . “ Nothing has happened on the tourism front , but the government is focusing on improving the infrastructure , getting roads up and running , fixing city infrastructure and making it easier for people to invest and do business .”
That can only help tourism , along with an “ e-visa ” initiative that issues visas within 48 hours and eliminates the need to visit an embassy , says Thadani , who founded SAMHI ( see p38 ), an Indian hotel investment and development firm . According to HVS , Indian hotel rooms totaled 101,305 in 2014-2015 , up from 95,414 for 2013-2014 . One factor driving demand is an increase in domestic travel spending , which generated more than three-quarters of travel and tourism GDP in 2014 . Leisure hotels are mushrooming , and the focus is on
34 hotelsmag . com May 2016