bikash

The country’s commercial capital has jumped one level up to achieve the top position in the list of top eight cities for hotel investment in India.

According to a report released at the two-day Hotel Investment Conference-South Asia (HICSA) 2007, last year’s most promising destination, Hyderabad, has slipped to the third place this year as leisure destination Goa claimed the second slot. Delhi, Chennai, Jaipur, Bangalore and Kolkata, in that order, followed.

Mumbai has bounced back and shows very strong signs of a very attractive hospitality market in the country. While there is considerable supply coming into the city in the next 3-5 years, the room rates will continue to increase.

There are close to 100 hotels under various stages of development in the Delhi market and we estimate these developments to add between 22,000 and 30,000 hotel rooms in the National Capital Region. The said inventory will be up on time to meet the demand for Commonwealth Games in 2010. The aspect of oversupply might start surfacing post 2010 and that is something hoteliers will have to keep in mind before setting up properties in Delhi.

Amitabh Kant, joint secretary, Union tourism department said the target should be to achieve 150,000 hotel rooms in the next 5 years. “However, keeping in mind the kind of developments we are seeing in the country, I still foresee a short supply of over 50,000 hotel rooms. Thus, there is a huge opportunity for Indian and international hotel companies.”

Besides bridging the demand-supply gap, delegates identified infrastructure development, human capital, brand availability and positioning, and land value among the key challenges for the hospitality sector.

Also, “increasing interest rates is an area of concern and hoteliers will have to keep this in mind and plan for its impact in advance,” Daniel Thorniley, senior vice president - corporate network, EIU, Australia said.