Occupancy fall among steepest for Indian hotels | Economic Times

New Delhi: Ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown, and currently awaiting clearances from various state governments to resume operations, India's hotels have fared among the worst in the world in terms of declining occupancies and cancellations, industry estimates show. As per hospitality consultancy HVS Anarock’s Hotels & Hospitality Overview, occupancies in India declined 81 per cent in April from a year earlier. HVS is expecting a similar decline for May as well. In the US, occupancies during April shrank almost 64 per cent while for the UK, the decline was 71.3 per cent as per HVS and STR data. In Singapore, occupancies fell 29.2 per cent.76146481Jaideep Dang, the managing director of the hotels and hospitality group at consultancy firm JLL, said room revenues declined by over 90 per cent in April in premium hotels in cities like Delhi and Bengaluru, and by 87 per cent in Mumbai. As per JLL data shared with ET, the revenue decline for Mumbai’s upscale and luxury segments alone was estimated at $21 million for April.“With over 80 per cent of hotels having been shut for close to three months, the sector has welcomed the Centre’s decision to allow hotels and restaurants to open. However, demand is expected to be muted over the next few months as businesses settle down to the new normal of operating in a Covid environment,” said Mandeep Lamba, South Asia president, HVS Anarock.Kerrie Hannaford, vice-president (commercial) for India and South Asia at French multinational hospitality chain Accor, said the lockdown in India was a lot stricter than many other parts of the world. “Our losses were steep as the lockdown for the nation was quite steep. Repatriation business and rooms for frontline staff at hotels also started a lot later compared to other countries,” she added.Bhanu Chopra, chairman of RateGain, that provides software services to the likes of Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Oyo and MakeMyTrip on room rates and revenue management, said India’s hospitality industry was hit comparatively harder as the outbreak in Europe and Asia occurred during India’s high demand season. “That impacted arrivals drastically,” he said.