The hotel industry recorded a 27-29% jump from the pre-Covid benchmarks in revenue per available room (RevPar) last year, a key metric to gauge the financial health of the sector. Sunjae Sharma, managing director, Hyatt India, tells Swaraj Baggonkar that the hotel major will not just launch new properties in the coming years but new brands as well.
What’s the hotel pipeline for Hyatt looking like?
We have 52 hotels now and will be opening 7 this year and close to 10 hotels every year from next year. We had 21 signings in 2024 and aim to have 100 hotels by 2030. We will have more than 50 hotels in the next five years.
What are the locations you are looking at?
The demand is mostly from domestic customers, so we are tracking them and that’s where we are going. We are looking at tertiary cities and we are also looking at other destinations.
What brands will be used for the expansion?
We have 34 brands globally and nine in India. We will have one more ‘Destination by Hyatt’ coming this year. We recently acquired (the) ‘Standard’ (brand). It is an entertainment hub. It will do good in Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and Goa. We already have Andaz here, which is again a lifestyle brand.
Hyatt-branded properties are popular. What about the other brands?
We have Alila, which has been very well received in India. We have Alila Diwa, Goa. We have three under construction – Igatpuri, Coorg and Lansdowne. These will come up in 2-4 years. Alila is a leisure luxury and has a great future in India.
Have you seen any impact of the tariff war on the hospitality industry?
It is too early to comment. Domestic guests make up 80% of the market while the share of foreign guests is low at 20%. I do not see any impact on the business.
How do you see the sector performing in the next few months?
We grew in double digits last year and that’s our outlook for FY26 as well. We crossed the pre-Covid levels in 2021 itself in terms of revenue per available room where we are also growing in double digits.
How is growth in areas outside of tier 1 building up?
The initiatives taken by the government to boost tourism has really helped. The awareness of the domestic clientele is coming now which will fuel the growth of both travel and hospitality. We have hotels in Bharuch, Vithlapur (both in Gujarat), Jim Corbet, Pushkar, which are tier 2. So, imagine the opportunity that India has.
Will Hyatt invest its own funds?
We are asset-light as a company. However, in India, we do have a joint venture with Juniper for eight hotels. We did an IPO (initial public offering) last year. We are the managers in meeting their aspirations.
How is the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) segment growing?
MICE is as robust as ever. In fact, wedding demand has just gone through the roof and the fact that there are more wedding dates this year than the previous one means we are going to see a very high demand.
What is the update on the Hyatt Regency, Mumbai?
We will soon have some information soon on that. We are looking at how we can open it soon. There is some arrangement going on with the owners and we will have an announcement shortly.