V Nagarajan

Indian hospitality sector has witnessed a rapid and strong recovery post the third wave in January, driven by growth in demand for leisure, wedding, and business travel.

As a result, revenue per available room (RevPAR) witnessed a growth of 39.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in first quarter of 2022. However, the sector witnessed a 15.9 per cent negative growth at a pan-India level in RevPAR in the first quarter of 2022 compared to forth quarter of 2021,due to the third wave of the pandemic, according to JLL’s Hotel Momentum India (HMI) first quarter of 2022.

Whilst the beginning of first quarter was slow, in February and March rapid revival was witnessed in the domestic leisure as well as meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) and business travel demand segments.

Many hotels in major metropolitan cities witnessed a significant growth in domestic business travel.

Furthermore, the sector witnessed signs of revival of international business travel as senior management personnel started visiting their offices in India after more than two years.

According to JLL survey, the next two quarters are expected to remain busy on the back of domestic leisure amidst the summer holidays.  Continued growth in business travel is expected as most people have resumed work from the office and are travelling for client meetings as well as project work.

The domestic segment will continue to drive demand from both corporate and leisure travel while international travel is expected to witness steady and cautious growth over the next couple of quarters.

The easing of restrictions on social gatherings and the delays caused by the third wave of the pandemic has resulted in a surge in demand for weddings and social events.

MICE demand is expected to witness steady growth over the next few quarters as hotels have already begun hosting sizeable conferences which were postponed previously.

The total number of hotel signings in first quarter of 2022 stood at 56 hotels with 3,739 keys. The hotel signings witnessed a significant increase of 81.2 per cent as compared to signings in first quarter of 2021.

Domestic operators dominated signings over international operators with a ratio of 75:25 in terms of inventory volume.

All six key markets witnessed growth in RevPAR levels in first quarter of 2022 as compared to first quarter of 2021, due to the strong recovery in both leisure and business travel post the third wave of the pandemic.

Mumbai emerged as the RevPAR growth leader in the first quarter of 2022 registering a growth of 71.5 per cent over first quarter of 2021. This was primarily led by the Indian Premier League (IPL), conferences, and corporate travel into the city.

“Hotel performances across major cities in India witnessed a speedy recovery post the third wave of the pandemic. Domestic leisure, long weekends, weddings, and events continued to be the base business for the sector.

We are witnessing a significant uptick in domestic corporate travel as office occupancies have gone up and people have re-started travelling for client meetings and off-sites.”

“Additionally, the steady growth of international corporate travel has boosted confidence in the travel trade. Uncertainty may remain around Covid variants and waves, but we feel that the sector is set to recover well in 2022,” according to Jaideep Dang, Managing Director, Hotels and Hospitality Group, South Asia, JLL.

I have been working in the Gulf and we made a joint investment in apartment in Mangalore.

My wife is in India and we want to sell the unit. Is it sufficient if I send PoA to her authorising her to carry out the transaction. Zia, Sharjah.

Yes. Your wife, being co-owner of the property can carry out the documentation along with your PoA. The PoA may be general or specific to the transaction and it needs to be attested at the Indian consulate in the Gulf country where you reside.

I have invested in office premises in Delhi. Due to personal reasons, I wish to mortgage the property in India to raise short-term funds. Please clarify whether it requires approval from any authorities? Are there restrictions while mortgaging it to the banks or other lending institutions? Paresh, Dubai.

You can mortgage the commercial property to an authorised dealer/housing finance institution in India without the need to get approval from any authorities which is not required in the instant case. You can also mortgage to a party abroad but with prior approval of Reserve Bank of India.