India is bouncing back “very quickly” and it’s recovery is extremely vibrant. Leisure travel has already outstripped pre-pandemic (2019) numbers and corporate travel enquiries are picking up, said Sunjae Sharma, Managing Director, India & South West Asia, Hyatt Hotels Corporations.
According to him, room rates continue to be lower than pre-Covid levels, but with international travel resuming and expectedly picking up in the coming days, “it is only a matter of time” before they inch up to older levels.
India, in March, opened up scheduled commercial international flights, to and from the country.
“If you see the room rates are still readjusted according to domestic travel market. So they are still lower than pre-pandemic levels. But with international travel opening up, we will see these rates come back up. The recovery in India has been robust and some numbers are better than 2019,” he told BusinessLine on the sidelines of the launch of Hyatt’s new 224-room property, Hyatt Centric Janakpuri in New Delhi.
To a specific query Sharma said, there has been “a mindset change”, and recovery in “leisure destinations are at 2019 levels and above”. In comparison, the Middle East, particularly Dubai, has over the “last three-to-four-odd quarters”, reported numbers “in excess of 2019”. Recovery in Africa has been a little bit slower while Europe has seen “patchy recovery”.
According to Sharma, although opening up of international travel will lead to some change in domestic travel numbers, there “already is a visible mindset change” that is “in favour of domestic tourism” and it is “likely to sustain”. Corporate travel is witnessing increase in enquiries and it will start picking up over the “next month or so”. Queries relating to international travel indicate robust demand.
“Increased enquiries shows that the confidence level of corporates is coming back. Offices are reopening, so the demand is strong. And leisure and domestic travel will be the addition to that (corporate travel). I think, the coming years will be very beneficial,” he said.
Hyatt, according to Sharma, is witnessing a growing interest in new signings, and by next -year-end (2023) it should have over 50 hotels operating in India, with 34 properties currently across different brands.