Comments
Branded hotel rooms in North East states have grown 2.5x in eight years as chains expand their footprint in the region.
On Tuesday, Indian Hotels Company Limited opened a 80-room Vivanta hotel in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh- its seventh property in the region. Earlier this month The Leela Palaces, Hotels & Resorts signed a deal for a 140-room hotel in Sikkim - marking its foray in North East.
This expansion is in lockstep with the growing demand from the discerning global leisure travelers, The Leela CEO Anuraag Bhatnagar, said at the time of announcement.
Hotel development in the Northeast region comes on the back of improved connectivity and tourism growth. While branded hotel inventory in the North East region is a fraction of the total supply in India ( 1,65,000 plus rooms), it is witnessing growth.
Exponential growth
According to consultancy Hotelivate, there were seven branded hotels with 540 rooms in the region in FY 2015. This increased to 17 hotels with 1,350 rooms by FY 2023. While domestic brands have a greater presence international brands like Marriott, Radisson and Wyndham have checked-in too.
Most of the existing hotels and new development is concentrated in Assam. Forty-four per cent of available rooms are situated in Guwahati and another 25 per cent are located in Gangtok.
Occupancy levels and average room rates in the Northeast are trending upwards too. While occupancy was 47 per cent in FY 2015, it rose to 54 per cent in FY 2023. Room rates increased by over 65 per cent to ₹5,800 in the same period, Hotelivate data shows.
“The North-East region has over 1,300 hotel rooms in the pipeline, set for development in the next five years,” Achin Khanna, managing partner - strategic advisory, Hotelivate.
Financial support from local state governments too is encouraging growth.
Infrastructure development
“There has been a greater focus on infrastructure development in North East states. We are evaluating new business opportunities,” said Ajay K Bakaya, managing director of Sarovar Hotels and Resorts.
“Over the past four years, we’ve successfully launched two hotels in Gangtok and another in Siliguri, the gateway to the North East. Our hotels have experienced a promising surge in popularity, catering to diverse demands from leisure, weddings, and events. We’re currently engaged in productive talks with developers to introduce additional properties in this region,” said Nikhil Sharma, managing director, Eurasia market, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.