Skift Take

Move over, China. The world’s hotel giants have a new favorite: India.

Sean O’Neill

The world’s biggest hotel chains are doubling down on India, betting that the country’s rising affluence will fuel a surge in travel demand for years to come.

In the past six weeks, all the global hotel groups — including Marriott International and Hilton Worldwide — have unveiled ambitious expansion plans in India. They see a golden opportunity to establish a bigger foothold on the subcontinent in what may become the world’s third-largest economy as soon as 2027.

“I have such incredible respect for entrepreneurs who have elected to get into the development and ownership here in India,” said Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian at the HICSA hotel investment conference in India this month. “It’s not easy.”

“If you’re willing to put up with that difficulty — the barrier to entry is very high — your returns can be very high,” Hoplamazian said. “Thankfully, given the operating performance that we’ve seen over the last couple of years, that’s coming true.”

The numbers back up the heightened interest: Hotel daily rates in India’s major markets in February were 30% higher than the February 2019 numbers, on average, according to HVS, a hotel valuation firm.

On the supply side, ratings agency ICRA forecasted that the premium supply pipeline may rise nearly 30% through 2025.

Here’s an update on the latest announcements from a half-dozen major hotel groups about their development plans in India.

Marriott International

Marriott generated about $1 billion in top-line revenue in India last year.

Marriott launched Moxy in India in early January with the Moxy Bengaluru Airport Prestige Tech Cloud, as Skift reported.

This year, the world’s largest hotelier plans to open a dozen hotels in India, said Rajeev Menon, Marriott’s president, Asia Pacific excluding China.

It hopes to have 250 hotels in India by 2025.

Menon elaborated on Marriott’s strategy on-stage at the Skift India Summit in Delhi-NCR, shown in this video.

Hilton Worldwide

Hilton added a new face to its marketing ads through a deal with Bollywood superstar Deepika Padukone that it revealed in February.

“Our partnership with Deepika is probably unique and only parallel in some way to Paris Hilton,” said Chris Silcock, president, global brands and commercial services, in an ET interview. “It’s a global partnership.”

“Hilton is gearing up for what it believes will be its best year yet in India,” Skift reported earlier this month. “Currently operating 26 hotels in India, it’s set to double its footprint in the country in the next 3 to 4 years.”

Accor

The Paris-based hotel giant also has India in its sights.

“India has been taking the lead in terms of economy and is the fastest-growing country in the world right now,” said Group CEO Sébastian Bazin when speaking at HICSA 2024 conference in Bengaluru this month.

Bazin’s company signed 11 hotel development deals in India last year and opened six properties, it said this month. Before 2030, Accor intends to add 30 operating hotels worth about 5,500 guest rooms in the country, as Skift noted this month.

Hyatt

Hyatt said it would open seven hotels, or about 1,115 guest rooms, in India this year. It currently runs 48 properties in India and plans to double that number within five years, as Skift noted.

India has become Hyatt’s fourth largest revenue-generating market, after the U.S., China, and Japan. It has several brands in the market and plans to bring its Miraval Resorts and Spas brand, too.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)

IHG said this week that it operates 46 hotels in India and plans to open 49 more over the next few years.

“There’s no reason why India can’t be on the same trajectory [as China],” CEO Elie Maalouf told the Times of India on Thursday. “It will be one of our major markets around the world.”

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham will add 7 hotels to India this year across its Ramada and Days Inn brands.

Wyndham’s hotels in India saw a 15% growth in revenue per available room last year, and saw the number of Indian members of its loyalty program rise by 10%, according to an interview with The Hindu by Dimitris Manikis, president for Wyndham Hotels and Resorts in EMEA.

Accommodations Sector Stock Index Performance Year-to-Date

What am I looking at? The performance of hotels and short-term rental sector stocks within the ST200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets, including international and regional hotel brands, hotel REITs, hotel management companies, alternative accommodations, and timeshares.

The Skift Travel 200 (ST200) combines the financial performance of nearly 200 travel companies worth more than a trillion dollars into a single number. See more hotels and short-term rental financial sector performance.

Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200.