Hotel bookings, rates continue to rise as Covid lurks beneath

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Hotel bookings, rates continue to rise as Covid lurks beneath

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Hotel occupancies and tariffs are continuing their upward trajectory in the country and booking volumes are not getting impacted by an uptick in Covid-19 cases just yet, hoteliers and online platforms have said.

“Each week is looking better than the other with corporate movement returning besides leisure travel,” said the head of an international hotel chain who requested not to be identified.

Paritosh Ladhani, executive director of Taj Hotel & Convention Centre, Agra, said the property is sold out on all weekends till June and there have been no cancellations so far.

“Occupancy for weekdays is also going strong and we are receiving bookings and queries for events and weddings,” he said. “We also have business conferences and offsites that are being hosted at our property, indicating that MICE travel is not being impacted by the rising number of cases.” The occupancy is even better than pre-pandemic times for summer months, considering it’s off-season for Agra, Ladhani added.

According to preliminary data from industry tracker STR, India’s hotel industry eclipsed pre-pandemic comparables in occupancy and average daily rates (ADR) for three consecutive days this month – April 16-18.

The three days were the first of this year when both occupancy and ADR stood above 2019 levels in the country. On April 18, the industry recorded its highest ADR index of the year at 106% of the 2019 comparable.

“While there have been early signs of increased Covid-19 cases across some India markets, the country’s hotels have shown resilience thus far,” said Mathew Burke, STR’s regional director, Pacific, Japan and Central South Asia. “Recovery from each wave has been better than the previous one, and we expect that trend to continue,” he said.

A spokesperson at travel booking portal MakeMyTrip said data on the platform indicates that hotel bookings for the coming weeks continue to see an uptick with people looking forward to travelling while keeping all precautions in mind. “Bookings for stays in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru continue to grow. Also, as the summer holiday season approaches, we are seeing an increase in searches and bookings to leisure destinations including Rishikesh, Manali, Mussoorie, and Ooty among others,” the person said.

Ritu Mehrotra, commercial director, APAC, at Booking.com, said, “Travel demand for trips in summer have held up so far with Indians looking forward to travelling within India and internationally for the summer holidays. Pentup travel demand, easing restrictions, high vaccination rate, (and) rise in air travel, along with the beginning of school and college holidays, have put travel on Indians’ agenda once again.”

Metros such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata continue to be some of the most booked destinations on Booking.com. However, travellers are also looking at hill stations and beaches to beat the heat, she said. Kush Kapoor, CEO of Roseate Hotels & Resorts, said room tariffs have gone back to pre-pandemic levels and the revenue per available room for Delhi NCR hotels continues to be on a strong footing.

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