Hospitality major Indian Hotels Company Ltd, which runs the Taj branded luxury hotels, on Monday said that leisure travel has emerged as a revenue driver amid the Covid pandemic but resumption of business trips and international travel is key to bringing the hospitality business back on track.

While announcing a partnership with the Ambuja Neotia group to expand in eastern India, IHCL managing director and chief executive officer Puneet Chhatwal said: “In some of the leisure markets such as Goa, Jaipur and Coorg, revenue has already crossed more than half of last year’s business.”

“Towards the end of October the industry has shown a good pickup and if we discount the period of lockdown we are already in some markets north of 50 per cent of revenue of last year.

“In some markets which are leisure driven like Goa, Jaipur and Coorg or for some of our resorts we are even 70-80 per cent of last year’s revenue in November and also how the business looks on the books for the month of December,” Chhatwal said.

But business travel has taken a major hit with meetings, conferences and trade events moving to digital platforms, resulting in low occupancy in business destinations.
Moreover, factors such as restrictions on international travel and deteriorating air quality in key markets such as Delhi have been a deterrent for the industry.

“If Delhi and Mumbai pick up, the industry will be back. Because of historical reasons, we have a large presence in both these cities. But that has to be supported by international travel. At some point, this will kickstart. If a few international dignitaries start coming in and if there are a few international events then business will come from that,” Chhatwal told The Telegraph.

The company has signed 8 new hotels across cities and brands in the first half of the year despite the depressed demand, with more in the pipeline.

"A key learning in the global hotel industry is that the best investments are anti cyclical. In a soft market, it is possible to get a good project whether alone or with a partner. And if one can engineer the project well, then it is possible to actually build a good asset for the long term which can withstand the test of time," Chhatwal said.