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By 2010 or so, travellers to smaller cities
like Bathinda, Indore, Jalpaiguri or Surat would have
the luxury of staying in five star hotels.
"There are as many as six five-star
hotels coming up in different places in Kerala,"
says Kamal Sharma, Secretary General of the Federation
of Hotel and Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI).
"Most five stars are coming up in places that are
in tourists' destinations or have big commercial enterprises
like SEZs coming up," Sharma adds.
With the economy booming, the middle class
travelling more for work and leisure, hotel occupancy
rates are at an all time high. Industry watchers say
the hotel industry is poised for maximum growth in smaller
cities in the coming years with realtors entering the
market.
According to a study conducted by FICCI
and Evalueserve, the revenue per available room in the
country increased last year to Rs 3,765 from Rs 2,966
in 2005, registering an increase of nearly 30 per cent.
While this the average room rates increased from Rs
4876 to Rs 6206 in the same period. Everybody wants
to cash in on the boom.
"The hotel industry is booming because
of the real estate boom and we wanted to encash the
opportunity as well. There is bigger potential for growth
in smaller towns," says Pradeep Jain, Chairman,
Parsvanath Developers Private Limited. The company,
initially a real estate developer, too has entered the
hotel business. It is now setting up hotel projects
in Ujjain, Haridwar, Indore, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad
and Kochi. Jain adds that the growth in the industry
will be largely in tier-2 and tier-3 cities in the next
five years or so.
Zoom Developers, until now a real estate
company, is planning to set up budget hotels and five
stars in places like Bathinda, Indore, Kochi, Raipur,
Bilaspur, Bhubaneshwar and Nagpur. "The shortage
of rooms in smaller towns is around 61,000 right now.
The gap between demand and supply is expected to widen
further," says Ramneek Bawa, the company's CEO.
Bhagwati Banquets and Hotels Limited will develop a
100-room five-star hotel in Surat. Jalandhar may get
its second five star hotel soon.
For detailed story, read www.hindustantimes.com
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