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The average room rate in most star hotels
across the country has jumped by 25-30 per cent during
the last year reports Telegraph.. Five-star hotels have
seen the sharpest increase in room rates this year and
the number is rising.
"There is no likelihood of a slowdown.
All metro destinations are doing very well and we are
expecting a further boom," said Rajesh Mishra,
president of the Federation of Hotels and Restaurants
Association of India.
Most blame the demand-supply mismatch
as the main reason behind the high prices. According
to industry estimates, business and leisure travellers
to India increased 14.6 per cent in the first two months
of this fiscal against last year. Last year, 4.4 million
tourists came to India compared with 3.8 million in
2005.
Hotel owners said the rates were high
in the last winter season, and the uptrend was maintained
in the summer. The summer months are the busy season
only in the hill resorts.
"The rates cannot come down abruptly," said
Deepak Haksar, general manager of ITC Maurya Sheraton,
New Delhi.
Room rates of the ITC group of hotels
have increased 20-25 per cent. The rooms are priced
between Rs 10,500 and Rs 12,000 per night in the metros
with 90 per cent occupancy, said Haksar. This is against
an average of Rs 8,500-10,000 last year.
Tourists are visiting India in the off-season
as well. Traditionally, October to March is the peak
season and April to September is the lean season.
"India is a hotspot economic destination
and people continue to travel for business purposes.
Certainly, more foreign travellers are coming in this
summer compared with last year," said Peter Leitgeb,
president of Leela Palaces and Resorts. Room rates of
Leela Kempinski in Mumbai have escalated by 32 per cent.
The rooms are priced at Rs 10,500 against Rs 7,800 last
year.
Prices at the five star hotel chain's
property in Goa has shot up by 35 per cent from Rs 6,700
last year to Rs 9,000 this year. But Leela's highest
increase has been at its property in Kovalam, which
has witnessed an increase of almost 50 per cent. The
rooms are priced at Rs 6,000 per night against Rs 4,500
last year.
Report at www.telegraphindia.com
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