The nearly two-year-long cyclical upswings and downswings of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting travel restrictions had a tremendous impact on the travel & hospitality sector. Since then, a strong vaccination programme, reopening of borders, removal of travel restrictions and sustained economic growth have put the sector on the path of recovery. The question that now arises is, what does the future hold for the sector?
CBRE in their report on the tourism and hospitality industry offers key trends shaping the sector’s outlook:
- Investment frenzy
Increasing investor interest has been one of the major drivers of growth for the Indian hospitality space in the past couple of years. In the past couple of years, investors have shown a renewed interest in the Indian hospitality segment, driving the total investment in this space post COVID-19 (2020-2023) beyond USD 400 million; further, more than USD 2,300 million investments are planned.
- Policy push
The government has been one of the biggest benefactors of this segment – from Budget 2023-24 to the draft Tourism Policy to the Swadesh Darshan Scheme, tourism & hospitality figure high on the government agenda. For instance, the draft Tourism Policy aims to generate USD 400 billion in foreign exchange earnings from tourism by 2047, compared to USD 30 billion projected for 2023.
- Lens on sustainability
World over, hotel guests, investors, owners, employees, and brands are increasingly becoming inclined towards responsible environmental practices and sustainable tourism. Indian hotels still have a significant ground to cover when it comes to meeting sustainability goals. On the Cornell Hotel Sustainability Index, Indian hotels stood sixth in terms of the highest average carbon emissions per occupied room on a list of 25 countries.
- Tech upgrade
Technology as a macro trend has already begun to permeate in this segment. It is currently operating at two levels – digitalization of the guest experience by way of automated hotel processes for activities such as check-in / check-out; and digitalization of background processes for jobs such as hotel management and room bookings.
The report can be accessed here.
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