COVID-19 has severely impacted the domestic hotel and hospitality sector in Q2 2020, according to JLL’s Hotel Momentum India (HMI) Q2 2020, a quarterly hospitality sector monitor. The hospitality industry reported a decline of 43.5 percent in Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) in H1 (YTD June) 2020 over the same period last year. Overall, in terms of inventory volume, brand signings declined by 83 percent in Q2 2020 over Q2 2019, however international operators signed a greater number of keys than domestic peers. Room and F&B demand continue to remain minimal amidst lockdowns and partial openings.
All key 11 markets in India reported a decrease in RevPAR Performance in Q2 2020 over the same period last year. Mumbai continues to be the RevPAR leader in absolute terms, despite the decline of RevPAR by 81 percent in Q2 2020 compared to Q2 2019. Goa saw the sharpest decline in RevPAR in Q2 2020, with a 93.9 percent drop compared to the same period in the previous year. International hotel operators dominated signings over domestic operators with the ratio of 63:37 in terms of inventory volume. Other cities such as Kolkata (88.9 per cent), Bengaluru at 88.5 per cent, and Ahmedabad (85.5 per cent) also witnessed sharp decline in performance.
“Whilst hotels in certain cities opened in early June, guests have not yet returned. We believe that demand in business cities will take time to recover and it will only happen when companies allow their employees to travel through their revised travel advisories. Leisure demand may pick up around large cities wherein close friends and family groups may start traveling by road in the coming months,” added the report.
“Investors are taking a sharper interest in exploring operational hotel opportunities. Conversations are progressing, but site visits are still out of bounds and hence transactions and development activity has not yet begun. However, we remain confident that activity will resume in the medium-term,” says Jaideep Dang, Managing Director, Hotels & Hospitality Group (India), JLL.
