Hyderabad: Among the top six markets in the country, Hyderabad led the charts in terms of growth in average occupancy rate (AOR) in hotels during Q3 2021. (July-September).

According to JLL's analysis, the city had the biggest occupancy growth in Q3 2021, with a 33.6 per cent rise over the same quarter last year, surpassing Goa with 29.8%, Mumbai with 29.4%, Bengaluru with 26.8%, Delhi with 25.5 per cent, and Chennai with 24.1 per cent.

Hyderabad was also ranked third in the country in terms of revenue per available room growth (RevPAR). Goa re-emerged as the RevPAR leader in Q3 2021, with a 389.8 per cent increase over the low base of Q3 2020, followed by Bengaluru with a 213.2 per cent increase and Hyderabad with a 173.5 per cent increase.

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According to Jaideep Dang, MD of JLL's Hotels & Hospitality Group in South Asia, "We witnessed that offices began opening in Q3. Many companies have indicated that they will resume complete work from office in the coming months in Hyderabad, and with it, corporate travel is also expected to witness a slight uptick."

"Hyderabad’s change in occupancy levels is the highest in India, and this recovery is driven by weddings and staycation demand," Dang noted.

Pan-India Scenario

According to JLL's Hotel Momentum India, the hotel industry grew by 169.4 per cent in revenue per available room (RevPAR) during Q3 2021. (HMI). Due to a robust rebound in leisure demand when travel restrictions were removed following the second wave of the pandemic, RevPAR increased by 122.9 per cent in Q3 2021 compared to Q2 2021 (sequentially).

In the third quarter of 2021, demand for operating inventory climbed by 159 per cent and supply increased by 9.5 per cent in six major cities, respectively, compared to the same period the previous year.

Recovery Phase

The low base impact of Q3 2020, when India began to carefully loosen travel restrictions, is responsible for the sector's Y-o-Y growth in Q3 2021. Following the complete and partial lockdowns that occurred in numerous states in April and May of 2021, the leisure travel industry saw a rapid comeback towards the conclusion of Q2 2021.

This trend continued into Q3 2021 when inter-state travel restrictions were lifted further and a boost in traveller confidence was noticed as a result of the nationwide vaccination programme.

Near-Term Outlook

The boom in travel is likely to continue in the next two quarters (Q4 2021 and Q1 2022), according to JLL, as India ramps up its vaccination rate, leading to improved sentiment regarding domestic travel, particularly corporate travel.

IT/ITeS firms have predicted that their travel expenses will rise in the coming quarters when employees return to the office or campus and resume business travel. There is, however, a time gap between returning to work and subsequent business travel.

The occupancy and average rates of leisure places are likely to rise further, fueled mostly by transitory leisure and social events.