Recovery could take 2 years

Majority of hotel operators in India expect up to two-year revenue recovery period, reveals JLL in its report titled ‘Impact of COVID-19 on the Indian Hospitality Industry’.

JLL recently conducted a survey with 15 leading hotel operators in India having adequate presence across hotel segments in both business and leisure markets. The survey was conducted to understand the effects of the pandemic on development and opening of new hotels, as well as the support required for the sustenance of the sector. Some key findings were:

• 60% of the operators surveyed believe that it will take between 13 to 24 months for their portfolio to return back to 2019 RevPAR levels
• 20% believe that their hotels could bounce back to 2019 RevPAR levels within 6 to 12 months from now
• 53% of the total leading hotel operators have shut down more than 80% of their inventory during the nation-wide lockdown period
• 53% of the respondents believe that key business cities are likely to witness an early pick-up in room-night demand

Currently, 47 per cent of the operators expect to re-open their hotels for operation within two weeks of lifting of lockdown / travel restrictions by the respective state governments. Almost all operators believe that most hotels in their portfolio would need working capital infusion to continue or re-start operations.