NEW DELHI: The growth in air and road travel is fuelling demand for luxury hospitality. Triton Hotels and Resorts, which runs the Raffles in Udaipur and Jaipur apart from Fairmont and Le Meridien in the Pink City, is planning to expand beyond Rajasthan as it looks to build new luxury properties in Goa, Rishikesh, Bangalore and Alibaug (in Maharashtra), while eyeing construction in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.Ratan Kant Sharma, Chairman of the infrastructure and hospitality enterprise said business has been booming post Covid and there’s been a spurt in occupancy and average room rates.“Cash flows are strong. There has been a surge in the hospitality business across the country post Covid. Average room rates have shot up by between 30% and 50% with record occupancy numbers. Business has grown substantially,” Sharma told TOI.He said that spending patterns have strengthened post the pandemic and the phenomenon of ‘you only live once’ (or YOLO) has been a strong enabler in pushing consumption.“Suddenly, there’s been a huge demand. Like in many other markets across the world, it seems that Indians also believe in the philosophy of ‘there is one life’ and thus consumption with family and friends is a must. People are today taking short breaks with family, instead of simply accumulating wealth and saving it for their next generations. We are becoming more like the US where at the drop of a hat, families decide to go on short holidays within the country. That’s why we are seeing a spurt in last-minute bookings.”Sharma, whose family had originally been in the infrastructure and construction business, introduced the Le Meridien hotel in Rajasthan in 2003, thereafter getting the Fairmont in the state in 2012, the iconic Raffles in Udaipur in 2021, and a relatively-smaller Raffles property in Jaipur last year.The group expects to clock a turnover of Rs 300 crore this year between all its properties.Sharma said the group plans to invest around Rs 150 crore annually to fund the expansion plans. “This will be through a mix of internal accruals and bank debt.”Jui Sharma, Executive Director of the group, believes that growth in air and road connectivity has also led to healthy demand in the hospitality sector. “Airlines have become more of a utility, and highways are expanding fast. Infrastructure has expanded manifold. People are able to easily commute to newer destinations, something which they never imagined doing so previously. For example, Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh now has direct flights from many cities. So, you can easily hop on to a plane and visit the destination. And so you see hotels in Dharamshala have started to do well. The same trend is being noticed across most of the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities as connectivity becomes better.”Interestingly, against earlier trends when luxury hotels in India depended more on international travellers, Sharma said that demand is now being created more by local tourists. “We have enough population to support our economy and the hospitality sector. Frankly, we are no longer dependent just on foreigners. Today, we get around 70-80% of our hotel guests from within India. The aspirations of Indian travellers are on the rise and people don’t mind spending money on luxury holidays. No matter how many rooms you add, they get filled up.”Asked whether the group is planning an IPO to raise funds, Sharma said that it may happen after a period of 2-3 years as more properties start operations across different cities.
