Indian Hotel Industry

The Hotel Industry comprises a major part of the Tourism industry. Historically viewed as an industry providing a luxury service valuable to the economy only as a foreign exchange earner, the industry today contributes directly to employment (directly employing around 0.15 million people), and indirectly facilitates tourism and commerce.

Prior to the 1980s, the Indian hotel industry was a slow-growing industry, consisting primarily of relatively static, single-hotel companies. However, the Asiad, held in New Delhi in 1982, and the subsequent partial liberalization of the Indian economy generated tourism interest in India, with significant benefits accruing to the hotel and tourism sector, in terms of improved demand patterns. Growth in demand for hotels was particularly high during the early 1990s following the initiatives taken to liberalize the Indian economy in FY1991, as per the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The euphoria of the early 1990s prompted major chains, new entrants and international chains to chalk out ambitious capacity additions, especially in the metropolitan cities. However, most of these efforts were directed towards the business travelers and foreign clientele.

In recent years, the hotels sector has grown at a faster rate than GDP. As a result, the share of hotels & restaurants in GDP at current prices has increased from 1.2per cent in FY2000 to 1.5per cent in FY2005. In constant (1999-2000) prices, the GDP from hotels and restaurants has increased from Rs. 222.65 billion in FY2000 to Rs. 335.49 billion in FY2005. As a result, the share of hotels and restaurants in total GDP at constant prices has increased from 1.24per cent in FY2000 to 1.40per cent in FY2005.