'There is a huge urbanisation trend in the country'

The eighth edition of the prestigious BW Hotelier Indian Hospitality Summit & Awards (IHA 2024) hosted the BWH Investment and Development Roundtable: Capitalising on Opportunities including industry veterans and experts, with moderator Jaideep Dang, MD, Hotels and Hospitality Group, JLL India hosted the dialogue session with other panel members including JB Singh, President & CEO - InterGlobe Hotels, Raghu Sapra, Head Hospitality - Embassy Office Parks REIT, Atul Dangayach, MD - Dangayach Group and Gyana Das, Executive VP & Head of Investment - SAMHI Hotels Pvt Ltd.

They discussed the topic of unlocking investment potential in Indian hospitality, where experts on the panel shared their thoughts and views.

Singh commented, “We look at growth through the lens of densification: going to a market and keeping building in it. There is a huge urbanisation trend in the country. We will stick to densification and go into markets with clear and present demand.”

Das further added to the discussion stating, “ Our existing branded assets, which are performing consistently and through which we can benchmark, are the markets in which we would like to enter. This translates to the top seven Tier 1 markets.”

“Hotel Reits would come to India, but it will take some time as the commercial rates are yet to mature. Once that maturing happens and the hotel business becomes more predictable and stable, we will indeed have Hotel REITs in India,” commented Sapra on the maturity of the Indian market.

Dangayach talked about how it is a great time to be in India and to be at the forefront of the growth in the Indian economy  and expressed his excitement to be an Indian hotelier at these growing times to which he further shared his thoughts,“ Our aspiration now is to become a strong national player, explore key markets, and focus on our strengths, which are building quality hotels at great value and having good brand partnerships.”

The two-day BW Hotelier Indian Hospitality Summit & Awards (IHA 2024) encompasses over 20 sessions where hospitality veterans and experts across the nation gather in order to provide diverse knowledge and insights. The Summit & Awards is a testament to BW Hotelier’s commitment towards revolutionising Indian hospitality by honouring the Crème de la crème of the industry.