India Could See a Lifestyle Hotel Boom
Skift Take
Key Points
- India's growing middle class and infrastructure improvements suggest a potential boom in lifestyle hotels.
- U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti stressed the need to promote India as a tourism destination and address visa wait times.
- Hotelier Keshav Suri supports the LGBTQ+ community, seeing it as a competitive advantage in the hospitality sector.
Summary
Ennismore co-CEO Sharan Pasricha believes India is poised for a surge in lifestyle hotels, driven by a growing middle class and improved infrastructure. U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti highlighted the need to promote India as a tourism destination and reduce visa wait times. Keshav Suri, a hotel owner, emphasized supporting the LGBTQ+ community as a competitive advantage in the hospitality industry.
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Episode Notes
Ennismore co-CEO and founder Sharan Pasricha believes India is a sleeping giant in the lifestyle hotel sector, writes Middle East Reporter Josh Corder.
Pasricha told Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill at the Skift India Summit on Wednesday that the new wave of lifestyle hotels could be in India. Ennismore currently doesn’t have any hotels in India in its portfolio. But Pasricha said that could change as soon as this year, citing India’s growing middle class and infrastructure improvements as reasons why lifestyle hotels could thrive in the country.
Next, Eric Garcetti, U.S. Ambassador to India, is eager to see U.S. travel demand for India increase, writes Travel Technology Reporter Justin Dawes.
Garcetti told Skift CEO and founder Rafat Ali at the Skift India Summit that Americans don’t know India as well as Indians know the U.S. Garcetti said a lot of work needs to be done to promote India as a tourism destination. But he noted India’s tourism infrastructure has gotten a boost from the growth of the country’s aviation industry.
Garcetti also addressed the lengthy waits many Indian travelers have endured to obtain U.S. visitor visas. Although the U.S. government has been able to reduce average wait times, he said there’s work to do as travel demand to the U.S. increases.
We end today with a look at Keshav Suri, a hotel owner looking to increase support for India’s LGBTQ+ community.
Suri, the executive director of the LaLiT Suri Hospitality Group, told Senior Hospitality Editor O’Neill at the Skift India Summit that his company has a loyal customer base among the LGBTQ+ community. He added that being supportive of the community is a competitive advantage. Suri, whose company operates roughly a dozen hotels across India, added that he would like to see more research done on the LGBTQ+ market.
Photo Credit: Ennismore founder Sharan Pasricha spoke at Skift India Forum March 20, 2024. Skift
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