Number of foreign tourists likely to remain stagnate

Kailash Rajwadkar

Mumbai, May 15: THE number of international tourists visiting India is likely to remain more or less the same with the average room rates (ARRs) achieved by the four and five star hotels in Mumbai and Delhi outperforming the Asian average of ARRs during 2000. ARRs, during 2000, were high despite the erosion of the rupee against the US dollar.

An estimated 25 lakh international visitors arrived in India during the year 2000, of which Mumbai constituted around 7,20,000, while New Delhi accounted for just over 8 lakh.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, Digest Asia-2001, ARRs in Mumbai hovered around $120.71, while in Delhi it was around $101.76 next only to Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong. Tokyo and Seoul achieved the highest ARRs in Asia with levels of $206 and $144 respectively, the digest said. The report coverd two cities in India — Mumbai and New Delhi — among the 15 cities across 10 Asian countries with major hotel markets.
Hotels located in south east Asia, with the exception of Singapore and Phuket, worked out an ARR between $40 and $60, thereby justifying the tourist flow to these countries.

The digest stated that Hong Kong, China and Thailand accounted for 11 per cent, 9 per cent and 8 per cent respectively of the international tourist arrivals during the year, while India accounted for just 2 per cent.

However, despite the declining performances of hotels in Mumbai and Delhi, investment interest amongst local hotel chains continue to be strong, the report said. This interest is obvious given the proposed addition of 1,074 rooms expected within the five star and five star deluxe segments in Mumbai during 2001. “This is expected to keep occupancies and ARRs under pressure,” Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, associate, Yeshwant Nadkarni said. In fact, the highest growth of 19 per cent in the four and five star room supply through out Asia is expected to be in Mumbai during 2001, the report said.

Hotels in New Delhi would, however, maintain their ARRs during 2001 on account of a limited supply of 334 rooms over the short term, Mr Nadkarni added.