With the easing of Covid-related restrictions and the bulk of auspicious dates concentrated in the April-June quarter of FY23, hospitality brands are witnessing substantial growth in banquet bookings for weddings.
As the second wave of the pandemic resulted in almost all the states imposing restrictions in Q1 FY22, a lot of weddings were either postponed or had limited attendance. The occupancy level for the hospitality sector across India reached its 12-month low in May 2021 by dropping below 20% countrywide, according to international property consulting firm JLL.
Jaideep Dang, managing director, hotels and hospitality group, South Asia, JLL, told FE that although hotels are receiving a lot of queries for weddings this season, there has been a fundamental change in the mindset of people post-Covid, whereby they are choosing to host events with a lower number of guests. Some hotels and independent banquet halls that were hosting weddings with more than 500 guests during the pre-Covid period, were hosting only 150-200 guests on an average during Q3 FY22.
Dang, however, observed that there is a positive sentiment in Q1 FY23 as hotels are beginning to receive queries and confirmations for large weddings, some of which are to the tune of 400-500 guests, with some prominent city hotels even reporting higher demand volumes for the wedding segment in Q1 FY23 as compared to Q1 FY20.
While the industry was hoping for a quick recovery after February 2021, the second wave of the pandemic severely impacted the overall business of the companies, particularly during the April-June quarter of FY22.
“In some cases, hotels were sitting at almost 80% confirmed business on books for Q1 FY22. The recovery has been faster and better though. The Q1 FY23 seems very buoyant. Our pick up paces are in line with our expectations. We are aiming to achieve forecasts for most of our hotels in our region. At present, with restrictions also getting lifted, we anticipate almost 90% of 2019 revenue levels to be back,” said Surinder Singh, area director – Haryana and Dwarka, IHCL, and general manager, Taj City Centre, Gurugram.
According to Singh, with the Indian wedding season gaining momentum again, there has been a considerable increase in business queries at the brand’s hotels and resorts in the Delhi-NCR region, including Taj City Centre Gurugram, Vivanta Surajkund NCR, The Gateway Resort Damdama Lake Gurugram, and Vivanta New Delhi Dwarka.
Although Marriott International claimed that currently its wedding leads and bookings for Q1 FY23 are trending higher in comparison to Q1 FY22, it did not share the quantum of growth. Among its hotels in India, the company is witnessing an increase in demand for JW Marriott Mussoorie, W Goa, JW Marriott Hotel New Delhi Aerocity, JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu, JW Marriott Hotel Bengaluru and Westin Mumbai Powai Lake for organising weddings.
“Customer response has been very buoyant for this wedding season. We are seeing many queries and wedding and wedding-related function closures. The customer preference in wedding destinations in Q1 FY23 is still inclined towards domestic locations,” said Monisha Dewan, senior area director, sales and distribution, South Asia, Marriott International.
An ITC Hotels spokesperson said that the brand is witnessing recovery trends after the initial setback as a result of Omicron.
“The H1 FY23 has several key wedding dates and easing of restrictions will help the industry deliver robust growth,” the spokesperson said, adding that the wedding segment has seen a good rise in leisure destinations like ITC Grand Bharat, ITC Grand Goa and ITC Rajputana.
InterContinental Hotels Group claimed that its wedding business has witnessed a growth of more than 150% year-on-year for April-May 2022. Among the popular properties of the brand for weddings are InterContinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort, Crowne Plaza Jaipur, Crowne Plaza Rohini, Crowne Plaza Greater Noida, Holiday Inn Agra and Holiday Inn Goa.
“With further easing of restrictions on social gatherings, the weddings segment is performing well. However, it still continues to differ from state to state. After the initial postponement of weddings in January and February due to the third wave of Covid, many of those events have been booked back with our hotels in March, April and May,” said Sudeep Jain, managing director, South-West Asia, InterContinental Hotels Group.
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