India poised for hospitality boom as hotel brands such as Hilton, Radisson race to meet surging demand from tourists

India is tipped to be the next engine of growth for the hotel industry in the Asia-Pacific region, as global hospitality brands embark on aggressive expansion in an “underserved” market. The country’s huge and increasingly prosperous population – it recently superseded China as the world’s most populous country – and an estimated threefold rise in foreign tourists in the next few years will ensure a race among hospitality providers to meet rapidly expanding demand for accommodation, analysts said. It may, however, take time before India is in a position to supplant China as the largest hospitality market in the region. American hotel operators Hilton and Radisson Hotel Group (RHG) are rushing to capture a share of the growing Indian market. Hilton is planning to double its portfolio there every three to five years, according to Alan Watts, its Asia-Pacific president. RHG, meanwhile, aims to open its very first Radisson Collection hotel, in India in 2026. Global sporting events and political gatherings are helping prime the market for a near-term boom, guaranteeing vast waves of visitors from overseas. The Cricket World Cup will be held in the last quarter of the year in the western coast city of Ahmedabad, and the biennial South Asian Football Federation championship will take place in June and July in Bangalore, the capital of southern Karnataka state. Meanwhile, the G20 Leaders’ Summit is scheduled to be held in September in New Delhi, with the likes of US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping expected to attend. Beyond these events, the Indian market has the fundamentals to support growth in the hospitality industry, analysts said. India recently surpassed the UK to become the fifth largest economy in the world, and has a population of 1.4 billion with a relatively young median age of 25, creating more reasons for hotels to establish a significant presence there. “India has the potential to be a major growth driver for [Asia-Pacific] with its large and growing population, expanding middle class and economic progress,” said Calvin Li, regional head of transaction advisory services at JLL. The market is also deemed underserved. There are only an estimated 2.6 million hotel rooms in a country expecting almost 30 million foreign tourists a year by 2030, up from 11 million before the pandemic, according to Shaman Chellaram, senior director Asia, hotel advisory, Colliers Hong Kong. And that is on top of domestic demand. Hong Kong hotel buying spree looms as investors bet on tourism rebound “The hospitality and tourism sector is set to be a major growth engine for India in the next decade in terms of both domestic tourism and inbound and outbound tourism, benefiting both the local Indian economy and the wider Asia-Pacific hotel sector,” said Chellaram. The industry is one of the key pillars of the “Make in India” programme, was recently referred to by the finance minister as the “sunrise sector” and is set to contribute upwards of US$250 billion to India’s gross domestic product by 2028, he added. Make in India was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to facilitate investment, foster innovation and enhance skills in the manufacturing sector. Hilton’s Watts, meanwhile, cited New Delhi’s push for infrastructure including the construction of 220 new airports and the country’s first bullet train project, scheduled for completion in 2026, as a reason for the group’s confidence. “We strongly believe that the race for India is ahead of us. We take a long view here at Hilton, and that view is bullish,” he said. “It is India’s time to shine … we plan to double our operational portfolio within India every three to five years.” Hilton has 24 locations in India currently, according to its website. It is set to open its first Waldorf Astoria branded hotel in 2027 in Jaipur. RHG, which has more than 60 properties in India, announced that it would debut the Radisson Collection in 2026 with the first hotel in Hyderabad, one of the country’s tech hubs. “India is one of our top focus countries globally that presents significant opportunities to both investors and guests,” said Elie Younes, executive vice-president, global chief development officer, RHG. In the near term India is unlikely to replace China, which is estimated to have at least 60,000 hotels and guesthouses, as the largest contributor to growth in Asia-Pacific’s hotel industry, according to Karan Mahesh, sales manager, South Asia for STR, a research firm that tracks hotels’ performance. China accounts for half of room reservations in the region, according to Euromonitor International. “In the near term the short answer is no [India is not likely to surpass China],” said Mahesh. “Depending on how and what you count, there are between 60,000 and 250,000 accommodation providers in China.”