Disproportionate increase in property price in metro cities has resulted into expansion of hotel industry to small cities. The Giants of hotel industry are shifting their focus to cities like Ahmedabad, Bhuvaneshwar, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Goa, Guwahati, Indore, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Mysore, Nagpur, Surat Vishakhapatnam and many more.
Main reason behind the change in investment trend is sharp increase in land price in metro cities. The land prices in small cities are much lesser in comparison to metros. So, decision of setting up a hotel in small cities means less investment and larger benefits.
According to Pawan Verma, executive chairman (Operations) ITC, out of the total cost of setting up a hotel in a metro, 40 per cent constituted land-cost. But in small cities, there is more demand for mid segment hotels. When a middle-income group family goes for hotel accommodation, they look for pleasant but affordable place to stay. They mainly look for secure and hygiene accommodation with good food. They don’t want hi-fi facilities. Keeping these points in mind, hotel industry is changing. With this improvement, hotel industry has expanded to middle class also.
