Hotel Rooms Sold Out As The G20 Summit Progresses

With the G20 Summit underway in India, hotels are facing a room crunch. India’s year-long presidency will have the G20 dignitaries and media people hopping from one host city to another, over the span of a year. This is bound to give a boost to the hotel industry and bolster their revenues, after being hit by a rough patch during the pandemic. 

“The G20 Presidency 2023 is undoubtedly a great opportunity to showcase India's economic potential,” said K B Kachru, Vice President, Hotel Association of India. “In addition, it is an excellent platform for the Indian hospitality industry to showcase the country’s cultural heritage and its age-old tradition of ‘atithi devo bhava’ to the world.” He added that aviation, accommodation, infrastructure at these destinations will be the key ingredients to create unique experiences and leverage synergies for the tourism and hospitality industry in the country.

The G20 Meet

The participating Group of Twenty (or G20) are Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, France, Italy, South Korea, The United Kingdom, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, USA, India and the European Union.

Some of the objectives and issues that the G20 meet will address are related to the sustainability of the global financial system, environmental changes, and greenhouse gas emissions. 

Increase In Demand

The summit will attract a significant number of guests (both domestic and international). Various meetings, seminars, and other events are scheduled to be held across cities. This has led to an increase in advance bookings, and hotels being packed. 

“Hotels are working hard to accommodate the surge of guests during the G20 summit, treating it like a grand performance where each hotel plays a critical role in ensuring the event's success,” said Ravi Rai, Cluster General Manager of Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach, Novotel Vijayawada Varun, and The Bheemili Resort managed by Accor. “However, managing the influx of visitors, maintaining service standards, and ensuring everyone's safety are some of the challenges they face amidst the busy atmosphere.” 

Tariffs Set to Increase

The G20 meetings will be moving from city to city throughout the year, with the final summit concluding in September 2023. The buoyancy it would provide the hospitality sector will result in an increase in room tariffs. 

“India's G20 presidency has created a new business opportunity, as cities hosting key events experience a surge in demand due to the meetings. To accommodate these events, advance bookings are being made,” said Neeraj Maharshi, General Manager, DoubleTree by Hilton, Jaipur. “The places that hosted the previous three G20 summits had also seen a significant increase in hotel room prices. It appears that this increase was more pronounced in the business group segment, which refers to bookings of 10 or more rooms at once, compared to transient business. In fact, rates for five-star hotel rooms in India have risen by approximately 20 per cent in major business cities since the last quarter of 2022.” 

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