The hospitality industry in India is becoming another high-profile casualty of the slowing economy, with nearly 75 big hotels putting up the ‘for sale’ boards and several others raising the red flag amid falling check-ins and wilting room rates.
Most hotels in the country are running half empty, as the GDP growth slips to 5% levels this fiscal year, says the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI). In a preliminary report, the hoteliers’ body has found that average hotel occupancy in 2012-13 dropped to the lowest in a decade at 58.3% and average room rates fell to Rs 6,214, the lowest in six years.