Chennai to beat Mumbai in luxury hotel rooms growth

CHENNAI: Chennai is likely to add more luxury hotel rooms than Mumbai between now and 2015, according to realty consultants Cushman & Wakefield. Replying to a query by ET, the consultants indicated Chennai will see an increase in 6,300 rooms by 2015, 100 more than what Mumbai is likely to achieve by that time. However, Mumbai has a far bigger base of existing luxury hotel rooms (18,700) compared to Chennai (4,900), according to its data. In the past, Chennai has had not more than a handful of luxury hotels. Of late, there has been a flurry of activity in this sector, with major global chains such as the Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott entering this South Indian port city, though as part of a bigger pan-India plan. N Hariharan, Office Director, Cushman & Wakefield, attributed the growth in the city to a healthy presence of multiple industries such as IT, banking and auto. "With commercial and tourist traffic gradually picking up and demand expected to increase year on year, every major hotel operator wants to have a presence in Chennai. Another reason has been the emergence of Chennai as the centre for medical tourism in India," he said. "The average occupancy in Chennai in 2011 has been 71% across upscale and luxury hotel segments. While the demand is still driven by domestic arrivals, there has been a significant increase in international arrivals to the city." In 2011, the Chennai airport is expected to see 45 lakh international arrivals (as compared to 37 lakhs in 2009) and 70 lakh domestic arrivals. By 2015, the National Capital Region is likely to see 15,000 additional luxury hotel rooms (the base now being 21,000). Bangalore is likely to see an additional 8,000 rooms (from a base of 8,000 now).