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Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) reported its highest-ever full-year performance in fiscal 2025, driven by solid domestic travel demand and limited additions to hotel supply.
“Strong domestic business travel demand, coupled with mega wins like the Kumbh Mela, international music concerts like Coldplay and a strong wedding season, were the key demand drivers this year,” IHCL CEO Puneet Chhatwal said at an earnings call on Monday.
Those factors helped room-night sales grow 6% industry-wide, even as new room supply expanded by less than 3% year-on-year, allowing hotels in the country to fill more beds at higher rates.
IHCL re-affirmed its “Accelerate 2030” vision to operate 700 properties by the decade’s end. The company had 74 new signings and opened 26 hotels last year, from luxury flagships under the Taj banner to mid-market stays with Ginger and Vivanta.
Chhatwal said the company plans to invest over INR 12 billion (approximately $142 million) in fiscal 2026. This includes asset upgrades, new projects, and investments focused on the Taj brand and digital infrastructure.
Reviving the Inbound Story
While domestic tourism has been strong, India has struggled to lift inbound tourism, an issue that Skift and Skift Research have documented.
Now, IHCL is placing more emphasis on attracting international travelers. Referencing projections of 28 million foreign arrivals by 2030 — a nearly 40% increase over pre-pandemic levels—Chhatwal noted the potential for growth in inbound tourism.
The company has allocated INR 250 million ($3 million) over three years to promote India abroad. IHCL is also offering more flexible booking policies and inclusive pricing to encourage travel agents to increase inbound bookings.
The Last-Minute Traveler, Loyalty, and Direct Bookings
One insight that has resonated through 10 straight quarters: booking windows are shrinking. Outside peak seasons, like school holidays, summer breaks and Christmas holidays, Indian travelers are planning getaways as little as 12–24 hours in advance, Chhatwal said.
Post-pandemic shifts toward spontaneous, self-driven road trips have driven this “last-minute” phenomenon, and IHCL expects this to persist as Indians travel more than ever before.
Beyond its core hotels, IHCL’s “new and reimagined” ventures are scaling fast.
Qmin, the company’s grab-and-go food concept spun off from Ginger, has expanded to 72 outlets. In addition to serving the F&B brand for Ginger Hotels, Qmin has also established a presence in retail through its partnership with WestSide stores in Mumbai and Bengaluru in a shop-in-shop format. Qmin has also launched at Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru Airports in partnership with TFS.