India eyes tourism windfall with G20; hotels run full steam on street -

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By S Jha

New Delhi, May 25: India made a loud announcement to the global tourism circuit by hosting the marquee third working group meeting in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. The Union Territory hosted such a big international event after several decades. While delegates from the participating nations have asserted that they would return to the picturesque Jammu and Kashmir, the hospitality industry appears to have decisively come out of the gloom of the pandemic.

Foreign tourist earnings in rupee term has already exceeded the pre-covid level, according to the data of the Ministry of Tourism. With G20 meetings taking place in a number of cities and hundreds of delegates and officials flying across the country, the hotels in the country are reporting better financial results.

Backed by the robust quarterly performances, the hotel shares are gaining firm grounds on the street, and they are ducking even the occasional bearish sentiments on account of the debt ceiling negotiations not yet showing any sign of conclusion in the US.

The G20 meetings coupled with post-covid revival in travel appear to have set the hotels on strong path in making robust gains. “A record number of 18.8 million tourists visited J&K in 2022. Our expectation is that this Tourism Working Group meeting will further boost tourism potential of the UT & bring prosperity to the lives of people here,” said the G20 Chief Coordinator Harsh V Shringla in the run up to the three-day tourism working group meeting in Srinagar.

EIH Hotel, which is trading with three per cent gain on Thursday, has risen by over 22 per cent in one month. This is seemingly backed by strong quarterly result, as the scrip reported 100 per cent jump in the revenue in March quarter year-on-year, while the net profit margin expanded by a whopping 171 per cent.

Taj GVK Hotel was also trading with a gain of over eight per cent on Thursday, and this again has reported a strong set of number in its March quarter result. Indian Hotel, a bluechip hospitality company from the Tata stable, was also trading firmly on the back of strong March quarterly result.

Wonderla, another hospitality firm listed on the stock market, is trading firmly with a gain of over four per cent on Thursday. Lemon Tree Hotel was also trading with a gain of over three per cent, while the scrip is nearly higher by almost 18 per cent in a month. EIHA Hotel and Advani Hotel were also trading higher.