Indian hotel owner Chalet expects revenue growth to improve as domestic demand holds up

Chalet Hotels

18/06/2026 09:07

By Praveen Paramasivam

    June 18 (Reuters) - India's Chalet Hotels CHAL.NS expects revenue growth in the April-June quarter to improve sequentially, helped by strong domestic demand that has cushioned the impact of foreign tourist cancellations caused by the Gulf war, its top boss told Reuters.
Chalet, whose portfolio includes 11 hotels across brands including JW Marriott, The Westin and Novotel, expects revenue growth, excluding its residential business, to be in the high-single- to low-double-digit percentage range, CEO and Managing Director Shwetank Singh said.
This would mark a recovery from the previous quarter, when core revenue growth slowed to 6% from 23% in the October-December period as the Iran war, which broke out in late February, disrupted travel and triggered widespread cancellations.
Across the world, tourists are reshaping travel plans as the conflict disrupts key routes and raises costs, prompting many travellers to opt for destinations closer to home.
India Ratings and Research expects the country's hotel demand and supply to grow 10%-15% in the current financial year, with leisure likely to be more resilient as corporate travel could soften due to oil-led cost pressures, it said in a note.
Singh said that travellers — mainly foreigners — cancelled bookings worth 600 million rupees ($6.4 million) between March and April, although arrivals have started to recover.

UPBEAT DOMESTIC DEMAND
"Domestic leisure travel looks strong and we are doing fairly well there," Singh said, adding that some destination weddings that were originally planned for the Middle East have now shifted to India.
Local tourism has received a boost after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Indians last month to avoid unnecessary foreign travel and instead holiday within the country to help curb FX outflows.
Demand from large corporates has, however, come under pressure as firms reduce spending on everything from travel to marketing amid the war-linked increase in oil, freight and insurance costs.
Chalet has responded by offering rooms at rates affordable to some corporates that had previously been priced out of its hotels, although it has avoided publicly cutting room rates, Singh said.   ($1 = 94.5250 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
 ((Praveen.Paramasivam@thomsonreuters.com; +91 867-525-3569;))