THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Reaffirming Kerala’s pre-eminent position as a highly preferred destination for global and domestic tourists, backwater hub Kumarakom has topped in an all-India survey of revenue gained by hotels and resorts in popular leisure destinations, posting the highest revenue per available room (RevPar) in financial year 2022-23.
The survey, ‘Indian Hospitality Trends and Opportunities’, conducted by hospitality consulting firm Hotelivate, also reveals that the famed beach destination Kovalam has earned the third place in a list of top 15 destinations.
RevPar, an industry metric used by hotels to price their rooms, refers to revenue generated per available room whether occupied or not.
According to the 26th edition of the survey, properties in Kumarakom had a RevPar of Rs 11,758 in FY 23 compared to Rishikesh in Uttarakhand (Rs 10,506) and Kovalam (Rs 9,087), which come in second and third positions. Metros like Mumbai (Rs 7,226) and Delhi (Rs 6,016) stand sixth and 11th positions respectively as per the survey.
This is the second year in a row hotels in leisure destinations posted the highest RevPar, it says.
The report, which analyses the industry performance by star category, administrative zones and 20 major hotel markets, has a participation base of 1,540 hotels representing a total inventory of 1,65,172 rooms.
“This survey clearly shows that tourism in Kerala has been on a steady surge, completely overcoming from the downturn triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said State Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas.
Set in the backdrop of Vembanad Lake, Kumarakom village is a popular tourist destination dotted with canals and backwaters. Its panoramic rural settings, heritage and lifestyle have a seminal role in the Kerala model of globally-acclaimed Responsible Tourism (RT).
Earlier this year, Kumarakom hosted a meeting of the G20 sherpas. The achievement comes despite the floods in 2018 and Covid-19 posed hindrance to the state’s tourism activities.
Apart from Kumarakom and Kovalam, the top 15 on list include Srinagar (4th position), Udaipur (5), Goa (7), Mussoorie (8), Ranthambore (9), Mahabaleshwar (10), Shimla (12), Varanasi (13), Ooty (14), and Lonavala (15).
Hotels in metro cities have higher year-round occupancy compared to leisure destinations. They also have a large corporate customer base, which have contracted rates that pull down the RevPar compared to leisure destinations.
