India Hospitality Growth FY26 Led by IHCL and ITC Hotels
India hospitality growth FY26 was led by IHCL and ITC Hotels as strong domestic travel demand helped the sector navigate global uncertainty.
nishathapa 
New Delhi, May 19, 2026: India’s hotel boom isn’t coming from foreign tourists, it’s being powered by Indians filling rooms, paying higher rates, and keeping balance sheets strong even as global travel stumbles.
India’s hospitality sector held its growth line in FY2025-26, with top hotel companies posting strong numbers and pushing expansion despite geopolitical noise, flight disruptions, and economic uncertainty. Big players like Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), ITC Hotels, Chalet Hotels, and Ventive Hospitality clocked double-digit growth in revenue and profit. That tells you one thing. Domestic demand isn’t just holding, it’s carrying the industry.
IHCL Reports Record Revenue and Profit Growth
Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) delivered its sixteenth straight quarter of record performance. FY26 revenue came in at ₹9,971 crore, up 16%. EBITDA hit ₹3,477 crore. Profit After Tax touched an all-time high of ₹2,084 crore. And Q4 didn’t slow down. Revenue stood at ₹2,845 crore, up 14%, with EBITDA at ₹1,052 crore and margins at 37%. The company’s scale keeps widening. IHCL now has 630 hotels, including a pipeline of 255 properties. It signed 250 hotels in a single year and opened or onboarded over 130. It also rolled out three new brands, taking its total to 14, while sitting on ₹4,345 crore in cash. That’s not just growth. That’s control.
ITC Hotels, Chalet Hotels Strengthen Financial Performance
ITC Hotels posted FY26 revenue of ₹4,139 crore, up 16%. EBITDA rose 21% to ₹1,424 crore. Profit jumped 39% to ₹888 crore. Rooms are doing the heavy lifting, MICE, weddings, and corporate demand pushed room revenue up 10%. ADR grew 6%, while RevPAR climbed 10%. The company signed 33 hotels with over 3,300 keys and now sits on a pipeline of 67 hotels (around 6,700 keys). The target: 250 operational hotels by 2031. Meanwhile, Chalet Hotels is also scaling fast. Revenue rose 18% to ₹2,070 crore. EBITDA increased 21% to ₹960 crore. PAT reached ₹650 crore. It crossed the 5,000-key mark and added new projects, a 330-key hotel in Hyderabad and a 144-key resort in Udaipur. Expansion isn’t slowing. It’s getting sharper.
Ventive, Sterling and Mahindra Holidays Show Strong Growth
Ventive Hospitality posted one of the strongest runs this year. Revenue jumped 24% to ₹2,666 crore. EBITDA rose 28% to ₹1,299 crore. PAT hit ₹502 crore. Growth came with deal-making, acquisitions like Sol De Goa and Soho House-linked rights added muscle. Sterling Holiday Resorts logged its 25th straight profitable quarter. FY26 revenue stood at ₹5,487 million, with EBITDA at ₹1,701 million. The company now operates 78 resorts across 65 destinations and is targeting 95 by 2027. And Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India kept its core engine steady. It added nearly 900 keys, held occupancy at 81%, and pushed resort revenue up 12% to ₹443 crore. Membership crossed 3 lakh customers. That’s sticky demand, and recurring revenue.
Investment Activity Surges with Tier II, III Cities Leading
According to JLL India, hotel investments hit USD 567 million in 2025, up 67% from USD 340 million in 2024. And the action isn’t just in metros anymore. Tier II and III cities drove 40% of transactions, with money flowing into Rishikesh, Goa, Ludhiana, Nashik, Vadodara, Udaipur and Lonavala. Institutional and private equity investors led with 35%, followed by HNIs and family offices at 27%, and listed hotel companies at 25%. Supply is catching up fast. Hotel signings hit 51,647 keys across 424 properties, up 23%. And 71% of those came from emerging markets. Greenfield development added 33,170 keys, up 17%. The shift is clear. Growth is moving outward.
Sector Expansion Driven by Demand and Premiumisation
Across the board, domestic travel, premium pricing, and expansion into smaller cities are driving the sector. Companies like Lemon Tree Hotels and Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels also reported stronger performance on the back of higher occupancy and room rates. Deal activity is holding pace. Q1 2026 saw USD 185 million in transactions, up 58% year-on-year. That includes a USD 107 million investment by Warburg Pincus in Fleur Hotels, a subsidiary of Lemon Tree Hotels. Yes, global tensions and aviation disruptions are still in play. But they’re not derailing growth. Because the real engine is local demand, better infrastructure, and investors chasing returns. And right now, that engine is running hot.
