- Ahmedabad leads India’s hotel market recovery with sharp gains in May 2026
- Chandigarh sees highest occupancy rise boosting revenue per available room
- Goa and Pune report steady RevPAR growth of 19-24%, other cities less robust
Ahmedabad, Chandigarh lead city-wise hotel demand revival as occupancy and room rates improve sharply. Ahmedabad has emerged as India's fastest-recovering hotel market, reversing a prolonged period of underperformance as domestic travel demand and a favourable year-ago base lifted the city's hospitality indicators sharply in May 2026.
According to a Dolat Capital report citing HVS Anarock data, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh recorded the highest revenue per available room, or RevPAR, growth among major Indian hotel markets during the month. RevPAR in the two cities increased by 24-36% year-on-year, substantially outperforming several larger business and leisure destinations.
Ahmedabad's recovery was broad-based, supported by improvements in both room prices and occupancy. The city's average room rate, or ARR, rose within the highest growth band of 12-16%, while occupancy increased by 10-20 percentage points.
RevPar
Photo Credit: (Photo: Dolat Capital)
Dolat said the city was "decisively catching up" after a long spell of weak performance. The strong growth also reflects a relatively low comparison base following disruptions that affected travel and hotel activity last year, including Operation Sindoor and the Ahmedabad flight crash, the brokerage said.
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Chandigarh's revival was driven primarily by demand rather than pricing. Hotel occupancy in the city jumped by 20-23 percentage points which is the strongest increase among the markets covered while ARR grew by a more moderate 4-8%. This combination resulted in RevPAR growth of about 24-36%.
Other cities reported steadier gains. Goa and Pune registered RevPAR growth of 19-24%, while Bengaluru, New Delhi, Jaipur and Gurugram posted increases in the 14-19% range.
Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai remained at the lower end, with RevPAR growth of up to 9%.At the national level, India's hotel sector recorded ARR of approximately Rs 7,900-8,100 in May, an increase of 9-11% from a year earlier.
Occupancy reached 63-65%, while RevPAR rose 22-24% to Rs 5,000-5,265. Dolat expects the recovery to continue as travel activity strengthens and geopolitical pressures ease. However, it forecasts more moderate, mid-to-high single-digit RevPAR growth for the June quarter, with hotel companies' aggregate revenue projected to rise about 12% year-on-year.
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