But, one thing that can mar the city’s attraction is the lack of adequate hotel rooms. Consider this. During the SAP Games last year, one hotel even asked some regular guests to put off their travel plans as it could not offer rooms. More recently, there were two major pharma conferences. One, the India-Asean, GCC Healthcare and Pharma Conference, and over-lapping with it was the 56th Indian Pharmaceutical Congress along with a Pharma Expo.
"There is a surge in occupancy in the last one year to a level that there are no rooms. Occupancy has reached a saturation point primarily due to the growth in the IT and pharma business. Moreover, demand for five-star accommodation is growing by about 14-15% year-on-year," said Sanjay Sethi, area director, Taj GVK Hotels and general manager, Taj Krishna. Taj GVK Hotels owns Taj Krishna, Taj Residency and Taj Banjara.
Currently, there are about 1,200 rooms in the five- star category in Hyderabad, which are woefully inadequate. Interestingly, another 1,200 rooms will be open for occupation in the next few years. For instance, the MR group is putting up 280 rooms in the three-four star category and Marriott — through Viceroy Hotels — is adding another 130 rooms by January. Moreover, according to industry watchers, the Leela Group, Hyatt and ITC, too, are eying properties in the expanding city. "Our group too will be adding another 120 rooms in Taj Krishna and Taj Residency but not immediately," Mr Sethi said.
The calender is full till May 2006 in Hyderabad. According to Geeta Sudhesh, accommodation manager, Viceroy Hotels, all the star hotels in the city are full. "Usually, hotels in Hyderabad are full during October to March due to seminars and conferences. Of course, there will be some more pressure due to the forthcoming Congress plenary session and the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas in January next year," Ms Sudhesh said.
Other major events in the city include the silver jubilee celebrations of the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), slated to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a host of dignitaries including Sonia Gandhi, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and C Rangarajan, among others.
But the biggest jamboree will be the annual general meeting of the Asian Development Bank in May 2006, for which the government is trying to play the perfect host. “But hotel rooms cannot come up overnight. The gestation period is usually three to three-and-half years, though the government ha been encouraging,” says an industry observer. The biggest stumbling block, however, is rising real estate prices, which is making hoteliers think twice before breaking ground on new properties.
