VINOD KUMAR
Transient and group on the rise
The year 2018 has been great in terms of transient and group segments. While growth in transient ADR was primarily supported by a three per cent increase in corporate ADR, retail returned a 1.5 per cent growth as compared to 2017. While city supply increased by 10.3 per cent for 2018 (upper upscale segment contributed 42 per cent of the growth in supply followed by the luxury segment at 21 per cent), during YTD September 2018, Bengaluru grew four per cent in REVPAR driven by ADR growth of seven per cent. Occupancy dropped by 2.9 per cent; ADR growth was led by Whitefield and ORR submarkets at 14.3 per cent compared to last year. Excluding Marriott properties, the city REVPAR growth came down to 3.2 per cent as against Marriott properties at 7.5 per cent.
Building a base
The market witnessed a 12.6 per cent increase in branded supply with opening of The Den and
Sheraton Whitefield. Ramp up of these properties has led to a share shift, especially in the group and MICE segments, resulting in a 5.4 per cent drop as opposed to the previous year in the group volumes for the property. A primary mitigation plan to overcome the added supply was to safeguard our top corporate accounts by offering open availability to build base due to lost group share. This resulted in a three per cent volume increase in the transient segment.