As the ongoing pandemic has severely impacted India's hotel industry, the sector has recorded a 43.5% fall in Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) for the first half of 2020 on a year-on-year basis, according to a report by JLL. All key 11 markets in India reported a decrease in RevPAR Performance in Q2 over the same period last year, showed the report titled 'Hotel Momentum India (HMI) Q2 2020'.

"Overall, in terms of inventory volume, brand signings declined by 83 per cent in Q2 2020 over Q2 2019, however international operators signed a greater number of keys than domestic peers. Room and F&B demand continue to remain minimal amidst lockdowns and partial openings," it said.

Mumbai continues to be the RevPAR leader in absolute terms, despite the decline of RevPAR by 81% in Q2 2020 compared to Q2 2019, said the report, adding that Goa saw the sharpest decline in RevPAR in Q2 2020, with a 93.9% drop compared to the same period in the previous year.

International hotel operators dominated signings over domestic operators with the ratio of 63:37 in terms of inventory volume, as per the report.

Other cities such as Kolkata (88.9%), Bengaluru (88.5%), and Ahmedabad (85.5%) also witnessed sharp decline in performance.

"Whilst hotels in certain cities opened in early June, guests have not yet returned. We believe that demand in business cities will take time to recover and it will only happen when companies allow their employees to travel through their revised travel advisories. Leisure demand may pick up around large cities wherein close friends and family groups may start travelling by road in the coming months," it said.

Jaideep Dang, Managing Director, Hotels & Hospitality Group (India), JLL, said: "Investors are taking a sharper interest in exploring operational hotel opportunities. Conversations are progressing, but site visits are still out of bounds and hence transactions and development activity has not yet begun. However, we remain confident that activity will resume in the medium-term."