ET BureauAlternative accommodation providers such as Vista Rooms, SaffronStays, Airbnb and Lohono Stays will continue with their expansion plans, despite declining Covid-19 cases and hotel rooms filling up again.
Providers feel the demand for alternative accommodation, which was spurred by the pandemic, would not subside despite the waning Covid cases. Over the next three years, Vista Rooms is aiming to add 2,000 holiday homes to the about 500 facilities it currently has, and take annual revenue to ₹1,000 crore from ₹120 crore, cofounder Amit Damani said.
"In FY20, we were roughly at around ₹40 crore of sales. In the financial year 2022, we have more or less tripled. From about 500 homes, this year itself, we are looking at adding around 800-900 homes. And this would be across key markets, the typical holiday destinations that people get away from larger cities," said Damani.
"What would have taken five years is taking place in two years in terms of awareness for this segment. People will get back to offices but there will be people who will continue working from anywhere. The majority of people anyway stay with us for two to three days, and that is continuing," he added.
Amanpreet Bajaj, general manager for India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan at Airbnb, said one of the key priorities for the company for 2022 and beyond was unlocking the next generation of hosts around the world.
"We continue to work to grow our host community in India so more people and communities can share in the benefits of travel. We continue to see people embracing new ways of traveling and living as they become increasingly untethered from their offices," he said.
"People are looking to explore more places, stay for longer and travel at off-peak times. This travel revolution is also presenting new opportunities for people to become hosts and benefit from this newfound flexibility that's being embraced by travellers," he added.
Devendra Parulekar, founder of SaffronStays, said the firm was adding 25-30 homes per month in 16 chosen sectors across seven Indian states: Maharashtra, Goa, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Parulekar said private villas, which were more on the fringe, had become the preferred choice of getaways even among 5-Star and 7-Star 'loyalists' due to the privacy they offered.
Providers feel the demand for alternative accommodation, which was spurred by the pandemic, would not subside despite the waning Covid cases. Over the next three years, Vista Rooms is aiming to add 2,000 holiday homes to the about 500 facilities it currently has, and take annual revenue to ₹1,000 crore from ₹120 crore, cofounder Amit Damani said.
"In FY20, we were roughly at around ₹40 crore of sales. In the financial year 2022, we have more or less tripled. From about 500 homes, this year itself, we are looking at adding around 800-900 homes. And this would be across key markets, the typical holiday destinations that people get away from larger cities," said Damani.
"What would have taken five years is taking place in two years in terms of awareness for this segment. People will get back to offices but there will be people who will continue working from anywhere. The majority of people anyway stay with us for two to three days, and that is continuing," he added.
Amanpreet Bajaj, general manager for India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan at Airbnb, said one of the key priorities for the company for 2022 and beyond was unlocking the next generation of hosts around the world.
"We continue to work to grow our host community in India so more people and communities can share in the benefits of travel. We continue to see people embracing new ways of traveling and living as they become increasingly untethered from their offices," he said.
"People are looking to explore more places, stay for longer and travel at off-peak times. This travel revolution is also presenting new opportunities for people to become hosts and benefit from this newfound flexibility that's being embraced by travellers," he added.
Devendra Parulekar, founder of SaffronStays, said the firm was adding 25-30 homes per month in 16 chosen sectors across seven Indian states: Maharashtra, Goa, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Parulekar said private villas, which were more on the fringe, had become the preferred choice of getaways even among 5-Star and 7-Star 'loyalists' due to the privacy they offered.
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