Improving economic environment, growth in number of offices, expansion of businesses and industry-friendly reforms including the GST reduction to 18 per cent for premium and luxury hotels, have contributed to growth in RevPAR across most top Indian markets. Nine out of top 11 markets witnessed a rise in RevPAR performance during the July-September 2019 period according to the Hotel Momentum India (HMI) – Q3 2019, the third quarter hospitality monitor (for July to September 2019 period), released by JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group. As per HMI, while Mumbai ranked on top in absolute terms, Bengaluru led in RevPAR percentage change in both during the third quarter as well as YTD September 2019 over the same period last year. During the quarter, the Bengaluru followed by Hyderabad and Gurugram witnessed the maximum change in ADR, the HMI added. Ahmedabad and Goa have been the only exception to the trend. “First nine months of the year (January-September 2019) have been exciting for the entire industry. While there have been some positive developments on the reforms front, country’s strong and stable services sector continues to fuel up the commercial real estate market. This has a direct bearing on hotels sector, which is highly dependent on the performance of the services industry across India’s top cities,” said Jaideep Dang, Managing Director, Hotels and Hospitality Group, India, JLL. “The industry is hopeful that a similar momentum will be maintained in 2020 as well,” he added.     Branded Hotel Openings Branded Hotel Signings   No. of Hotels No. of Keys No. of Hotels No. of Keys Q3 2019 22 1474 36 2867 Q3 2018 21 1757 35 3422 Source: JLL Hotels and Hospitality Group The HMI added the branded hotel signings in the third quarter (July-Sept quarter) of 2019 as compared to the corresponding period in 2018 has remained consistent, indicating stability in the market. During the same period, the country witnessed a total of 36 hotel signings, comprising of 2,867 keys as compared to 35 hotels comprising of 3,422 keys. It is the upscale and midscale hotel brands that have contributed the maximum to the signings during the period, according to the update. “Year 2019 is expected to end on a good note, both for real estate markets and the hotels sector. Consistency in hotel signings suggest that there is strong demand in the market,” Dang added.