Oases of peace for stress-out cities

Bangalore. 7 stars, the best and most expensive hotel in India - Peter Leitgeb, President of the The Leela Palaces and Resorts hotel group has high ambitions for the hotel group's flagship in Bangalore. Reality is thus all the more sobering. The images of a spa visit rule out all traces of star glamour.

Delhi. This year, India is the partner country of the ITB, the world's biggest tourism fair, which starts next Wednesday in Berlin. For a good reason: The year 2006 could not have been better for the Indian hotel industry. The room rates have increased further, the occupancy remains high, although some people are not willing to pay the high rates any longer. In addition, investments of 4.53 billion USD dollars are expected to close the wide gap between supply and demand. - A research in the country, complemented by a new HVS market study about India and a survey about increasing salaries in Asia-Pacific.

Delhi. India's hotel industry is booming, as the hotel market overview of last issue demonstrated. However, signs for expansion are not only observed in the top segments. It is still unclear though whether the planned budget hotels will be able to maintain their drastically increased property rates in the long term. Now, the government has decided to support the enormous demand: It is approaching families and encouraging them to convert their houses into B&B.