Jodhpur, popularly referred to as the ‘Sun City’ of India due to the sunny weather the city enjoys for most of the year, is one of the emerging hospitality destinations within India. It is also referred to as the Blue City due to the blue-painted houses around the Mehrangarh Fort.
The city has also witnessed interest from the central and state education departments. Existing major institutions include IIT, Rajasthan, National Law University, Jodhpur,Jodhpur National University, NIFT, Ayurveda University and Jai Narayan Vyas University. MBM Engineering College is the world’s only institute which owns mines. Also a new campus of All India Institute of Medical Sciences is going to be established in Central Arid Zone Research Institute campus. It is also India’s largest hub for preparation of CA entrance. These developments would, in turn, ensure quality working population and result in sustainable growth momentum for the city in physical and social infrastructure.
Geographically, Jodhpur is located at the centre of Rajasthan and is well connected by rail, road and air. Jodhpur also serves as the base for tourists who travel to various destinations in Rajasthan. Being centrally located, it is convenient to visit other places of interest such as Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Kumbalgarh, Chittorgarh, Ajmer and Pushkar.
Export of handicrafts is an important business in Jodhpur. Handicrafts are manufactured and exported to various parts of the world, especially Eastern Europe, thus the city has become a trading centre for resulting in many foreign nationals travelling to Jodhpur to source handicrafts from here.
Being primarily a tourist destination, the economy of Jodhpur is dependent on local industries such as handicrafts and heritage and culture tourism which have witnessed sustained growth due to the steady growth of domestic and international tourism growth. The city has also witnessed significant demand from the destination weddings segment. Besides tourism and export of handicrafts, demand for hospitality also arises from BFSI sector and other industries such as textiles, metal utensils, glass bangles, cutlery, carpets and marble products, ink and sporting goods.
Although hospitality is the essence of the place, the hospitality market is not very organised in the city. Many small palace-havelis have been converted into hotels and guest houses to provide accommodation to the tourists. The first branded hotel that came into being was The Umaid Bhawan Palace. The royal family still resides in a part of this palace which makes it one of the world’s largest private residences. In 1979, the royal family decided to convert a major part of this palace into a hotel. Since then, this iconic structure is divided into three functional parts – a luxury hotel, the residence of the erstwhile royal family, and a museum focusing on the 20th century history of the Jodhpur royal family. Marudhar Hotels, a hospitality company chaired by Maharaja Gaj Singh II, entered into a contract for 20 years with ITC WelcomGroup to manage and run the hotel operations of this palace. After the expiry of the contract, the hotel was briefly managed by the Aman Resorts. At present, the hotel is managed by Taj Hotels & Resorts. The hotel now is a heritage hotel and a member of the Leading Small Hotels of the World.
Since the success of this trend, many local hoteliers set up their hotels. The owners of small palaces and havelis modified and converted their residential properties into hotels. These properties are popularly known as heritage hotels.
A few brands have entered the hospitality market. This has propelled the hotel business towards getting organised. Now, Taj Hotels & Resorts operate and manage three properties in Jodhpur – Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace, Taj Hari Mahal and The Gateway Hotel. ITC WelcomGroup manages Bal Samand Lake Palace and a few other palace hotels around Jodhpur. Sarovar Hotels made its entry with The Park Plaza in late 2007. Mapple Hotels operates Mapple Abhay and Peppermint is currently exploring options to set up a hotel in Jodhpur.
Broadly speaking, the hotels in Jodhpur can be categorised as city hotels – in and around and the old city, airport hotels – near the airport, and suburban hotels – located on the outskirts of the city. Many of these hotels are old havelis which have been converted into hotels.
Being a tourist destination, seasonality defines the demand trend. From October to mid March, the hotels experience healthy occupancy rates and room revenues. This is the peak season as the weather is conducive to tourist visits and many fairs and festivals are organised during this season. Identifying the effect of this seasonality, hotels here offer peak season and off season rates.
MICE is a growing segment in the city and during the off peak season, this segment keeps the occupancy rates healthy for a few months. The months of May and June are exceptionally hot and see very little demand for hotel accommodation.
The market wide ARR for the hotels during 2011-12 is estimated to be `6,900. It represents an increase of approximately 5% from the ARR for the previous year.
The occupancy rates are very modest in the city. During the peak season, the occupancy rate is as high as 80% to 90% and during off-peak season, it is as low as 40% to 45%. Therefore, the average year end occupancy levels are approximately 60% for the year.
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