June 1 : A June 2025 study by The Harris Poll, commissioned by Preferred Hotels & Resorts, found that nearly 70 percent of affluent global travelers believe modern luxury hotels have lost their soul to standardisation. More than 90 percent actively seek stays that immerse them in the culture and history of a destination rather than simply allowing them to observe it. For India’s resort operators, this is not a passing consumer sentiment. It is the new competitive brief.
India’s resort market generated USD 14 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 44.7 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 21.8 percent, the highest among all resort markets in the Asia Pacific region. The fastest growing segments reveal where demand is heading. Eco resorts are leading growth, wellness formats continue to outperform conventional luxury offerings, and the branded villa segment, the most experience driven category in the market, is projected to expand at a CAGR of 33.2 percent through 2028.
The market is not merely expanding. It is growing fastest at its most experiential end.
Key Market IndicatorS
The Shift Underway
For decades, India’s resort sector differentiated itself through location, amenities and pricing. Brand identity, where it existed, was largely cosmetic.
That model is now being challenged from two directions simultaneously. A younger domestic traveler cohort, shaped by global platforms and international travel exposure, is entering the market with fundamentally different expectations. At the same time, international hospitality brands entering India are bringing experience frameworks refined across multiple global destinations.
The benchmark is no longer defined by service quality alone. It is increasingly measured by brand coherence, narrative depth and experience architecture.
Properties that have embraced this shift by integrating local craft traditions, regional culinary heritage and ecological immersion into the stay experience are reporting longer guest stays, higher ancillary spending and stronger organic social media amplification. These are outcomes that no paid marketing campaign can consistently replicate.
Properties that have not adapted are discovering that room tariffs alone are no longer enough to retain guests who now have global alternatives at their fingertips.
Gary Grewal, Co Founder Director of EuMo DesignIntelligence, an alumnus of Sherwood College, Nainital and the National Institute of Design , Ahmedabad, has built a spatial and experience design practice spanning hospitality, destinations and visitor environments. His work includes projects such as The Ultimate Travelling Camp and Forest Hill Resort to name a few.
According to Mr Grewal, the industry is witnessing more than a trend. It is witnessing a fundamental redefinition of what a resort brand is expected to deliver.
“The room was never the product. It was always the vessel. What the market now demands is that the experience is the product, and the room is simply where you sleep between experiences. The resort that has not made that shift is competing on price, and in a market where global operators are arriving with scale and capital, that is a race with only one destination.”
Gary Grewal, Co Founder Director, EuMo DesignIntelligence
India’s luxury hotel market is projected to grow from USD 3.64 billion in 2025 to USD 6.93 billion by 2031 (Mordor Intelligence). Within this segment, resorts are expected to outperform business hotels, growing at a CAGR of 13.2 percent.
India’s ultra high net worth population is projected to increase by 50.1 percent through 2028, with nearly one third of discretionary spending directed toward premium real estate and upscale experiences. Importantly, 55 percent of luxury consumption now originates outside India’s eight largest metropolitan markets, highlighting how demand for premium experiential stays has expanded far beyond traditional urban centres.
Space as Brand Communication
Grewal argues that resort design should never be viewed merely as a real estate decision. It is fundamentally a brand communication decision.
Every spatial sequence, material selection and curated interaction communicates something about the brand.
India’s remarkable cultural and ecological diversity, from the Western Ghats and Himalayan foothills to Kerala’s backwaters and Rajasthan’s heritage cities, offers hospitality operators a depth of storytelling that remains significantly underutilised.
A resort that treats its surroundings merely as scenery is making the same mistake as a brand that builds a flagship store and uses it like a warehouse. The environment is already communicating something. The question is whether that message is intentional.
“A resort in the Konkan or the Kumaon is a brand proposition that no competitor in Dubai or the Maldives can replicate. The question is whether operators are building toward that proposition or merely borrowing the scenery.”
Gary Grewal, Co Founder Director, EuMo DesignIntelligence
From Amenity to Identity
India’s branded hotel sector closed FY2023–24 with occupancy levels reaching 67.5 percent, the highest in a decade. Average Daily Rate (ADR) touched a record INR 8,055, while Revenue Per Available Room reached INR 5,439 .
ICRA forecasts that hospitality demand will continue to outpace supply by 8 to 10 percent through FY2028. This supply demand imbalance provides operators with a valuable window of opportunity. The question is how they choose to use it.
Will they strengthen their experiential proposition and deepen brand differentiation, or simply maximise revenue during a favourable cycle?
The answer may determine which properties continue commanding premium rates once market conditions become more competitive.
India’s first generation resort brands possess one advantage that international capital cannot purchase: cultural authenticity.
A property rooted in the living craft traditions of a district, the culinary heritage of a coastal community, or the seasonal rhythms of a mountain ecosystem offers something that cannot be replicated by a standardised 500 key international resort.
Yet this advantage becomes meaningful only when experience design serves as the organising principle of the brand rather than an afterthought.
India does not need more resorts. It needs more resort brands. Properties with a distinct point of view, strong enough to be irreplaceable, and the design conviction to express that point of view through every space, story and human interaction they create.