- JLL: India hotel deals could near $1 billion this year.
- It recorded $567 million in hotel transactions last year.
- The country ranked fourth with $345 million in Q1 2026 hotel sales.
INDIA COULD SEE hotel transactions worth nearly $1 billion this year despite geopolitical uncertainties and travel disruptions, according to JLL. The country recorded $567 million in transactions in 2025, up 67 percent year over year.
Hotel transactions in India reached $345 million in the first quarter of 2026, up from $98 million a year earlier, placing the country among the top five APAC markets for the first time, JLL data showed.
"The most active investment markets historically have been Japan, China, Korea, Australia and Singapore, which together account for 70 to 80 percent of the region’s transaction volume," said Nihat Ercan, JLL CEO for Hotels and Hospitality Group for Asia Pacific. "What is interesting is that India entered the top five markets for the first time in the first quarter of 2026. Earlier, we projected India’s transaction volume at about half a billion dollars in 2026, but if the first-quarter momentum continues, sales activity could approach $1 billion this year."
Japan recorded $1 billion in hotel sales in the first quarter of 2026, followed by China at $724 million and South Korea at $471 million, according to JLL. India ranked fourth at $345 million, ahead of Australia at $235 million and accounted for 13 percent of the region’s transaction volume during the quarter.
Ercan said APAC transaction volume fell 20 percent year over year to $10.8 billion in 2025 from $13.3 billion in 2024.
"We have seen a strong momentum in transaction activity in the last quarter of 2025 that has continued into 2026,” Ercan said. “We are expecting transaction activity in excess of $13 billion in 2026."
Gaurav Sharma, JLL managing director for hotels in India and senior director for hotels capital markets in Asia, said listed entities have joined private equity firms and family offices in investing in India.
"All of them are looking for opportunities to invest, so the market will get stronger in India," he said. "Global issues keep cropping up, but the larger investment community is getting used to it. New destinations are being explored in India and more hotels are being signed. People are continuing to build and the signing activity is another indication that investors believe in the asset class."
Ercan said strong domestic demand in India and other APAC markets is sustaining travel and tourism demand.
"Investors are looking at India as a growth market. Sentiments for hospitality assets across the region are quite strong. That's driving the volume of activity," he said. "A sustained or prolonged conflict is not good for anyone, but the investors that we are talking to, see long-term potential and opportunity not just in India but across APAC markets as well."
A recent TeamLease Services report said India’s travel and hospitality sector is projected to record a net employment change of 5.1 percent in the first half of 2026-27, with hiring increasingly tied to demand.
