As hotels seek quality talent, salaries of senior roles see substantial jump

New Delhi: Pay packages for general managers and other senior hospitality executives have grown substantially over the past few years, propelled by the aggressive expansion targets of hotel chains and a shortage of quality talent, industry insiders and headhunters familiar with matters told ET.

The fixed pay for GMs in luxury and upscale hotels has increased by 40-75% in the last three years, said Sridhar KR, founding member at recruitment platform The Job Plus. “This is not an annual increment cycle at work. It is a reset of what a hotel owner has to pay to get a proven general manager.”

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Natwar Nagar, founder and CEO of The People Network and The Job Plus, said the 40-75% pay increase is visible in other critical positions, such as sales and marketing heads, revenue leaders and executive chefs.

According to the India Hotel Compensation Survey 2025-2026 co-authored by Nagar and Sridhar, a luxury hotel general manager in the upper quartile now earns Rs 1.23 crore a year, compared with Rs 70-88 lakh three years ago.

Nikita Garg, partner, real estate, at Hunt Partners said a GM at a luxury hotel could earn as much as Rs 1.25 crore excluding stock options. “Overall, key roles in operations, projects, design and technical services are also seeing an uptick,” she added.

Even in tier-II locations, general managers are earning Rs 75-80 lakh compared with Rs 45-50 lakh in 2022-2023, Garg said.

Vikram Chhachhi, managing partner, Asia, at executive search firm DHR Global, said with a 9-10% increase in base pay every year (higher than the rest of the consumer sector), hospitality GM compensations have grown considerably, especially, when the bonuses and long-term incentives are added.

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“In the luxury segment, general manager salaries could be in the region of Rs 1.15-1.25 crore. Upper-quartile annual pay for other senior roles like CFOs or heads of finance; executive chefs; director HR/CHRO (unit level, not companywide); chief engineer/utilities/operations have also risen at least 25-30% over the past five years,” he added.

Kanav Mata, director and regional head for India, South Asia & Middle East at EHL Hospitality Business School said as the pool of experienced general managers shrinks, stronger compensation packages would become increasingly necessary, especially in a career as demanding as hospitality in terms of hours, responsibility and work-life balance.

“General managers who are qualified and skilled in stakeholder management, business strategy and financial performance will command higher compensation than simply operational general managers,” he said.