Global tensions have failed to deter demand for travel: Hyatt Asia Pacific Prez David Udell

New Delhi: Travel demand remains resilient despite geopolitical uncertainties, with travellers simply rerouting rather than cancelling plans, a trend that is benefitting other Asia Pacific markets, regional leaders at Hyatt told ET.

“People haven’t stopped travelling — they are just rearranging and postponing plans,” said David Udell, group president, Asia Pacific at Hyatt.

Udell pointed to Japan as an example, where destinations like Kyoto and Kobe are witnessing a surge in Indian tourists. Udell said the chain continues to see strong, sustained confidence in the India market, reflected in its pipeline of close to 100 hotels. This month, the chain appointed Vikas Chawla to the newly created senior role of president, India and Southwest Asia.


Hyatt has 370 hotels across 17 brands in Asia Pacific (including Greater China), spanning 90,000 keys as of 2025.

It currently has 55 hotels in India and Southwest Asia across 9 brands, with over 10,500 keys. The chain’s India openings for 2026 include new hotels in Bhopal, Bengaluru, Jaipur, and Lansdowne, including the brand debut of Destination by Hyatt in the fourth quarter of 2026. Udell said a key structural shift supporting the hospitality sector in India has been the rise of domestic tourism following the Covid-19 pandemic.

“One of the silver linings of Covid was that Indians discovered the depth of domestic travel. There is a treasure trove of destinations within the country,” said Udell, adding that this trend is now a significant and durable contributor to hospitality growth. Stephen Ho, president, greater China and growth, Asia Pacific, at Hyatt, said the chain is not seeing projects slow down.

“Developers are building for the next five to ten years,” said Ho, citing examples of large-scale hotel developments, including projects with as many as 600 rooms — significantly larger than the traditional 200–250 room hotels being considered in India. Ho said Hyatt will explore partnerships and “inorganic” growth opportunities in India, but with a differentiated approach.

“Instead of focusing purely on franchise or management deals, we will look at creating unique, experience-led offerings tailored to the Indian market,” he added.

Despite intensifying competition from global and domestic chains, Udell said Hyatt remains focused on quality over scale.

“A lot of big companies are driven by a sort of a quarter-by-quarter march to analysts to show growth. Growth is important for us, and we have the largest number of members in terms of the number of hotel rooms that we have operating,” said Udell.

“But the key is to build brand differentiators and develop bespoke hotels where people want to travel. Some of these unique destinations in India are very important for that bespoke push. We also want to dominate the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions space in India and explore opportunities in the F&B space,” he added.