India hotel deals nearly triple to $493 million in H1 2026

New Delhi: The first half of this calendar year witnessed transactions worth $493 million in hotel properties in India, nearly three times more than a year earlier, show data from JLL.

The commercial real estate services company has revised its forecast of hotel transactions in calendar 2026 to about $1.1 billion, up 94% compared with $567 million in 2025. India ranked fifth in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of hotel transaction activity in the six-month period ended June 30, said Gaurav Sharma, managing director - Hotels, India and senior director - Hotels Capital Markets, Asia at JLL.

The luxury segment held the highest share in firsthalf transaction volumes at 52%, followed by the upscale (35%), upper-upscale (12%) and economy (1%) categories, show the data. Tier-II and -III cities dominated in hotel transactions, accounting for approximately 60% of hotel transactions in the first half of calendar year 2026. Tier-I cities represented 40%.


A senior JLL executive told ET in May that India could see hotel transactions worth nearly $1 billion this year despite the ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and travel disruptions.

Transactions totalled $345 million in the first quarter, up from $98 million a year earlier, according to the data. “The most active investment markets historically have been Japan, China, Korea, Australia and Singapore, and collectively these markets account for 70-80% of the transactions volume in the region,” Nihat Ercan, CEO of the Hotels and Hospitality Group, Asia Pacific at JLL, told ET in May.

As per JLL, Japan recorded about $1 billion worth of sales in quarter one of 2026, followed by China ($724 million) and South Korea ($471 million). India came in fourth at $345 million and Australia followed at $235 million. India accounted for 13% of the quarterone transaction volume for the region.