Add a new room in 3 days: the new luxury package hotel, Hospitality News, ET HospitalityWorld

I’m old enough to remember train stations with thousands of people carrying their blankets and people with water bottles rushing to the “drinking water” tap at each station. fiat was a generation of LTA (Leave Travel Allowance) migrants making their annual journey home.

Before that, there was the Work ‘n Worship generation, who traveled only for work or on pilgrimage. And now? We have the Insta-gen, who only travels for themselves and for Instagram.

The Insta-gen are very demanding and their needs are very, very different. Fiis is forcing the hotel industry to review its offerings. This makes the industry exciting and one to watch (and invest in, if you have some money saved under your bed).

The travel market in India is expected to reach $125 billion by 2027 and the number of international tourists is expected to reach 30.5 million by 2028. In 2023, even as the industry was recovering from the impact of the pandemic, India added 14,000 hotel rooms. By 2027, India will add more than 60,000 hotel rooms to the 183,000 rooms currently available (single brand, of course).

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The question we ask ourselves here is: how do hoteliers perceive these new keys?

In addition to standard hotel and resort rooms, hoteliers are now adding unique experiences. Because Insta-gen don’t just travel for destinations, they want to make every trip special. Although they still represent only a small segment of the tourist population, the industry understands that this will be a trend in the future.

How to make stays unusual and experiential? Today’s hotelier has some new options. And flat part concepts are leading the way, that is, parts that can be transported and assembled by plane. (If you’ve been thinking about the standard prefab house/room, let me assure you that what’s available now is much more exciting than that.)

When it comes to flat packs, yurts are today the first choice in Europe, the United States and now India. Yurts first emerged as the best option for glamping. As glamping became popular, yurts became more common in vacation destinations in Europe and the United States. They gave the traveler the camping experience with all the comfort and glamour.

Other flat pack options include container rooms, geodesic domes and of course, traditional luxury tents. They can all be quickly assembled, the interiors made and the keys made available.

Yurts available in India are made from construction-grade treated lumber, stitched architectural fabric, flat-packed and shipped to the destination. They can be assembled on site in just a few days by trained installation teams. This means there is absolutely no disruption to the construction site: regular station operations can continue without issue while the yurts are installed.

Flat pack rooms make the most sense for a hotelier wanting to add keys. Fiery can build this much faster than traditional construction. Fire can start anywhere: beach, mountain or forest. There is no disturbance. And you could sell their rooms in a few days.

For the hotelier, these also have advantages in terms of personalization. Yurts, for example, come in several sizes: you can have single bedroom yurts, double bedroom yurts and yurt villas. These are also two-level luxury yurts for deeper pockets. While container rooms can be a bit restrictive and claustrophobic in terms of size, tents and yurts are much more accommodating and adaptable in terms of space and layout.

The popularity of these ideas can be seen in the fact that shipping containers and yurts are now segments on AirBnB. Guests are tired of hotel and resort rooms and want something unique. For them, it’s not just the destination that matters (as was the case for the previous generation). For the new traveler, the stay must also be unique: the means count as much as the waterfall at the end.

The advantage of luxury yurts and tents is that they can bravely go where traditional constructions cannot. In environmentally sensitive areas like coastal and wildlife areas, where construction is prohibited, ideas like the yurt make sense: they are temporary structures offering all the comforts of a traditional room. You can be as close as possible to the beach and wildlife (preferably herbivorous) while still living comfortably. Not all flat pack ideas are eco-friendly and sustainable, but tents and yurts are. And hence, these become ideal for sensitive areas.

Starting from Gujarat and ending in West Bengal, India’s coastline stretches for 6,100 km. Add Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar, and it goes up to 7517. There are many beaches, many Indians and many international tourists visiting. What we need is lots of eco-friendly rooms. And that’s what the packers promise.

The author, Lawrence Tony, is co-founder of The Out Factory. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of ET HospitalityWorld.

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