Goa, May 20 (IANS): India's hospitality industry witnessed a decline of 38.7 per cent in revenue per available room (RevPAR) during Q1 2021 as compared to Q1 2020, according to JLL's Hotel Momentum India (HMI) Q1 2021, a quarterly hospitality sector monitor.

Additionally, RevPAR in the top six cities has decreased by 48 per cent in Q1 2021 as compared to Q1 2020.

The recovery of the sector has been primarily driven by leisure segment performing notably well. Total number of signings in Q1 2021 stood at 28 hotels comprising of 2,064 keys, recording a decline of 53 per cent compared to the same period last year. International operators dominated signings over domestic operators with the ratio of 54:46 in terms of inventory volume.

Goa grew to be the RevPAR leader in absolute terms, despite the single digit decline of RevPAR by 1.1 percent in Q1 2021 compared to Q1 2020. This was due to a 6.4 per cent increase in occupancy levels. Demand for domestic leisure travel amidst international travel restrictions continues to make Goa the fastest recovering market in absolute term.

Bengaluru saw the sharpest decline in RevPAR in Q1 2021, with a 60.6 per cent decline compared to the same period of the previous year.

Demand and supply of operational inventory in six major cities declined by 6.7 per cent and 4.2 per cent respectively in the first quarter of 2021.

"In Q1 2021, hospitality industry witnessed a revival, with most leisure markets performing exceptionally well. The pace of recovery started picking up due to increase in corporate travel but it was short lived as the onset of second wave brought back travel restrictions and derailed the recovery. We expect that the hospitality sector in India will mostly remain under stress in 2021", said Jaideep Dang, Managing Director, Hotels and Hospitality Group, South Asia, JLL.