Dear Shareholders,
I am pleased to present to you the Annual Report of Graviss Hospitality Limited (GHL),
my second year, as the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, that is celebrating its
61st anniversary this year.
As the world is now slowly recovering from the COVID-19 outbreak, there is no doubt
that the pandemic changed the world as we know it. The pandemic brought the parts of the
world economy, especially the travel and hospitality industry to a near standstill,
however in the year 2021-22 the economy started its slow walk towards a semblance of
recovery.
The impact of COVID-19 on the Indian hotel sector was quite devasting with India's
average occupancy that was at ~65% in 2019, plummeted to as low as a single digit in some
months and locations throughout 2020 and 2021, greatly hurting the industry's overall
performance. This was only made worse by the second and third waves of the Delta and
Omicron variants of the virus which resulted in further lockdowns and restrictions over
the year While were partial lifting of restrictions on travel and dining in restaurants
throughout the country the same resumed on a full-fledged basis only during the second
half of the year.
While the industry recovered significantly in 2021, the year was not without
pandemic-related setbacks, as the appearance of a new COVID strain caused temporary
hurdles in the sector's recovery. Travellers and hotel industry players, on the other
hand, continued to adapt to the changing scenario and find new methods to move forward.
Driven by a strong recovery in demand, average room rates began to improve after the
second wave and are gradually approaching pre-COVID levels.
The global hotel industry continues to navigate challenges stemming from the pandemic
as well as more recent headwinds from labour shortages, inflation, and geopolitical
concerns. Despite these, the industry posted a strong showing in the financial year,
growing at 4.6%, with a particularly good performance in Asia.
The Indian hospitality industry has witnessed healthy recovery from mid-February 2022
aided by leisure, transient demand, weddings and gradual pickup in business travel. While
demand was impacted in January 2022 and for the first two weeks of February 2022 because
of the Omicron wave, normalcy has returned at a much faster pace compared to that during
Covid 2.0. Further, the impact on hotel demand during the third wave was relatively
shorter at about 4-5 weeks compared to 10-12 weeks in Covid 2.0. While the possibility of
a fourth Covid wave cannot be ruled out, the increasing vaccination coverage and reducing
disruption with each Covid19 wave provide comfort. On account of which, your Company has
also recovered losses.
The InterContinental, Marine Drive, the hotel unit of the Company has recovered
considerably during the past year owing to the ease on travel restrictions by the
Government, the steady decline of Covid cases, and resurgence of domestic as well as some
inbound international travel The Company has earned a revenue from operations of Rs. 2877
lakhs in the financial year ended 31st March, 2022 which is more than thrice that of
previous year. The Company aims to go back to pre-covid or even better numbers in the
current year and has been making continuous efforts towards the achievement of that goal.
Good business ethics and governance are key towards building strong and successful
companies. As in the past, your Company has always ensured that sustainability is given
its due importance in its business activities and established adequate processes and
resources to manage and monitor sustainability initiatives. Your Company has shown that it
adheres to these even during the most testing of times faced by the hospitality industry.
Before closing, I would like to express my sincere thanks to our Board Members for
their continued support. I express my sincere gratitude to all the shareholders,
customers, creditors and friends across the world for placing their trust in us. And most
importantly, a note of thanks to the team members and colleagues- who are our key driving
force and biggest assets, for their passion towards the continued stability and growth of
the Company.
I count on your continued support as we aspire to get back on our feet into a post
pandemic world with a drive towards profitable growth and maximising value for all our
stakeholders in a sustainable manner.
Best Regards,
Romil Ratra
Chairman.