Chhatwal: India's top 15 tourism destinations will collapse without new alternatives
Puneet Chhatwal · Why A 25-Year-Old Should Build A Hotel, Not An App | MakeMyTrip x Taj | WTF is Travel? · Sep 9, 2026 · at 1:34:02
IHCL CEO Puneet Chhatwal explains that overcrowding and infrastructural bottlenecks threaten India's top travel destinations unless new tourism hubs are developed.
0:00 / 0:22exact quote · 22.8s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“So in India, the entire tourism activity is concentrated in those 12 to 15 destinations. Absolutely. And I think we need to build the next 1520, 30, because the current destinations will collapse as the demand will far exceed the infrastructure as well as the supply available out there.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Puneet Chhatwal
Chhatwal: 25-year-olds should build budget hotels instead of AI platforms
“I would tell the 25 year old there's enough platforms, there are enough people working on AI, there's a lot of competitor overcrowding, don't go there, start a boutique hotel business, or start very nice, clean, budget hotel business, and you will have a lot o…”
Chhatwal: India should not try to compete with China
“Whatever industry India goes for, my recommendation would be, please don't compete with China.”
Chhatwal: Replacing Indian hospitality workers with robots is socially irresponsible
“Actually, should we be doing it? My answer would be no. It's not very socially responsible. We have a young demographic population, ah, to our advantage. So either we get the robots to help people find jobs, or we should not replace human beings with robots. W…”
Chhatwal: Robots will automate budget hotels, but never luxury hospitality
“It is happening. As we speak, it's happening, but definitely not upscale, upper upscale in Lakshmi. How, see, if you go to a wedding, you'll have only robots serving you. That's not going to happen.”
Chhatwal: Pure asset-light hotel model is not India's future
“Not really. Not in India. So we are talking about India, right? India is still a very promoter driven country and In order to qualify for prime piece of, ah, any kind of real estate and to be able to participate in those RFPs, need to find the model, and even …”