Insight certainty 4/5 debate potential 2/5

Chhatwal: Wildlife lodges are hard to make viable due to six-month shutdowns

Puneet Chhatwal · Why A 25-Year-Old Should Build A Hotel, Not An App | MakeMyTrip x Taj | WTF is Travel? · Sep 9, 2026 · at 3:13:43

Puneet Chhatwal (MD & CEO of IHCL/Taj) explains the operational economics and financial viability challenges of boutique wildlife safari lodges.

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“There is, but that is the one which is more difficult to be a good financial value, because those are small lodges, 12, 1418, 20 rooms. They get a good rate, but they also shut down four, five, six months in a year sometimes. So you have to make all that business within six months for it to be viable over a year.”

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