How do convention centres fit as a necessary component when hotels being built go into multi-utility mode? As you scroll down the data on the inventory being added in India and the speculations thereof, the Indian hotel industry has never had it so good:
Around 100,000 additional branded hotel rooms are in the pipeline through 2030, according to NITI Aayog, taking branded inventory substantially higher from its 2024 base of roughly 200,000 rooms. HVS’s Asia-Pacific outlook identifies 950+ hotels and more than 104,000 keys by 2029, with projected overall room growth of about 9.5% CAGR from 2025 to 2029, while CBRE estimates that listed hotel operators alone could add more than 70,000 rooms by 2030. Even JLL’s report indicates that branded hotel signings reached 51,647 keys across 424 hotels in 2025, up 23% year-on-year, with 71% concentrated in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
As the demand to create wealth meets new venues to host events, India seems to have hit a sweet spot, with more infrastructure being inaugurated. City-based Convention Centre infrastructure is at an all-time high, with venues for mega conventions for over 5000 delegates being commissioned as we speak. The rise of multi-sized, multi-utility stand-alone convention centres will surely impact demand for hotel convention centres and their ballroom-focused business model. As event managers, wedding planners, and companies seek more independent operational advantages, hotels will have to move with the changing client requirements.
While leading MICE hotels have used their brand value to pull in events, independent convention centres will take their service standards to a level to match the holistic services a discerning hotel provides. Soon, hotel-run banquet halls and convention infrastructure may operate independently and be marketed as a brand with its own P&L.
Hotels in India are seeing multi-specialised value propositions at a rate that was seldom seen before. As multi-brands and sub-brands to a tune of over 100 emerge on the Indian hospitality skyline, it is only a matter of time before profit centres such as convention spaces, restaurants, gymnasiums, or, for that matter, even laundry services will have to be siphoned off as a unique brand identity.
A day when you will have branded and franchised event spaces is not far. Creating and managing an ‘event space brand’ will bring in event standards, improved guest feedback and enhanced occupancies. Creating unique brand identities and a focus for event spaces will also attract branded hotels, especially in the four- and five-star segment. It is not far behind that; with increased demand for more technology and enhanced client requirements, an era of specialised companies managing event spaces is not far behind! Outsourced Venue Management!
Coherent Market Insights stated in its 2025 report that ‘India meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions market is estimated to be valued at USD 4.59 billion in 2026 and is expected to reach USD 14.62 billion in 2033, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18% from 2026 to 2033.’
The Indian Exhibition Industry Association (IEIA) values the Indian trade fair industry at USD 49.4 billion in 2024 and projects it to grow to USD 103.7 billion by 2030.
The need for mega event spaces will be the vital cog in the wheel if India targets a 5-7 trillion-dollar economy in the next decade. The planned mega convention and exhibition centres will catalyse economic activity and create marketplaces. Indian industry needs bigger event spaces, which will only spruce up economic activity. The desire, especially in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, to play host to these mega event venues will only add to the economic fortune, along with the proliferation of new airports. More than tourism departments seeking event infrastructure, it would add more value to the city if it were a mandatory objective of every municipal corporation.
Every mega convention or exhibition centre brings in an ecosystem with varied hotel options, retail spaces and office networks in the vicinity. One industry benchmark noted that ‘a 10,000-delegate convention could generate demand for nearly 2,000 rooms at the primary hotel cluster and 3,000 rooms across surrounding hotels, restaurants, transport, DMC services, entertainment, and shopping. When you bring in the component of pre- and post-tours, the ability of the state to generate sizeable taxes can only bring in validation of manifesting an enhanced convention facility.
The country’s business-events economy is on a new trajectory. It is already happening in some cities, where event venues are integrating with mega hotel inventory nearby to create a sizeable economic ecosystem. There is an incoming challenge to the traditional hotel-led meeting model, but at the same time there is an opportunity to connect accommodations, venues, business networking, connectivity, technology and experiences into a unique MICE ecosystem.
The option will not be about choosing between hotels and convention centres; it will be about who can create the most attractive ecosystem around the delegate or an event. Standalone convention centres and mega event spaces bring scale, while hotels bring inventory, hospitality and the vital human touch. India has the infrastructure ambition, the market and an appetite for creating demand. What it needs now is a practical integration. Because the future of MICE may not belong to the biggest or most expensive venue—it will belong to the destination that makes the biggest event feel like the most memorable journey.