Mandeep S. Lamba: Reading the Pulse of Unstoppable India at HOPE 2026

Mandeep S. Lamba, President & CEO (South Asia), HVS ANAROCK, in an exclusive conversation with Kamal Gill, Executive Editor, Today’s Traveller, shares his thoughts on the forces shaping hospitality’s next chapter

As the Indian hospitality landscape approaches HOPE 2026 at Goa — the industry’s most exclusive summit for leadership, innovation and strategy — a set of questions pulse beneath the surface of every agenda item and panel discussion.

These are not operational checkboxes; they are the strategic and philosophical provocations shaping decisions at the highest levels.

Hosted by HVS ANAROCK in the leisure capital of Goa on February 26–27, 2026, HOPE (Hospitality Overview Presentation & Exchange) once again brings together the industry’s foremost leaders, investors, operators and thinkers — curated around a programme of peerless conversations, market insights, and forward-leaning debates.

Building on its evolution into India’s definitive hospitality conclave, the summit will feature sessions spanning global leadership views, the economics of travel’s next decade, capital investment and strategies, and real-world lessons from top hotel operators.

At the heart of HOPE 2026

At the centre of many of these dialogues stands Mandeep S. Lamba, President & CEO (South Asia), HVS ANAROCK — a seasoned industry voice with deep experience guiding research, market intelligence, and strategic direction for hospitality players across South Asia.

His moderations and LeaderSpeak engagements with global CEOs at HOPE mean the summit is not just about trends, but about how leaders are thinking through the shifts underway.

More than an Agenda

More than an agenda, HOPE 2026 is a crossroads of purpose and performance. From India’s ongoing boom in domestic travel to the pressures of supply and demand mismatches, post-pandemic reinvention, and the arrival of new business models, these issues reflect not only where the sector has reached but where it must choose to go next.

Before the Summit doors open, here are the questions already coursing through the industry’s bloodstream.

TT Bureau: What structural changes have occurred that make HOPE 2026 so different from the previous three editions? And how does the continued presence of global hospitality CEOs reinforce HOPE’s growing global relevance?

Manseep S. Lamba: HOPE 2026 reflects how far both the platform and the Indian hospitality story have come. What began as a high-quality industry conference has, over the past few years, evolved into one of the most influential hospitality summits in the region, where global CEOs, hotel owners, investors, policymakers, and innovators come together for conversations that genuinely shape strategy.

The difference in 2026 is not a dramatic structural shift, but a clear step up in scale, confidence, and relevance. The platform now operates as a layered ecosystem rather than a single-track agenda. Alongside the mainstage, HOPE brings together focused, invitation-led environments such as ECHO, the closed-door conclave for owners and investors, and EDGE, the leadership masterclass developed with New York University. These formats allow for deeper, more candid discussions around capital, development, leadership, and long-term value creation.

As a result, HOPE today feels less like a traditional conference and more like a strategic meeting point for the industry. It is where decisions get shaped, partnerships take root, and the global hospitality community engages more seriously with India’s growth story. HOPE 2026 builds on this momentum, bringing sharper conversations, stronger global participation, and a more integrated view of the forces shaping travel and hospitality.

Global hospitality CEOs operate on tightly managed calendars and tend to prioritise only those platforms that offer real strategic value. Their continued presence at HOPE signals that the conference has become an important forum in the global hospitality dialogue. More importantly, it reflects how India is being viewed today, not just as a future opportunity, but as a current growth engine. When global CEOs choose to engage with the industry from an Indian stage, it reinforces both India’s rising significance and HOPE’s position as a credible, globally relevant platform.

TT Bureau: HOPE started with hoteliers but now attracts investors, OTAs, tech leaders, and policymakers. How has this diversification changed the event’s dynamics? What percentage of 2026 delegates represent non-traditional hospitality stakeholders?

Mandeep S. Lamba: HOPE began with a strong core of hotel owners, operators, and brand leaders, but the underlying vision was always to create a more holistic platform for the entire travel and hospitality ecosystem. Over the years, that vision has steadily taken shape, with investors, private equity funds, OTAs, travel-technology firms, airlines, architects, and policymakers becoming an integral part of the dialogue.

As a result, the conversations have moved well beyond occupancy, rates, and brand strategy. Today, discussions at HOPE span capital allocation, deal structures, distribution, technology, development, and regulatory direction, and much more, reflecting the real decisions shaping the industry.

This broader participation has changed the character of the event. HOPE is no longer just a peer networking forum for hotel companies; it has evolved into a platform where the full ecosystem comes together. Owners are not only evaluating brands, but also engaging with capital partners, technology providers, distribution platforms, and policymakers in the same room. That convergence leads to more meaningful, forward-looking conversations and often accelerates real alignment.

For 2026, a significant and growing share of delegates comes from outside the traditional hotel-operator community, including investors, developers, consultants, technology players, and allied sectors, reflecting both the evolution of the industry and HOPE’s positioning as a broader platform for capital, strategy, and innovation in travel and hospitality.

TT Bureau: HOPE occurs days after the Union Budget. What are the three most critical policy levers the industry is watching? If they move favourably, how would they reshape capital deployment and project timelines?

Mandeep S. Lamba: The Union Budget is always closely watched by the hospitality industry because policy direction plays a significant role in shaping investment sentiment and development pipelines. Over the past few years, there has been a visible shift in how tourism and hospitality are being positioned within the national growth narrative. The sector is no longer treated as a peripheral segment; instead, it is increasingly recognised as a major generator of employment, foreign exchange, regional development, and entrepreneurship. Recent budgets have reflected this change in tone, with destination-development initiatives and a more structured push toward infrastructure, connectivity, and experiential tourism.

That said, the industry continues to look at three critical policy levers that could materially accelerate capital deployment.

The first is the long-standing request for full infrastructure status for the hotel sector. While select project-based benefits exist, a broader, more consistent infrastructure classification would significantly improve access to long-tenure, lower-cost financing. This would enhance project viability, especially in emerging destinations, and encourage both institutional capital and domestic developers to commit to larger pipelines.

The second relates to the GST framework. As part of the 2025 GST rate rationalisation, the GST on hotel room tariffs up to INR 7,500 per night was reduced to 5%, a move aimed at boosting affordability and demand. However, this concessional rate comes without input tax credit (ITC) for hoteliers, meaning properties cannot claim the tax they pay on inputs such as utilities, housekeeping, maintenance, and other services that support those rooms. While the lower rate benefits travellers, the loss of ITC continues to elevate operating costs and compress margins, particularly in mid-market segments where cost structures are tighter

The third area is sustained policy support for destination creation, promotion, and demand-side growth. Continued investments in infrastructure, connectivity, and thematic tourism circuits are already beginning to open up new markets across the country. However, alongside physical infrastructure, there is also a need for stronger, more consistent funding for global destination promotion. India’s share of international tourist arrivals remains modest relative to its potential, and a more visible, well-funded presence on global tourism platforms could significantly strengthen inbound demand.

In essence, the government’s intent toward tourism is clearly more supportive today than it was a decade ago. If the remaining structural levers move in a favourable direction, they could meaningfully accelerate capital flows into the sector and help India’s hospitality industry move into its next phase of growth.

TT Bureau: When global leaders like Anthony Capuano, Mark S. Hoplamazian, and Elie Maalouf sit at HOPE, what are they actually deciding? Walk us through the real strategic questions global CEOs are wrestling with regarding India in 2026.

Mandeep S. Lamba: When global CEOs gather at HOPE, they are not deciding India within a single panel. More consequentially, they are shaping how India fits into the next three to five years of global capital allocation and growth strategy for their systems. The questions before them are structural: where to accelerate and through which vehicles, whether that means management, franchise, lease, conversion, or large platform partnerships with institutional owners. They are also assessing which segments will truly drive scale. Luxury commands visibility, but India’s expansion increasingly rests on the depth of midscale and economy, making segmentation as critical as geography.

Alongside this sits a broader evaluation of owner partnerships, market risk, and long-term alignment, influenced by approval timelines, construction cycles, operating realities, and policy direction emerging after the Budget. Distribution has shifted from marketing to margin architecture, spanning OTAs, loyalty ecosystems, direct channels, AI-driven discovery, and meta platforms, while the durability of growth ultimately depends on talent and leadership depth. And beyond every discussion, the CEOs’ presence sends a clear market signal to owners and investors alike: India is not a future opportunity under review, but a market open for business now.

TT Bureau: Which sessions at HOPE 2026 are you personally most excited about?

Mandeep S. Lamba: Since I have been very closely involved with curating the sessions, it would be unfair to single out any. Our business sessions with the quality and diversity of leaders are, in my opinion, not to be missed. However, showtime@hope has always been the show stopper, and it will be quite the same this year with Kapil Dev and his wit, humour and anecdote gems with Prakash Iyer, the King of story telling for lasting impressions. 

TT Bureau: What’s your vision for HOPE 2027-28 and beyond? Does it become globally influential? How does HOPE evolve as India’s hospitality sector matures?

Mandeep S. Lamba: Looking ahead, the trajectory for HOPE is unmistakably expansive. Each edition is poised to become grander in scale, broader in participation, and deeper in influence, drawing not only hotel leaders but a widening circle of allied industries, global capital, technology innovators, and policy voices into the same shared conversation. As India’s hospitality sector matures, HOPE has the potential to evolve from a national convening into a truly global crossroads for hospitality thought, investment, and collaboration, effectively bringing the world together in dialogue with Indian hospitality and positioning the country at the centre of the industry’s future narrative.

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