New Delhi, Nov 11 (IANS): The occupancy level of hotels in India has somewhat improved to 26 per cent in September, compared to 10 per cent in April, said an HVS Anarock report.

It has, however, estimated that the Indian hospitality industry is likely to witness a revenue loss of Rs 90,000 crore in 2020.

"Saying that COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on the hotels sector in India is putting it mildly. We anticipate the overall Indian hospitality sector to incur an estimated total revenue loss of approximately Rs 90,000 crore in 2020," said Mandeep Lamba, President (South Asia) HVS Anarock.

He added that occupancy and average daily rate (ADR) are expected to reach pre-COVID levels by 2022 and 2023 respectively, assuming that a vaccine is in place by early 2021 and becomes widely available before the end of the year.

The report noted that the hospitality sector is now seeing a degree of uneven recovery after the prolonged lockdown. The main driver behind this partial recovery is the domestic leisure traveller, seeking to shake off the cobwebs and cabin fever of several months of lockdown and work-from-home routine.

The outbound Indian luxury traveler will also be on the look-out for exclusive domestic vacations within the country as uncertainties about international travel continue to loom large. To tap this demand, most domestic hotels have curated special 'Staycation', 'work-from-hotel' and F&B packages, which have sparked some recovery in the sector, it said.

However, there has been no relief for the commercial segment of hotels, which continues to witness record low occupancy in the absence of any significant commercial travel, the report added.