Mahindra Group is stepping up its play in India’s fast-growing travel and tourism sector, with its hospitality arm Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India charting an expansion beyond its core vacation ownership model.

Aiming to become the country’s top leisure hospitality player, the company plans to add over 1,000 rooms in FY26 and scale up to 10,000 rooms by FY30, tapping into the booming domestic tourism market.

“Our goal is very clear — to be the number one leisure hospitality player in India,” Mahindra Group CEO and MD Anish Shah said.

He added that the company is evaluating “various options” to go beyond its traditional model of vacation ownership, which has been its core business since the group entered the sector in 1996.

The move comes at a time when India’s tourism industry is witnessing strong momentum. The domestic travel and tourism market is projected to grow at 15.67% annually and reach $54.34 billion by 2030.

The company currently operates under its flagship Club Mahindra brand.

“That has been the model of the past, but the business is looking at various options now… how can we expand beyond just vacation ownership,” Shah said, hinting at a potential shift in strategy to include new hospitality formats.

Mahindra joins other large players betting big on India’s tourism boom. ITC Hotels, fresh from its demerger with ITC Ltd, has set a target of 220 hotels by 2030, while other chains expand into underserved tier-2 and tier-3 markets. Industry leaders say India’s low hotel room density — just 0.3 rooms per 1,000 people compared to the global average of 2.2 — leaves significant headroom for growth. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, the sector contributed $250.2 billion to GDP in 2024, a figure expected to double by 2034.