Hotel shares firm up on higher forex earnings

Foreign exchange earnings in rupee terms rose 7.3% and 5.9% in dollar terms during December 2014

Hotel shares firmed up after official data showed higher foreign exchange earnings in December 2014 on the back of higher tourist arrivals.

Foreign exchange earnings during the month of December 2014 in rupee terms increased 7.3% to Rs 12,875 crore compared with Rs 11,994 crore in December 2013, the Ministry of Tourism said in a release on Wednesday.

Foreign exchange earnings during the month of December 2014 in dollar terms increased 5.9% to $2.051 billion compared with Rs $1.936 billion in December 2013, the release said.

The release also said that foreign tourist arrivals in December 2014 was higher at 8.77 lakh compared with 8.22 lakh in December 2013.
 

Hotel Leela, EIH (Oberoi Group), Taj GVK Hotels Resorts, ITDC and Sterling Holiday Resorts were up 0.5-1.5% each.