Salaries of top managers rise as occupancy in hospitality sector improves

The remuneration of directors of hotel companies, like IHCL and EIH Ltd, has seen a rise between 8 and 250 per cent in FY22 year-on-year (YoY)

Top managers of hotel companies in India are drawing higher salaries as domestic tourism recovers, leading to a rise in occupancy. According to a report by BusinessLine, the remuneration of directors of hotel companies has seen an increase between 8 and 250 per cent year-on-year (YoY).

During the coronavirus pandemic, most executives had drawn lesser salaries compared to the pre-pandemic times.

The annual report of EIH Ltd, owners of Oberoi and ITC, showed that at least three of the top managers saw a salary hike of 25 to 262 per cent. The highest rise was seen in the salary drawn by Shib Shanker Mukherji, executive vice-chairman of the company. The BL report stated that his salary rose 262 per cent to Rs 61.5 lakh.

Arjun Singh Oberoi, MD (Development) and Vikramjit Singh Oberoi, MD and CEO, saw a rise of 176 per cent and 56 per cent in their salaries to Rs 1.16 crore and Rs 1.12 crore, respectively. 

Similarly, top executives at Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), owners of Taj, also saw a rise of 9 to 39 per cent in their remuneration. Beejal Desai, senior vice president of corporate affairs and company secretary at IHCL, drew 39 per cent more salary YoY in FY22. 

Girdhar Sanjeevi, EVP and CFO, saw a hike of 37 per cent in his salary.

For ITC, the BL report showed that the remuneration to key managers rose by 8 per cent. But the company stated that this was due to a rise in the number of key managers.

The average salary of other employees also rises

Apart from the top management, the salaries of other employees in these companies also rose. In EIH Ltd, which has 2,896 employees, the average salary hike was 15.19 per cent. Median remuneration rose by 11.55 per cent.

Median remuneration is the average salary paid to an employee compared to the salary of the company's directors.

In ITC, the average salary hike was recorded at 7 per cent. In comparison, the hike in median salary was 4 per cent.

For IHCL, the median salary rose by 4 per cent, while the hike in average salary was at a much lower 2 per cent.

However, PRS Oberoi, former executive chairman of EIH Ltd, saw a fall of 48 per cent in his salary as he stepped down from the post on May 22.