At Delhi's Shangri-La Eros, a robot greets guests arriving for the AI summit. Image Courtesy: Hindustan TimesThe AI Impact Summit 2026, being held from February 16 to 20 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, not only positioned India at the center of global conversations on artificial intelligence but also sent hotel room tariffs soaring across Delhi-NCR. With an unprecedented lineup of global leaders, tech CEOs, and AI pioneers attending the five-day event, demand for accommodation surged sharply, driving up prices in luxury and mid-scale hotels alike.
The summit drew an elite gathering that included Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and Mistral AI CEO Arthur Mensch. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was also expected to attend, alongside Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Microsoft President Brad Smith, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Accenture CEO Julie Sweet, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, and Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora. AI thought leaders such as Yann LeCun, Yoshua Bengio, and Stuart Russell further elevated the summit’s global profile.
With such high-profile attendees descending on the capital, hotel occupancy levels rose dramatically. Premium properties near Bharat Mandapam, Aerocity, and central Delhi experienced the most pressure. Security considerations, proximity to the venue, and demand for private meeting spaces pushed many delegates toward five-star and luxury accommodations.
Ahead of the summit, hotel industry representatives reportedly met Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat amid concerns about rising tariffs. The Hotel Association of India (HAI) stated that most standard rooms had been contracted in advance at rates between INR 10,000 and INR 12,000 per night. According to HAI, the higher rates being reported were largely reflective of luxury suites and premium inventory rather than standard rooms.
However, market conditions told a broader story. Strong parallel demand due to the ongoing wedding season and the T20 World Cup significantly tightened room availability. As a result, average rates at several premium hotels reportedly climbed to between INR 40,000 and INR 60,000 per night during peak summit days. Last-minute bookings, in particular, bore the brunt of dynamic pricing.
The impact extended beyond Delhi’s central districts. Hotels in Gurugram, Noida, and Faridabad also recorded noticeable spikes around February 18, with tariffs considerably higher than rates seen in early March. The AI Impact Summit effectively transformed the entire National Capital Region into an extended hospitality zone, with spillover demand spreading across business and leisure corridors.
While price surges during mega events are not unusual, the scale of the AI Summit’s impact reflects the growing economic power of global technology gatherings. Traditionally, sporting tournaments and diplomatic summits have driven such spikes. However, the AI Impact Summit demonstrated that technology-focused events now command similar market influence, especially when they attract world leaders and top-tier executives.
Hotels also leveraged the summit to highlight their own technological advancements. Shangri-La Eros, New Delhi, introduced a humanoid robot named “Echo” to greet guests attending the event. According to a Hindustan Times report, Echo is designed to welcome delegates, answer queries, and assist with wayfinding in the hotel lobby. Featuring an expressive LED face and dressed in a saree like the hotel staff, the robot blended cultural aesthetics with cutting-edge innovation — a symbolic nod to the AI-driven theme of the summit.
For the hospitality industry, the summit offered a significant revenue opportunity. High occupancy, premium pricing, and ancillary spending on dining, events, and logistics contributed to strong short-term gains. At the same time, the spike reignited debates about dynamic pricing, transparency, and the balance between supply-demand economics and affordability during major international events.
From a broader economic perspective, such events generate substantial multiplier effects. Airlines, transport operators, restaurants, event planners, and local vendors benefit from the influx of global delegates. As India strengthens its positioning as a global AI and digital innovation hub, similar high-profile gatherings are likely to become more frequent.
If the AI Impact Summit 2026 is any indication, the convergence of technology leadership and hospitality economics will continue to reshape demand patterns in Delhi-NCR. For five days in February, the capital became not just a center of AI dialogue — but also one of the most expensive hotel markets in the country.
