Beyond the Unlock
In June, Unlock 1.0 permitted businesses including hotels to reopen in a phased manner. Since then two more Unlocks have further opened up the hospitality sector. Let’s check out how the Unlocks worked for the hotel sector.
Unlocks have permitted hotels to reopen in a phased manner. Let’s check out how the Unlocks worked for the hotel sector
The world as we knew it before COVID-19 has forever changed. It has taught the travel and tourism industry to reinvent their working SOPs and rethink the strategy to just stay afloat. The resilient hotel industry is now faced with changes in consumer travel patterns and behaviour and have to accordingly work to include these in their operational strategies.
Gaurav Sinha, Director of Operations, JW Marriott Hotel Bengaluru says, “A positive outlook towards business has made us look beyond the conventional way of opportunity. We are seeing development in business – social events and staycations as major contributors. M!CE will take longer than expected and uncertainty of travel can continue. For large form of events we have seen some possible light with enquiries for Q4 of 2021.”
Speaking about the challenges, Sinha adds, “Business continuity is a severe challenge. Our first effort is to gradually sustain business and employment of our people. The company is taking all possible measures to hold on to talent and their well-being while balancing the business for stakeholders. We still have a long way to go. However, the lockdown has certainly opened a new way of looking at business – controlling the operating cost while sustaining the longevity of business.”
Girish Krishnan, Hotel Manager, Four Points by Sheraton Mahabalipuram Resort & Convention Center observes that the industry has faced a major loss in terms of mass-scale cancellations and reduced traffic. He says, “Some of the short-term challenges will be low expenditure power but the long-term challenges will be a shift in consumer behaviour, consumption patterns, perception, expectations and trends. Accordingly, we are working on the pricing strategies and on understanding the perception during this time, we have anticipated a change in the saving patterns and the demand for experiences that are value for money. The focus is to shift from an anxious situation to a positive approach.”
The positive aspect is the decluttering of each sector to form a qualitative stage that will last long; redefining safety, sustainability and productivity; understanding the intensity of demand; evaluating the emerging opportunities; and building futuristic developments. “The awakening of a new-informed era will have huge values for qualitative assurance, and that will help us to bring back the loyalty and trust of our guests,” he adds.
Four Points by Sheraton Ahmedabad has seen a marginal increase in the number of travellers coming into the hotel – people travelling for work, transiting through the city to other destinations, families staying over weekends to take a break from routine and rigorous schedules they followed during the lockdown. The hotel is also seeing dine in inquiries. Speaking about the challenges, Vinayak Mhatre, Hotel Manager, Four Points by Sheraton Ahmedabad points out, “Challenges
that continue to impact the business are limited travel options from feeder markets like Mumbai, New Delhi and other metro cities in the country. Current limitations on international travel will impact the overseas business that was coming into the hotel.” The hotel has seen some inquiries for last quarter of 2020 and first and second quarter of 2021 coming in. Mhatre feels that Clean and Hygienic Stays complemented with Innovative and Safe Dine in options would be the key to business in the months to come. Leaner operative models without losing out on delivery efficiencies would help the industry to revive faster, he adds.
Punish B Sharma, Vice President – Operations, The Fern Hotels & Resorts opines that it’s still early days as far as the hospitality industry is concerned. He says, “The industry got the permission to open recently and that too with limitations. If I take all these things into perspective, I will say that Meluha, The Fern is doing pretty decent. We had a few guests who were staying with us even during the lockdown. We also got guests who stayed with us as a part of self-quarantine. With the unlocking we have seen some more activity on the rooms front, however it is going to take some time to get good numbers. We have a huge locational advantage. A lot of corporates operate from Hiranandani gardens and we have a captive audience. This puts us in a better situation.”
His only concern area in the near future is actually the M!CE segment. “The job in our hands right now is to concentrate on the room sales. Once we start getting good occupancies, I am sure the M!CE business will also pick up,” he affirms. His thoughts on the road to recovery? “I am sure that the occupancies are going to steadily get momentum. We have been getting good responses. Our new operational standards are being appreciated by guests. All of us as a team have to pull up our socks and put our best, the rest will follow,” he says.
Fredrik Blomqvist, General Manager, Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru agrees. “Without any doubt, the business pace is slow and this recovery journey is going to take time – we need to be patient. We are currently focusing a lot on internal training and ensuring our revised operating standards have been implemented accordingly.” Four Seasons has launched Lead With Care, an enhanced global health and safety programme that is being implemented at properties worldwide, including at Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru. “Food & Beverage is very much the front and centre of the game and that has been a very positive thing for us. The key challenges are that we are unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel and it will take time to restore the confidence in our travellers,” Blomqvist adds.
Four Seasons has implemented an incentive driven programme for its sales teams to benefit by promoting and selling each other across the region. This can also be seen on social media with the brand’s #FSAsiaStories hashtag where different Four Seasons hotels are promoted, one by one, with a view to entice guests to dream up their next travel idea. As for M!CE, he feels that the sector needs to be prepared for a marathon and not a race – it will take time and small steps will
for their crew. We were able to capture this business as we have an advantage of being close to the airport.” Cherian adds, “We are seeing a pattern where corporates are considering smaller gatherings currently, however we anticipate that bigger M!CE events would take some more time to come back to their full potential.” He believes that while economy & midscale segment hotels will be the first to recover as travellers are going to be very price sensitive in such times, they would also like to patronise brands which have a strong global presence.
Atul Upadhyay, Vice President Operations, Pride Hotels feels that the biggest and foremost challenge while reopening the business will be the implementation of the new standards, which will require developing a new set of skills around the management of cleaning, disinfection, and inspection. “The current crisis has also taught us the value of being prepared for pandemics. This means having policies and practices ready to go when in need will also be another challenge,” he points out.
He says that M!CE will take a little more time to recover but once it does, we are hoping to get higher demand as some of the international planned events will shift to India due to travel restrictions. He believes regaining guest’s confidence should be the first step in overcoming the crisis. “Communication will play a lead role in reaching out to the guests and needs to be done subtly. Gentle, so it reassures the guest of the safety in their decision to start planning and travelling again,” he reiterates.
Prantik Ray, Area General Manager, Sayaji Indore advises, “The prime focus should be on guest safety & sanitisation. Stick to brand USP, customise packages & promotions, focus on transit travellers, engage with online channel partner, target less impacted corporate bodies are a few brand strategies to boost occupancies.” He opines that recovery will be prolonged by at least three to four quarters with normalcy around two years away. Small scale business travellers will recover first whereas group or M!CE will be the last to recover.
Vipul Tripathi, DGM–Operation, Effotel Indore says, “COVID-19 has severely impacted the hospitality sector in Q2 & Q3 2020. As far as Indore is concerned, even after the Unlock, restaurants are not being operational, only room business is operational. Whilst hotels in certain cities opened in early June, guests have not yet returned. As a market, Indore majorly is driven by corporate movement and we believe that demand in Indore will take time to recover and it will only happen when major corporates allow their employees to travel through their revised travel advisories.”
There is no M!CE movement happening in Indore city as of now and Tripathi believes that it doesn’t seem likely in the near future. There has been significant decline in occupancy, average room rates (ARR) and also revenues. But he opines that, “There will be definitely be a boom in domestic tourism as people will choose destinations within India as opposed to international holidays. Also, as Indore is a city between two Jyotilingas (Ujjain & Omkareshwar), we are planning for some value for money pilgrim packages where guests can visit these Jyotilingas in a very safe and secure manner.”