Innovative solutions
It’s important to show flexibility in terms of contracting & create unique experiences for guests, says Puneet Dhawan, Senior VP Operations, Accor India & South Asia
For Accor, India remains a crucial market, and hence it continues to focus on expansion in the country, while making sure that it sails though the distress COVID-19 has caused to the tourism and hospitality industry. Puneet Dhawan believes that it's important to focus on the wellbeing of their employees and the guests.
Dhawan claims that the impact of the pandemic on the industry has been brutal for all stakeholders. “From our end, it was again to be agile and reacting fast on the ground to limit the impact of the crisis. As things are opening up gradually, we are working on various initiatives in terms of limited contact and use technology wherever possible, yet maintain that warm smile, which is the essence of hospitality," says Dhawan.
He thinks that there won't be a permanent paradigm shift in the new now. “We are still in the business of hospitality, creating unique experiences and offering personalised service. While there is less contact, but that doesn't take away our responsibility of providing service in terms of innovation and creativity. A crisis brings about many changes as well as opportunities," he shares.
"Whether it comes to ancillary revenues coming up with vacation packages or staycations; or how the F&B teams have adapted to creating bespoke delivery services; chefs are doing online cooking courses; and how we are adapting to the new norms for wedding business – there is a lot happening while offering a safe and hygienic environment for both our employees and our guests,” he says.
For M!CE and wedding business, Accor is coming up with new solutions. “We have 20 Novotel properties and one of the ideas that came from the hotel GMs, which we are executing very soon, is that one can have a wedding event at one of the Novotel properties, now with around 100 guests under the new norms. While these guests can be catered at any Novotel, we can virtually provide the same food and wedding experience in the living room of any of the relatives or friends of the hosts in a city which has a Novotel property.
This would allow them to watch and be part of the celebration from their house via any virtual platform while experiencing similar food offerings,” he says.
He insists that it's important for hotels to show flexibility in terms of contracting, number of guests, and create unique experiences to let guests have these celebrations. “Interestingly, we found a huge market for events in ibis also. Owing to the smaller size of the weddings, we have excellent restaurant space with Spice 18, present at every ibis property, and we have smaller banquet space as well, offering a great opportunity to cater smaller weddings of up to 100 guests,” adds Dhawan.
In fact, at Pullman New Delhi Aerocity, they have done a permanent set up for events. Shedding light on the same, Dhawan says, “It's all about partnerships. We are partnering with key organisers in various cities. Pullman New Delhi Aerocity took the lead, but in Hyderabad also we are looking at new ideas and new concepts with the Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre and Novotel Hyderabad Airport. They have expansive space, both indoor & outdoor. We must continue to adapt & provide experiences at various levels for all our guests.”
As India moves towards a gradual removal of the lockdown, businesses are showing strong resilience in the face of crisis as they begin to re-start operations slowly. Assessing the impact of the pandemic on industries, the biggest challenge businesses will face is business continuity as several industries are reeling under the effects of a disrupted sourcing & supply chain.
The Messe Frankfurt Trade Fairs India study shares that those who held off purchases do so no longer due to cash flow issues – a prime consequence of the pandemic in the earlier months, but rather because they can't find the right suppliers (35.56 per cent).
A market survey of more than 1,000 professionals from across the country was conducted in June & September 2020 to examine the shifting business climate and the state of mind of the most senior buyers at Messe Frankfurt India trade fairs during this period.
The key objective of the ‘Senior Management Survey' was to gauge the business and purchase behaviour amidst the pandemic that has affected businesses of Messe Frankfurt India stakeholders and the crosscollaboration that Messe Frankfurt India can enable through its virtual tools through emphasis on sourcing alternatives or the need and intention to visit exhibitions for trading.
The study covered a wide range of industry sectors from the automotive, textiles, building technologies and consumer goods, showing that
88 per cent respondents relied on exhibitions to help them with their purchase decisions. Over 90 per cent respondents affirmed that trade fairs allow them to touch and feel the product as well as to build a relationship with the seller which are key factors for making an effective purchasing decision.
While there has been a strong shift with regards to the purchasing behaviour from June (53 per cent) to September (63 per cent) with a rise of 10 per cent in purchasing activity, most buyers cannot find right suppliers while others cannot find stocks (12.97 per cent), cannot import (13.81 per cent), as per company policies (20.08 per cent), or would like to wait for exhibitions (24.27 per cent).
Even as other sourcing alternatives such as online events, webinars and WhatsApp are picking up,
59 per cent buyers are finding it difficult to make purchasing decisions during COVID-19. As purchasing activity has increased across the board, willingness to attend exhibitions also saw an increase with respondents looking at visiting the next exhibition "as soon as possible" registering the highest increase of 10 percentage points.