‘Staycation package is where our focus is and it has helped’
A veteran hotelier driven by passion and creativity, Nicholas Dumbell, General Manager, The St. Regis Mumbai, is a multi-cultural global citizen with 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry. Nicholas commenced his career in London with leading international hospitality chains and became a part of Marriott International’s myriad brands spanning the last two decades. In a conversation with TTJ, he speaks about the different market segments which are likely to drive the performance for his hotel in these unprecedented times.
At The St. Regis Mumbai, Nicholas leads the dynamic luxury team to sustain the hotel’s positioning as one of the most awarded hotels and as the preferred destination for the social elite. He focuses on steering the team to drive revenue and maintain the property’s reputation of having the highest turnover in South Asia while ensuring guest voice scores remain a priority for The St. Regis Mumbai. He uses his creative flair to increase employee engagement, implement standards, drive guest voice scores, build relationships with key stakeholders and grow hotel market share at award-winning levels.
On the current business trends, Nicholas says, “There’s no doubt that at the current moment the staycation business is increasing, so attracting domestic leisure travellers typically from within driving distance will be key. In the short term, residents of Mumbai looking for a nice luxury escapade for two or three days are the next immediate trend. That will continue to grow to include extensive domestic leisure where I do see over the next two or three months, folks visiting from other cities to stay, dine and shop at our luxury mall, which is an added attraction as it is very accessible next door. The other segment that I do see is the social segment - events and weddings which would bring in group business to our hotel. These are the two strong segments that will drive revenue, until the corporate business starts picking up again, probably not before the end of this year or the beginning of next year.”
Regarding the MICE business, Nicholas feels that the going is tough. “However, the good news is that the government is now allowing B2B meetings. As sentiment and confidence improve, I expect to see a slow and steady build-up of this segment. We are of course speaking to organisations and associations from industries like pharma and medical who are trying to put something together.” tells Nicholas.
The St. Regis Mumbai over the last few months has ramped up their F&B to include putting together great offerings for some of the ongoing MICE events. While corporate are doing online meetings or conferences, they have been successfully delivering luxury food boxes to participant’s homes to enhance the experience of these events where venue with delectable food presentations was an important aspect before these unprecedented times.
Talking about alternative revenue sources the property is engaged in, Nicholas shares, “Obviously, we have already talked about the room side of the staycation business and I continue to see banqueting being driven through social weddings and restaurants becoming bigger and bigger. One of the things that I see here is the Marriott on Wheels which is the delivery and takeaway vertical driving in a large part of the F&B business. We also have seen a rise in families and groups of people taking private use of our restaurants. We have the advantage of having a large expanse of space and we recently saw a group of guests booking XXO, our lounge, for an evening. I see a rise in these intimate soirée and we are glad that we are able to offer multiple options to our guests for these gatherings.”
In response to current circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, The St. Regis Mumbai has implemented a variety of new protocols and elevated practices, keeping with their high standards of cleanliness and luxury service. The hotel has embraced Marriott’s Commitment to Clean program to ensure absolute precision in their cleaning and sanitization procedures. The program is led by the Marriott Global Cleanliness Council. The council includes in-house and outside experts in hospitality, epidemiology, sanitation and protective health and hygiene technology.
Thus, now more than ever, they are passionate about delivering an exceptional experience and truly memorable moments throughout their guests’ stay.