Corporate movement to play significant role in recovery of Kolkata hospitality industry
Corporate movement forms the calling card of hospitality. Rodney Kaypee, General Manager, Hotel Hindusthan International Kolkata throws light on the future of hospitality in the city.
The hospitality sector was hit hard by the pandemic and it’s time for the industry to gradually get back on track. The heralding of the festive season in ‘The City of Joy’ brought cheers in the food and beverage industry with city restaurants clocking record footfall.
The hospitality sector in Kolkata is preparing to welcome global and domestic visitors in the coming period. Rodney Kaypee commented, “Our hospitality group has always been preferred by mid-segment, global and domestic travellers. With the virus on a gradual decline across the length and breadth of the country, we are making a sincere effort to reach the pre-Covid level in terms of room occupancy. The food and beverage vertical has recorded a rise in footfall and the rooms division is getting better. The leading global markets comprising Bangladesh, South-East Asia and Europe are likely to become normal by mid-next year. Bangladesh forms our substantial market. We are upgrading our products and designing attractive packages to entice our visitors.”
The festive season has ushered in new hope in the city, Kaypee said, “The period of October and November witnessed a significant rise in footfalls, better occupancies and has instilled fresh confidence in the hospitality industry to perform well in the last quarter of the current fiscal and in the next fiscal. Our major ambition is to attain a pre-Covid level in terms of revenue. We are hoping for a spurt in domestic arrivals. The current
occupancy in our property is around 45 per cent to 55 per cent and we expect this to rise by 25 per cent in the next quarter. We are receiving a number of online queries and bookings from our visitors. Once the world gets back to normalcy and things fall in place, corporate movement will gain momentum. As of now, there has been no such uniform recovery in the corporate world.”
The pandemic has crippled us in many ways. Regarding the future of hospitality in the city, Kaypee further said, “The hospitality scene is trudging on the path of revival. The concept of cloud kitchen and work from home has made an adverse impact on the luxury hospitality scene. The future of hospitality industry depends on corporate movement.”