Battling crisis with ‘Pride’ A tough road lies ahead
CEO, Pride Group of Hotels, says that while the group battles the COVID-19 crisis today, it has already strategised a plan to revive business in the post-COVID era as well.
TT Bureau
Pride Group of Hotels has taken several measures and has even launched some initiatives to navigate through the COVID-19 crisis. Keeping safety measures at the forefront of its business strategy, the group is working round the clock to support and cater to its guests.
says, “To avoid any safety threats to guests and staff members, we have minimised manpower across Pride properties. This step has also helped us in controlling our operational cost. We are trying to conserve cash in an uncertain environment while minimising our fixed cost and running more efficiently. Besides that, we continue to maintain a strong relationship with our corporate clients and build a business pipeline for months to come.”
Satyen Jain
During lockdown 1.0, the group’s hotels distributed food parcels daily. This initiative was launched to support those brave hearts who were working on the frontlines during the crisis. Pride has also strategised initiatives for the post-lockdown phase, like creating an alternate workspace for mid-senior level employees who are accustomed to travelling and working in isolation, maintaining social distancing in services, and launching food delivery in select cities.
While the hospitality industry has been affected drastically by the COVID-19 outbreak worldwide,
it is expected that the Indian hospitality sector will continue to see the impact of the pandemic for some more time, resulting in very low hotel occupancy.
“However, at the end of H1 and early H2, the industry should gradually be back to 50 per cent occupancy if COVID-19 cases are controlled and the lockdown is lifted completely,” says an optimistic Jain, adding that with the substantial loss of revenue, the industry has to find ways to navigate the crisis.
President and CEO, InterGlobe Hotels, says that they are closely monitoring the fast-changing situation and preparing themselves for the time ahead.
Jbelieves that with the growing number of COVID-19 cases in India, extending the lockdown was a necessary step. “We support the government in this decision as this is essential in ensuring the health and safety of the people. As a hotel company, these are challenging times as there was no business in the month of April, and the rest of Q1 (April-June) would also struggle to gain volumes,” he says, adding that during this time, InterGlobe Hotels’ focus will be on putting in place a ‘go to market’ strategy so that they are ready to take on the first wave of business when the situation improves and travel recommences later this year. “As patient capital investors, we are monitoring the
B Singh
situation closely and reviewing our systems and processes. This would allow us to not just emerge from this crisis, but also be on a new growth trajectory which is stronger than before,” he shares.
Singh also urges the government to come forward and help the sector which is suffering the most. “The Indian hospitality
industry is undoubtedly one of the biggest causalities of the COVID-19 outbreak. We expect the government to provide us a monetary stimulus package to stabilise and support the sector in the near term,” he says. In the medium to long term, Singh explains, the government should look at policy-level decisions on issues ailing the industry.