Classic Hoteliering Needs To Be Ingrained Back Again: Rattan Keswani

“At this stage, no one can deny that the implications of this virus are drastic, and have impacted several people in various industries, however, one of the sectors hardest hit was the hospitality sector,” says Rattan Keswani of Lemon Tree Hotels. The concept of service and the effect of ‘human touch’ will have to re-evaluated and reimagined, as the fear of this virus is spreading, said Keswani while sharing his own views on how to get Indian hospitality back. 

Keswani said that those working in these sectors will be severely impacted. "I want to talk about the human element. It is about our team members, people are our asset, and they have and will continue to face hard times in months to evolve. This highlights how the common people will suffer due to this virus, as people will choose to be more careful and take proper precautions when travelling, as the fear of interacting with someone with the virus remains at the back of everyone’s mind”, he said. 

According to Keswani every person will be unsure and fearful of having to deal with the situation where “guests and employees may be turning positive in the hotel”. “If that happens, that will not only affect the brand image of the hotel, but also have ramifications on the industry,” he said. 

When asked about how had they reacted and responded to the virus, Keswani described it to be how on one Sunday, they were given two days, with absolutely no clue and no idea about the PPE or what would happen? “This entire event turned out to be extremely challenging. However the hard part of this entire ordeal was to convince and persuade team members to put together the space with the understanding that they were not hired to go to war”, said Keswani.

He firmly believed that being ‘honest and clear’ gives the best results and boosts confidence which mirrors the concept of transparency and how that strengthens a firm, along with reinforcing their mechanism to their audience. 

Keswani reinforced how the initial idea of hospitality, which is to ‘serve’ is now not as emphasized as before. He talked about how a person in this business should be willing to “sit at the desk, serve food, do the dishes, as well as interact with people”, and only then the entire fundamental concept of hospitality is utilized. The idea of being multi-skilled is imperative, and should be looked at, along with specialization.