Hoteliers Focus On Demand Generation

Travel restrictions owing to COVID-19 continue to impact hospitality, travel and tourism sectors within India and around the world. There is a need to gauge the impact of the pandemic on the hospitality sector in India and find a way out to overcome the present situation.

Stalwarts from hospitality industry came together share their thoughts at the 5th edition of BW HOTELIER's Indian Hospitality Summit and Awards 2020.

The eighth session on the third day consisted of eminent panelists: Nitesh Gandhi, General Manager, JW Marriott, New Delhi; Satyajeet Krishnan, Area Director - North and General Manager, Taj Mahal, New Delhi; Tejinder Singh, Area Manager East - ITC Hotels & Cluster General Manager - ITC Sonar & ITC Royal Bengal; Rajesh Namby, General Manager, The Lodhi, New Delhi; Ashwani Goela, Cluster General Manager, Rajasthan & Agra, RHG & GM, Radisson Blu Plaza Delhi Airport and Vivek Shukla, General Manager Corporate Affairs, The LaLiT New Delhi. The session was moderated by Jatin Khanna, Market Vice President - North India, Bhutan & Nepal, Marriott Hotels India Pvt Ltd.

“We have to learn to live with, what we are going through. The bite size is back, the single portion is back, health food is back in the game. Today, the customers are wanting to be loyal to the brands that they have known. The instinct for experimenting new brands will be a little less” asserted Vivek Shukla, General Manager Corporate Affairs, The LaLiT, New Delhi.

Satyajeet Krishnan, Area Director - North and General Manager, Taj Mahal, New Delhi stressed on the need to focus on demand creation. “The learnings we have today will really help the future generations. We followed certain playbooks but now we are improvising.Work-cationsare gaining tractions. Focus will be on ensuring private spaces for our guests. Basichotelieringwill remain the same, the way we do our business will change. Only the domestic market will see us through,” he said.

Underlining the importance of good food, Tejinder Singh, Area Manager East - ITC Hotels & Cluster General Manager - ITC Sonar & ITC Royal Bengal said, “At ITC, we are very passionate about our food. It’s not just about food. We believe, it’s a very good way to showcase the warmth for our guests. We have developed a very strong protocol that has a lot of focus on risk management, safety and hygiene. All this has helped us build confidence in our guests. During this pandemic, we should not forget that guests are looking for great food and beverage experience.”

Presenting a manager’s perspective,Ashwani Goela, Cluster General Manager, Rajasthan & Agra, RHG & GM, Radisson Blu Plaza Delhi Airport said, “As General Managers, we need to change our mindset and have an owner driven mindset. We need to go to all the way down to NOP and cashflows. Most of the owners do panic. So, what is important for us as GMs, is to give them a long-term vision of where the business is going, so that they can restructure the liabilities.”

“Our challenges are yet to come. It's a lovely learning. All of us have been in a comfortable space as hoteliers and this has been a wake-up call,” commentedRajesh Namby, General Manager, The Lodhi, New Delhi.