Oakwood to set a new trend in the industry with special packages to drive local businesses

Wajeed Bagwan Jul 10, 2020

This too shall pass. The world has had the earlier economic crisis and milder scale pandemic situations like the Ebola and SARS and the Hospitality industry has sustained and recovered in a quick and shorter span. However, the Covid-19 pandemic of this magnitude has certainly taken the industry by surprise, industry experts feel the domestic market will soon witness recovery.

The Indian hotels' sector has been hit hard, grappling with significantly low demand and very few future bookings. Essentially, all transient demand has completely diminished – the remaining is only largely on account of either a few long stay guests or hotels having some international travellers held back due to non-availability of international flights. More than 65 per cent of organised hotels in India have already been shut and several others operational with single-digit occupancies, recovery seems slow and gradual.

The priorities for consumers will change and Hygiene is going to play a key role in post-COVID era. Digital check-ins and ensuring minimal touchpoints to customers will be an important step. Proper sanitization procedures and maintaining social distancing at all times will become a norm as people will prefer to be cautious while they slowly open up to travel.

Another emerging trend is most likely to be domestic travel with people opting for road trips to closer destinations rather than international trips. More people will have a preference for independent resorts, boutique hotels or even private vacation homes as they opt for staycations with friends and family. The hotels also need to offer a reasonable price as consumers have less disposable income when compared to pre-covid era.

The physical and economic duress created by this pandemic is sure to have a long-lasting impact on how the consumers behave. With impending economic recession, the purchasing behaviour is changing constantly to a vast extent with more emphasis on health and hygiene than ever before. In order to survive this, the hospitality industry needs to bring new high-yielding models with more opportunities as the fear of infection will persist even after the crisis. The industry needs to work on gaining the consumer’s confidence which is at an all-time low.

Hotels have off lately explored new ancillary business avenues and models to sustain their costs and cash flows. There has been a wave of requirements for extended stay accommodations due to lockdown. Hotels have been adopting different permutations and combination of Food & Beverage revenue streams. Affordable laundry options for the community were introduced by many hotels with in-house laundry. Many opted for minimum staffing to handle basic operational requirements while others shutdown completely to avoid any costs. Some have positively taken up renovation plans instead. Many have creatively rolled out several packages whilst a few have offered rooms for quarantine purposes. Hygiene and safety have become the new normal of the industry!

However, the team at Oakwood Premier Prestige Bangalore felt confident of being able to tide over the lockdown period because of our format and enhanced offerings. Our USP of being one of the best luxury serviced apartments in India with modern facilities that include fully equipped kitchenette, washer, dryer, in-suite steam, sauna and other facilities meant our guests were self-sufficient needing very little contact with the outside world and in a great position to maintain distance with other guests while being safe, well cared for with our 24x7 in-room dining services even during the worst months. Emerging as one of the most sustainable business models in the hospitality sector today, we have been operational throughout the post-Covid-19 period with a good occupancy due to our long stay business.

As a luxury serviced residence, we are now very optimistic in setting a new trend in the industry with the roll out of our specially created packages such as Weekend Staycation package, Weekend Drive and Chill Package, Baby Shower Package, Bespoke Post-op Recovery package, Wedding Photo Shoot package and Work from Luxury packages. These essentially would be to drive the local business and leisure travelers until the international flights resume furthermore.

Also, as the number one consideration post-Covid-19 is health and safety; the key is to provide physical evidence of the property’s priority on ensuring the health and safety of all our guests and associates. We believe the best way for us to demonstrate our commitment is to give our guests and associates the assurance of exacting standards of safety and hygiene. As a brand, we continue to ensure the highest standards of hygiene awareness among our associates. We have our very own 'Oakwood Clean360' programme in place which emphasizes on enhanced cleaning standards. We have ensured that all our touchpoint areas are frequently sanitized, and have asked our associates to wear protective gear while cleaning. We have adopted measures to enhance our guest experience by introducing contactless dining, express check in & check out, digital newspapers and magazines and more. All precautionary procedures and protocols are in line with the operational recommendations made by the Ministry of Tourism.