Recalibrating Business Strategies in Covid Times

THE Prestige Group, a five decade old group had forayed into Hospitality over 20 years ago and presently own the Conrad Bangalore, the Oakwood Premier, UB City, the Oakwood Residences, Whitefield, The Sheraton, Whitefield, The Angsana Oasis Spa and Resort and we have under active design a JW Marriott at Prestige Golfshire and a Aero city hotel in Delhi. We have close to a 1,000 room operational presently and plan to double that in the next two years.

2020 A WATERSHED YEAR

Who would have imagined 2020 would bring all the hospitality nightmares bundled into one, uniting in adversity every single hotelier in the world. We Hoteliers by profession are a resilient lot and used to difficult times, in fact surviving adversities forms the basic DNA of our breed. 2020 ensured unity in all hospitality assets across the globe and ensured that each one of us was affected such that we needed to dig deep and wide, just to ensure our very survival.

Covid forced an introspection, one that breached the basis of our existence, had us grappling to understand the magnitude of the calamity, guessing at what survival tactics would be best suited while at the same time questioning how hospitality assets would evolve in the future and if a design and functional reset was mandated in the immediate future. The very DNA of the properties was questioned, answers to which were as herculean as the problem itself.

We pride ourselves on the quality of our leaders and our ability to form the best teams and the ability to deal with challenging times and circumstances, while Covid threw the proverbial “Spanner in the wheels”, we realised that swift decisions and implementations were paramount. We broke the decisions down to Emotional, Strategic and Functional.

Emotionally we were very clear that we would not retrench a single employee and ensure they have suitable compensation to survive this pandemic, we are proud to say that we did. Each asset class of ours needed a different Strategic Approach, we worked with the leadership and Brands to determine what this would be and how we can execute its implementation. Functionally, the team led the process of ensuring the employees were protected physically, emotionally and financially and our assets didn’t lose any value or brand equity while at the same time geared up for what we prophesied to be the new norm.

Covid was clearly a Force Majure – It became even more imperative to corroborate with all those who could offer you assistance and any iota of help. Hospitality Brands created a greater dependence and need to be engaged both at a property level for a hygienic existence and at an above property level to access newer market needs and businesses. We tried to

buck the trend on Leisure and Socials at both City and Resort locations and an element both of Wellness and more importantly wellbeing, became part of our DNA. The effects of 2020 have not left us, the hangover looks like it’s going to continue well into 2021, pray the vaccine provides us the Alka Seltzer we so need.

Our investment plans are to ensure we finish all the projects we presently have under design, keep our existing assets relevant and guide them to a new starting block with recent learnings and the need of the customers.

OMER – THE PAST, THE PRESENT

Born with the proverbial Silver Spoon, I schooled in HPS Begumpet and ended my schooling in the Himalayas at The Lawrence School Sanawar, followed by a Gold medal degree at Hindu College, an MBA and a post graduate diploma from the London School of Economics.

Proudly from a sporting family, my Grandfather played cricket and hockey for England and India, my Uncle captained India. I was the youngest Cricket Captain at school, played Squash, Polo and now enjoy golf, where competing with my son Ayaan, has brought my handicap down to a single digit. My Midlife search to learn a new sport, propelled me into Competitive shooting where I now shoot both Olympic Trap and Skeet and am the reigning South India Champion in Single Trap, 3rd year running. I continue to be on the Karnataka team for both disciplines and have been No. 1 in the state for both Trap and Skeet.

I enjoy time in the wild and outdoors, thrive on an intelligent game of bridge and enjoy the sanity and peace fishing brings. My son and I take a trip each year to fish and have been fortunate to catch some very diverse species which would top any self-respecting fisherman’s list like the Golden Mahseer, the Golden Dorado (In South America), the Tiger Fish (in Zambia), The Blue Marlin (In Mazatlan, Mexico), The Yellow Fish (In South Africa), the Barramundi (in Australia) and the Sail Fish (off the coast of Malaysia).

In the last quarter of 2020, we saw a light at the end of the tunnel, the light became brighter by the end of the year, little did we realise that this wasn’t a ray of hope, but an accelerating Railway engine tunneling itself towards us. Resilient and Confident, Hope and Experience propel us forward into a New Year, one in which we pray the recovery is as swift as the decimation of hospitality was in the year that was.