'Social Media and its Dominance on Buying Behavior here to stay'

By Rashmi Pradhan CELEBRATING THEIR first anniversary with one of the longest cakes (12ft long weighing 25 kgs) in Agra, Courtyard by Marriott, Agra markets itself as a perfect new-age destination for business trips, conferences as well as leisure weekend getaways. The hotel, which is located minutes from the Taj Mahal and offers the largest inventory of suites (189 rooms including 18 suites) in the city, is headed by general manager Abhishek Sahai, (see photo) who spoke to BW Hotelier on the occasion of the anniversary. ’The (first) year has been extremely positive for the hotel on the ARR front as we were the leaders within our competition set. This is primarily because of the premium product and facilities that we offer along with our strong market position. 2015 was the first year of operations when the hotel has gone through the ramp up phase where occupancies have grown month-on-month, though clearly below what we expected. The hotel missed a good chunk of the structured business like series movements which is will kick in this year.’ Telling us about the guest composition and revenue contributors, Sahai said, ’Courtyard is a business hotel. Luckily for us (in Agra), we are a leisure plus a business hotel. We have seen a continuous growth with transients as well as groups for this market in the last one year. Agra as a market is a MICE destination which contributes approximately 40 per cent of the room revenue for the hotel. Stronger connectivity to Delhi-NCR along with rationalised ARRs are likely to impact the segment positively in 2016. F&B is a key revenue generation area for the hotel because of the lavish spreads we offer and strong goodwill in the market and this has contributed about 45 per cent to the overall business in 2015. While room revenue will increase, so will F&B revenue, the contribution in terms of percentage would remain the same.’ He further stated that the market has seen an increase of more than 55 per cent on room inventory in 2015 due to new supply and this certainly impacted the room rates that have been rationalised significantly. Source markets more or less remain the same, however, a lot of traction is seen from secondary and tertiary markets that have strong potential. Speaking about the various marketing campaigns, Sahai, added, ’We have been constantly working on various marketing campaigns across various areas ’ mice campaigns, leisure destination campaigns etc. We are also working on deals and promotions across various online travel sites. We have a destination wedding campaign and a wedding fair in the pipeline.’ Highlighting the hospitality trends, Sahai said, ’Over the years, we have observed that there has been a growth of young and much informed guest profile, which encourages hotel companies to constantly innovate new concepts to differentiate us from others. The advent of technology and social media platforms has completely taken over the buying behavior of the customers. Now, travelers are only partly concerned with their own requirements. Instead, they choose to depend more upon the stories shared by other travelers on social media sites and decide upon their choice of hotel accordingly.’ Focus on F&B is another trend, now there are great restaurant options not only in hotels but also as stand-alones. This has created unmatched choice available for patrons, he added. On trends that will rule the hospitality industry in the next couple of years, Sahai, said, ’Social media and its dominance on buying behavior is here to stay. There will be increased supply of hotel rooms across all segments which will lead to price rationalisation across the board. The main growth will be seen in the mid and upscale segment of hotels. Another trend that will catch customer fancy will be ’health and wellness vacations’. There will be increased demand for good quality wellness retreats that will offer holistic experiences for those seeking de-stress and disconnect from the world and focus on spiritual healing. There will also be an increased focus on young travelers and hotels will have to customize their programs for a younger and more energetic population.’ The author is Assistant Editor of BW Hotelier.