The Challenge Lies in How to Sell Premium Rooms: BAR Session

By Rashmi Pradhan THE GROUP discussion at BW Hotelier Rooms Conclave & Expo 2015 on ’Playing the BAR Game: When to raise it and when not to’ was moderated by Sourish Bhattacharyya, Consulting Editor, BW Hotelier. The panelists were Karishma Singh, General Manager-Revenue Management, North, Taj Palace, New Delhi; Anirban Sarkar, General Manager, Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Gurgaon; Puneet Saigal, General Manager, Park Plaza Faridabad; Marietta Fernandes, Revenue Manager, The Leela Palace New Delhi and Zia Shiekh, Chief Executive Officer, Svenska Design Hotels. Starting the discussion, Fernandes, said that the base category rooms were an easy sell, the challenge was to sell the premium rooms. Different markets segmentation have different rates, she added. Bhattacharyya then asked Singh how she decides on the BAR for Taj properties across the Northern region. She replied, ’We have diverse hotels across the northern belt, say, resort properties and city hotels, the clientele also varies from corporates to leisure travelers. Understanding the customer’s booking pattern is very important.’ The panelists agreed that it is difficult to sell premium category rooms and usually needed them to be clubbed with packages. The General Managers of Park Plaza Faridabad and Country Inn & Suites by Carlson, Gurgaon went on to say that at times, they had to act like a stock brokers and watch rates. Saigal said, ’Faridabad is a small city, we change the rates twice a day. In fact the rates are affected even by arrivals of express trains.’ Shiekh, who owns a 30-room design hotel in Mumbai, said, ’There are around 15 hotels within 1 km radius of my hotel there is immense competition and we refresh the BAR every 4-hour.’ On OTAs, Saigal commented, ’Customers are more inclined to book through OTAs since it gives them a rate comparison. The market is not only getting crowded but at the end of the day customer loyalty also matters. OTAs are important but it needs to be disciplined.’ The panel echoed that in order to encourage customers to book through the hotel website, the website should provide ease of booking. Once the customer lands on the hotel website, it depends on how it engages them and convert the visit into a transaction. Rewarding the customer to book through the hotel website is one of the ways to attract direct hotel booking. Also, the booking engine should be fast so that the customer stays on the hotel site page. The author is Assistant Editor of BW Hotelier. Photo:-(Left to right) Sourish Bhattacharyya, Consulting Editor, BW Hotelier in conversation with. Puneet Saigal, General Manager, Park Plaza Faridabad; Karishma Singh, General Manager-Revenue Management, North, Taj Palace, New Delhi; Anirban Sarkar, General Manager, Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Gurgaon; Marietta Fernandes, Revenue Manager, The Leela Palace New Delhi; and Zia Shiekh, Chief Executive Officer, Svenska Design Hotels. Photo by Sanjay Sakaria.