By BW Hotelier HITENDRA SHARMA has been appointed as the General Manager at Taj Krishna Hyderabad effective August 2015. In his new role as the General Manager, Sharma’s responsibilities would entail overseeing operations and business of Taj Krishna Hyderabad. Sharma started his career in 1997 after completing his graduation in Hotel Management and continued to work with the finest hospitality brands in India before joining the Taj Group of Hotels. He is well known for his sound domain knowledge and dedicated commitment to guests. His unique ability of handling guest as well as his team members distinguishes him from many others.
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By BW Hotelier SEALED AIR Corporation engaged in the business of food packaging and food safety, cleaning and hygiene solution inaugurated its expanded facilities for Research & Development (R&D) Center in Mumbai, India. This marks the establishment of the company’s Global Fabric Care Center of Excellence and Global Center of Excellence for Food and Beverage (F&B) Hygiene Solutions as well an Indian Packaging solution center. Present at the inauguration ceremony were senior delegates from Sealed Air, namely Suzanne Thompson, Global VP R&D Diversey Care; Ram Ramesh, Global VP R&D Food Care; Himanshu Jain, MD/VP Sealed Air Indian-subcontinent and South East Asia (see photo); Bala Thottikamath, VP Diversey Care, APAC and Hemant Godbole, Director- R&D, Food Care Solutions, APAC & MEA. Jain said, ’Enhancing our R&D center and resources is a part of our evolution of becoming a knowledge-based company across the globe. It is a milestone in our journey to constantly innovate new solutions and in the process, contribute to the transformation of India. We will continue to invest in developing the capabilities of our young and talented workforce in India.’ The company is increasing its R&D workforce in India, to put into action its goals and objectives for both Indian as well as global markets. India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies and a key hub for worldwide food production. Sealed Air sees vast potential in India to help its industries meet the accelerating demand driven by a growing middle class and a huge population of skilled workers. R&D experts at the Fabric Care and Food Care Centres will focus on new technologies and innovations for customers to address this demand while meeting their sustainability and operational goals, he further added. ’The facility will place great emphasis on the company’s SmartLife initiative, taking a holistic approach to sustainability, productivity enhancement, and profitability. This customer-centric blueprint would be an essential ingredient in our R&D Strategy, on how we help our customers win, with our solutions,’ informed Godbole. Dedicated to transforming the On-Premise Laundry (OPL), On-Premise Professional Laundry (OPPL) and commercial laundry industries, the Fabric Care Center is responsible for leading Fabric Care innovations across the globe. Similarly, the Food Care Center is dedicated to developing innovative solutions to address the critical hygiene requirements of Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical industries, such as CIP (Cleaning-in-Place), Bottle Washing, Track Treatment, and Pasteurizer Treatment. The Food Care facility also includes a state-of-the-art unit with capabilities to evaluate Packaging solutions for the Indian market.
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By Rashmi Pradhan INCREASING OPERATING cost and reducing room rates have affected hotel operations and made it all about survival for the fittest. The group discussion ’Managing the Gap: Balancing Rising Costs & Dropping Room Rates’ at the BW Rooms Conclave & Expo 2015 held recently in Delhi, witnessed panelists Vijay Wanchoo, Senior Executive Vice President & General Manager, The imperial New Delhi; Nikhil Sharma, COO ’East, Central and West, The Lemon Tree Hotel Company; Vishvapreet Singh Cheema, General Manager, Radisson Blue Plaza Delhi; Nitesh Gandhi, General Manager, Trident Gurgaon; have a lively discussion moderated by Bikramjit Ray, Executive Editor, BW Hotelier. The panel discussed ways and means to reduce the operating cost and increase the revenues. Gandhi, said, ’At Trident Gurgaon, we believe not in cutting cost, but cutting the waste.’ Cheema, said, ’The aspect of doing business has changed. Now it is about Revenue Per Available Guest (RevPAG) and Revenue Per Occupied Room (RevPOR).’ There was no doubt hotel operation costs have risen and hoteliers are looking for ways to reduce costs either by hiring multi-skilled workers or by cost cutting on HLP (heat, light and power), the panel agreed. In the current scenario the aggregators are the new trend setters in the Indian hospitality industry. A group discussion, ’The Disruptors: Is there Room for More Room Aggregators’? moderated by Rifaquat Ali Khan Mirza of Canvas Hospitality with panelists Keshav Baljee, CEO, ZiP Rooms; Prafulla Mathur, Founder and CEO, Wudstay and Rahul Chaudhary, Co-Founder, Treebo Hotels, explained the issues. The aggregators claimed that they provide standardized services to guests across properties. Quality is important for us. Technology is the part of our business. We are entrepreneurs however, we don’t specialize in hospitality business and hence hire those who have expertise in hotel operations and empower them, they said collectively. The author is Assistant Editor of BW Hotelier. Photo (right to left):-Bikramjit Ray, Executive Editor, BW Hotelier; Vijay Wanchoo, Senior Executive Vice President & General Manager, The imperial New Delhi; Nikhil Sharma, COO ’East, Central and West, The Lemon Tree Hotel Company; Vishvapreet Singh Cheema, General Manager, Radisson Blue Plaza Delhi; Nitesh Gandhi, General Manager, Trident Gurgaon during the session. Photo by Sanjay Sakaria.
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THE GROUP discussion at BW Hotelier Rooms Conclave & Expo 2015 on ’Playing the BAR Game: When to raise it and when not to’.
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By Rashmi Pradhan AFTER THE BW Hotelier F&B Conclave and Expo 2015 which took place in July, it was the turn of Revenue Management and Housekeeping to be showcased at the BW Hotelier Rooms & Housekeeping Conclave 2015, which took place on October 1 at Le Meridien New Delhi. The conclave saw both group discussions on crucial topics surrounding rooms as well as knowledge sessions by eminent Indian hoteliers. The conclave witnessed industry stalwarts like Ratan Keswani, Deputy Managing Director, The Lemon Tree Hotel Company; Gautam Anand, VP (Operations, Planning & Pre-Opening Services), ITC Hotels; Avijit Arya, President & CEO, Internet Moguls; Amandeep Singh Sarna, Regional Director-IT, South Asia, Starwood Hotels & Resort; Vijay Wanchoo, Senior Executive Vice President & General Manager, The Imperial New Delhi share their valuable insights with the gathering. The days event kicked off with the lighting of the traditional lamp by Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor in Chief, BW Businessworld; Bhuvanesh Khanna, CEO, BW Communities; Bikramjit Ray, Executive Editor, BW Hotelier and Sourish Bhattacharyya, Consulting Editor, BW Hotelier. Presenting the keynote address on ’The Human Factor in Hospitality’, Wallace Shah, Director and Country Head, Lausanne Hospitality Consulting India, said that human intervention is a crucial aspect in the hospitality sector. He started by pointing on the three aspects ’ What is Human Factor in hotels, Why Human Factor is important and How can it be improved upon? ’The nature of hotel business is ’ its people oriented and the quality is not defined by products or processes alone ’ it is heavily reliant on service,’ he said. Human factor is all about people interaction, leadership, decision-making, process-mapping, values-culture. A leader cannot delegate accountability it has to come from within. Stating on how the human factor can be improved, Shah said that it needs to be driven from top to down and vice versa. Values, culture and accountability is important. However employee engagement is paramount. Explaining the meaning of employee engagement, Shah said, ’It is a measure of employees competence, commitment and confidence to do a job.’ The video for this session will be available by 9.10.15. The author is Assistant Editor, BW Hotelier. Photo caption: The BW Hotelier Rooms and Housekeeping Conclave being inaugurated with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp with (from left to right) Bhuvanesh Khanna, CEO, BW Communities; Sourish Bhattacharyya, Consulting Editor, BW Hotelier; Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, BW Businessworld; and Bikramjit Ray, Executive Editor, BW Hotelier.-
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By Rashmi Pradhan THERE WAS a time when the housekeeping department was known as ’back of the house’ but with changing times this term has become ’heart of the house’. The group discussion ’In Thrift we Trust: Living with Scarcity and Finding Ways of Beating it’ at BW Hotelier Rooms & Housekeeping Conclave & Expo 2015 saw five powerful women from the housekeeping department of hotels across the NCR sharing their knowledge, best practices and trends in housekeeping. The session was moderated by Sourish Bhattarcharyya, Consulting Editor, BW Hotelier and the panelists were Rita Chaudhary, Corporate Executive Housekeeper, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts; Gurpreet Chadha, Executive Housekeeper, ITC Maurya New Delhi; Reetha Thomas, Executive Housekeeper, Radisson Blu MBD Hotel Noida; Harinder Kishore, Executive Housekeeper, The Leela Ambience Gurgaon Hotel & Residences and Suchitra Gambhir, Executive Housekeeper, The Oberoi New Delhi NCR. Bhattarcharyya asked panelists how corporate housekeepers ensure uniformity of standards across the group to Rita Chaudhary, who replied, ’It is not easy to maintain standards across the chain. We have a standard operating procedure and processes that ensure that each hotel follows the same. In addition, I along with my colleague personally visit every hotel and check the same.’ On the aspect of turndown service and keeping the rooms ready for the next guests. The panelists unanimously agreed that it all depends on the guest--whether they were a business traveler or a leisure traveler. A room that was occupied by a business traveler takes less time to make up compared to the leisure traveller, they said. The aesthetics of the hotel is also a responsibility of the housekeeper and horticulture plays an important role. The horticulture department indirectly reports to the housekeeping department. As far as flowers for decorations in rooms and public areas are concerned, housekeepers prefered to use local rather than imported varieties, it in order to reduce cost. It is also the responsibility of the housekeeping department to ensure that the laundry equipment are optimally utilized, according to the panelists. In conclusion, the panelist said that training and multi-tasking are two main focus areas of the hotel. Multi-skilling people help to save costs and multi-training ensures better productivity. New technology, according to the panellists, had really ease of operation. The new eco-friendly and guest-friendly products have really helped in increasing the efficiency and higher guest satisfaction was the common consensus. The author is Assistant Editor of BW Hotelier. Photo (from Left to Right): Sourish Bhattarcharyya, Consulting Editor, BW Hotelier speaks with Suchitra Gambhir, Executive Housekeeper, The Oberoi New Delhi NCR; Harinder Kishore, Executive Housekeeper, The Leela Ambience Gurgaon Hotel & Residences; Reetha Thomas, Executive Housekeeper, Radisson Blu MBD Hotel Noida; Gurpreet Chadha, Executive Housekeeper, ITC Maurya New Delhi; and Rita Chaudhary, Corporate Executive Housekeeper, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts. Photo by Sanjay Sakaria.-
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By Rashmi Pradhan THE BUSINESS session ’Electronic Nervous System: How e-solutions can take profits to the next level’ during the second BW Hotelier Rooms & Housekeeping Conclave & Expo 2015 was moderated by Noor Fathima Warsia, Group Editor, Digital Market Asia. The panelists were Amandeep Singh Sarna, Regional Director-IT, South Asia, Starwood Hotels & Resort India; Nikhil Nath, CEO, Knowcross Solutions; Dhiraj Trivedi, President-Revenue Management Services, RezNext Global Solutions; Ronnie Sarkar, COO, IDS Next and Amlan Ghose, MD, Prologic First. Starting the session, Sarna said e-way was important to enhance the group’s performance and to increase the revenue of hotel companies. Getting the customers on the hotel website is important, however the most important thing was to retain the customers. Using the technology to get the right customer at the right time for the right product and at the right price point was the trick of the trade. Ghose pointed out that technology was available, however not always utilized. The panelists agreed that technology was available and played a crucial role but automation was the key. To handle complex situations, the hotel companies needed to have automation and integration. Once technology was utilized in the correct manner, this would lead to higher levels of guest satisfaction. Nath said, ’There are many software that have been developed for the hotel industry that enables the hotels to know guest preferences, history and other detailed information. This information is available but need to be actioned. The hotels lack using such important guest details to their advantage.’ In today’s e-world, the customer makes the hotel bookings pre-dominantly through OTAs (Online Travel Agents). Even though the customer reaches the website of the hotel the conversation rate is very low, the panelists agreed. The panel believed that in the era of seamless connectivity and fast-moving technology, hotels need to play smart to leverage on the data at their disposal. These tools when used judicially and intelligently can lead to scaling-up the revenue of a hotel. The author is Assistant Editor of BW Hotelier.- Photograph (from right to left): Noor Fathima Warsia, Group Editor, Digital Market Asia; Amandeep Singh Sarna, Regional Director-IT, South Asia, Starwood Hotels & Resort India; Nikhil Nath, CEO, Knowcross Solutions; Dhiraj Trivedi, President-Revenue Management Services, RezNext Global Solutions; Ronnie Sarkar, COO, IDS Next and Amlan Ghose, MD, Prologic First. Photo by Sanjay Sakaria
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By BW Hotelier LEMON TREE Hotels, became the proud winner of the 2015 Asian Human Capital Award. Lemon Tree Hotels is the only Indian company to win this award from amongst 40 multi-industry contenders across Asia. The Asian Human Capital Award, instituted by Singapore Ministry of Manpower and the Human Capital Leadership Institute, honours innovative and impactful people practices adopted by Asia-based organizations. At the award ceremony held in Singapore last week, Lemon Tree Hotels Inclusivity and Diversity Initiatives were felicitated by the business community across Asia. The awards committee appreciated Lemon Tree for building effective strategies to mainstream Persons with Disability. The award also establishes Lemon Tree Hotels as one of the leading companies in Asia to follow innovative and cutting-edge diversity practices. Speaking on the occasion, Patu Keswani, Chairman & Managing Director, The Lemon Tree Hotel Company (see photo right) said ’The inclusivity/diversity philosophy of Lemon Tree Hotels is central to our business model and we have built a culture of mainstreaming the disadvantaged. We are happy to have been recognized by the Ministry of Manpower, Singapore Government and the Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI) through the Asian Human Capital Award (AHCA) 2015’ Lemon Tree Hotels is an equal opportunity employer and hires differently abled staff across its 27 hotels in 16 cities of India. It currently has a strength of 3000 employees of which ~15% are Employees with Disabilities (EWDs) and an additional ~4% are from socially, economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds (EcoSoc). The company has won manly laurels in India as well as internationally, for its people practices. This award is only next to the National Award bestowed upon the Group in 2010 and 2011 by the President of India. Held over seven months, since February 2015, Lemon Tree Hotels was selected a winner through a rigorous process including site visits. Award Entries were assessed based on the following qualities: alignment of people practice to business strategy, innovation in developing and contextualising people practices to address needs, high quality in execution and the significant impact on business outcomes.
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