A transition to domestic business

Sarvar Hans, National Sales Director, Amritara Hotels & Resorts, shares that the pandemic led them to transition towards domestic business. They are now working towards expanding their portfolio and exploring new business opportunities, while concentrating their marketing efforts on social media.

Nisha Verma

While COVID-19 struck every business, including the hospitality sector, Amritara Hotels sailed through by changing gears towards domestic business. Sarvar Hans shares, “The impact of COVID was very bad. We are lucky that our properties, owing to their location, picked up quickly. Earlier we were only doing inbound, but to suit the needs of the domestic market, we have reduced our rates and made sure that the Indian market knows our product and our USP, which is experiential.”

In fact, currently, they are expanding their portfolio to welcome domestic tourists in their properties. Hans adds, “We are expanding in India. We have added a new product in Thattekad, which is a jungle product, offering bird safari. Thattekad is near Munnar and houses Asia’s largest bird sanctuary. We have come up with 20 camps amidst the forest, with 17 offering a river view and three offering jungle views. Apart from that, we have a new addition in Kasauli at a prime location. There is another property in Mussoorie, which is spread over nine acres with only 19 rooms. It’s a pure wellness destination and a super luxury product.”

To create awareness about new properties, they are planning to organise Fam trips for the trade.

“We are organising one Fam trip to Kasauli and are planning one to Rishikesh as well. Apart from that our marketing team will be working with influencers and the media. We are focusing on social media marketing and are promoting these two locations vigorously,” he shares. While COVID-19 was a bad time for them as well, one of the good things, according to Hans, which they did during the time was hiring good talent from the market. “We were doing very well till February. Things turned upside down in March, which had a bad impact on business. However, when the market laid off so many people, we picked up good people for the company. We may be the only company to have hired from the hotel industry during this time,” he claims. One of the biggest learnings from COVID, according to Hans, is,  “Instead of earning and spending, people will be more aware and concerned about funds and savings for such difficult times.”