TravTalk India Online Magazine
Hospitality industry was among the hardest hit by the pandemic. However, the industry is gradually adjusting to the new normal, as hotels are now more vigilant about guest and employee safety and focusing on development to gain lost ground as soon as possible.
Janice Alyosius
COVID-19 affected almost every sector in the world, but the hotel industry was among the hardest hit. This was because people were not allowed to travel domestically or internationally, or go to restaurants and cafes. They also cut back on their spending during the pandemic except for basic necessities.
Abhishek Pani, Hotel Manager, Novotel Vijayawada Varun, said their hotel is gradually adjusting to the new normal, but outlined a few challenges the hotel is still facing.
Introduction of technology: Contactless methods have reduced guest interactions and hence reduced the chance of creating meaningful guest experiences.
Decrease in revenue: There has been a significant downfall in revenue generation due to various state/central restrictions on gatherings.
Unforeseen expenses: Government mandated social distancing and cleaning ordinances incurred higher fixed and variable expenses.
Renewed lockdowns: When everything is reopened, people do not observe proper social distance protocol. The result is a renewed lockdown of cities with significant obstacles for the hospitality industry.
Pani said that Accor, in collaboration with Bureau Veritas, has developed “ALLSAFE” protocols, which will be implemented across all operating hotels to ensure uniformity of cleaning and sanitisation.
Ravi Rai, Cluster General Manager, Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach and Bheemili Resort, managed by Accor, said that the hotels also follow the ALLSAFE protocol. “Every single touch point is monitored by a team. A daily audit ensures that safety standards are not compromised,” he said.
Speaking of the hotel business, Pani said, “Our hotel experienced a decent recovery post the second wave of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Specifically, the months of August and September saw a good number of guests visit the hotel. In the last quarter, as the Vijayawada market is heavily dependent on inbound visitors, we witnessed an increase in staycation and transient bookings. As a result of back-to-back celebrations and the festive season, F&B revenues also spiked. However, we have seen our business slow down at the beginning of 2022. For example, in January, we received cancellation notices from two corporate groups due to surges in current cases.”
Rai said, “A large number of people have been motivated to take revenge trips. In addition to regular vacations, workations have also been popular. We are doing well in terms of business and have been able to achieve spectacular revenue growth since 2019. We have seen an increase in leisure and corporate bookings this year due to companies and families trying to fill in the gap from last year. MICE events that were cancelled last year have also begun again this year. It appears that people are adopting and adhering to COVID protocols and plan to proceed with their events and meetings as planned.”
Novotel Vijayawada Varun also introduced monthly guest engagement events to bring cheer to their loyal guests. The hotel’s design has not changed, but safety measures have been strengthened at all touch points to ensure safety. The hotel tends to focus more on staycations, wellness packages and food deliveries.
Rai said, “In hospitality, business strategy is influenced by customer behaviour. Our loyalty programme allows you to ‘unlock your dream’ stay, inviting guests to discover the best of these destinations, unlocking the finest stays and personalised experiences.”
