Hotels finally begin unlocking

In June, the government announced the first Unlock that permitted businesses including hotels to re-open in a phased manner. Since then, two more Unlocks have further opened up the sector. But have the hotels seen any traffic? Some industry stakeholders help us understand where demand lies and how it can be tapped.

Punish B Sharma, Vice President (Operations), The Fern Hotels & Resorts

It’s still early days. The industry got the permission to open recently and that too with limitations. With the unlocking we have seen some more activity on the occupancy front. However, it is going to take some time to get good numbers. We have a huge locational advantage. A lot of corporates operate from Hiranandani Gardens and we have a captive audience. Training manpower has been a challenge.

Atul Upadhyay, Vice President (Operations), Pride Hotels

The biggest challenge while reopening will be the implementation of new standards, which will require developing a new set of skills in terms of cleaning, disinfection and inspection. The current crisis has also taught us the value of being prepared for pandemics. M!CE will take a little more time to recover but once it does, we are hoping to get higher demand as some of the international events will shift to India due to the travel restrictions.

Rubin Cherian, General Manager, Novotel Hyderabad Airport

Nearly 77% of our guests are domestic, thus our dependence on the international inbound traffic is limited. The hotel has by now hosted a healthy number of Indian weddings (respecting the 50-guest limit) and we have also been getting requests for rooms from airlines dealing in cargo and private jets for their crew. We were able to capture this business as we are close to the airport. There is slow percolation of corporate travel with request for boardrooms.

Prantik Ray, Area General Manager, Sayaji Indore

The prime focus should be on guest safety and sanitisation. Sticking to brand USP, customising packages and promotions, focusing on transit travellers, engaging with online channel partners and targeting less-impacted corporate bodies are a few strategies to boost occupancies. Recovery will be prolonged by at least 3 to 4 quarters with normalcy around two years away. Small-scale business will recover first whereas group or M!CE will be the last to recover.

Shruti Shibulal, CEO and Director, Tamara Leisure Experiences

We are slowly seeing an increase in intra-state travellers visiting our properties. We are hopeful that, in time, inter-state travellers will also return. The biggest challenge the industry will face in the coming months will be to establish trust amongst clientele. We are aware that some things have forever changed, and it will be imperative to ensure safety measures and protocols to suit the new reality.

Gaurav Sinha, Director of Operations, JW Marriott Hotel Bengaluru

A positive outlook has made us look beyond the conventional way of opportunity. We are seeing development in terms of social events and staycations, but M!CE will take longer than expected. For large events, we have seen some possible light with enquiries for Q4 of 2021. So business continuity is a severe challenge. We are taking all measures to hold on to talent.

Inputs by Steena Joy