TravTalk India Online Magazine
John Spence, Founder and Owner of Karma Group of Hotels and visiting professor at Yale University, shares his views on how he thinks the hospitality industry should cope in the present and restart in the near future.
I think it will bounce back very swiftly. Clearly, the pandemic has affected all of us in the hospitality industry. No more so in India, at the moment where we had to shut all of our resorts because of the situation. And clearly, over the last year, at all times, the resorts have been shut down, resorts have been open. But when tourists can travel, resorts will be full, and we’ll do very good business. As herd immunity comes in, the lockdowns and the closures will become more limited. So, there can be more of a normality of service from the hospitality industry. I think we’re going to have roaring 20s. At the end of this, COVID will probably last a long time, but when we know how to deal with it, then people are going to want to travel in droves. People want to spend now; they want to go out and reward themselves for having been locked down. They will also have a side element of fear that they might be locked down again in the future. So, all this is going to result in people travelling en masse. The only part of travel that might be affected is business travel. I think a lot of people have learnt to do business remotely. Companies would be tightening their budget, because of the losses they’ve made. So, they’ll discourage all but essential business travel.
Consolidations in the offing?
I think so, I mean, what we’re clearly saying is that the mega hotel companies, the Marriotts, the Starwoods or Wyndhams or whatever are consolidating and they’re consolidating for economy of scale and critical mass. That will continue to a certain extent, to the top ends. I think there’s still enormous space for boutique hotels. I think the more that the mega brands homogenize and become more of the same thing, the more consumers want something a bit different. They want something that is a bit unique, a bit special, that’s architecturally attractive, and that is responsive to the environment that it’s in, and friendlier to the environment it’s in rather than necessarily always going for the big consolidating. I think also people are going to like something that’s a bit smaller, because of COVID. I think people are going to be more reluctant holidaying in large five-hundred room hotels where they’re sharing lifts and large breakfast rooms. So, hotels that have a low density, low impacts spread out. I think consumers like self-catering to a certain extent, and again, a lot of our resorts have cooking amenities and kitchens and what have you in there. And a lot of people like the luxurious space-two/three bedrooms-rather than just one hotel room.
I think the general trend will go two ways- one, consolidation to the top end, two, more boutique hotels, with low density, small number of rooms, more unique, combined possibly with self-catering. Of course, also, what I think is going to bloom is our ‘club’ concept. People like being a member or something which they can recognise, and they can guarantee quality. And we very much view it as a lifestyle. So, we don’t see ourselves as a lodging company. We see ourselves as having a long-term, lifetime relationship with the clients and their family. That is also a trend I see increasing in the years to come.
Vaccination for frontliners
It’s interesting about hospitality. Not being considered frontline, not getting vaccinations. It’s not unique. There are some countries, like the UAE and the Maldives, for instance that took a view right at the beginning to vaccinate hospitality, let’s get the industry back on its feet. There are some places like India, and England, to be candid, that didn’t take that view. Clearly, absolutely, I think it should be viewed as a front line. I mean, we have vaccinated almost all members of our staff, on our own. We bought vaccines and vaccinated them ourselves in India. We also did the same in Indonesia. And I’m very very keen on having a 100% vaccination strike raised at all our resorts. So, anyone coming to stay with us knows that all staff are vaccinated. We will, in time, be insisting all clients be vaccinated to come to our resorts. And so, we can be a pure COVID bubble. And I do strongly feel that that’s the way hospitality is going to go. So, if you get on a plane or you stay in a hotel, you need to know that you are vaccinated and you’re surrounded by other people who have been vaccinated.
India must take note
My advice to hoteliers is – don’t panic. There’s nothing we can do about the COVID outbreak in India. So, it’s foolish to try and to be too stressed about it. When you can’t affect change, don’t try to. Try and change what you can. And the reality is, we’re in a storm, and we have to bolt our hatches. A wise captain is looking beyond the storm. The most important thing at the moment is to keep yourself safe, your staff safe; to do testing as much as possible; and immediately isolate people who have it.
