JOIN USThe silver lining
In 2019, the hotel industry was at the cusp of two big developments. One, Bengaluru witnessed the highest year-on-year supply change of 13.4% to become the second-largest branded hotel market in India after Delhi. And two, the constant rise of inbound tourism leading to the high demand for rooms.
In all reasons, Bengaluru hospitality industry had a lot to celebrate. This was unfortunately cut short by a situation we now recognise as Covid-19. A situation that we as hoteliers were never equipped to handle. Yet, as the weeks progressed with the global travel and hospitality industry coming to a worrying standstill, it transformed into a time when all the industry stakeholders, irrespective of the stature of the brand, were forced to re-evaluate, re-assess and re-jig their approach to hospitality, especially in a fast-changing city like Bengaluru — a city that had in the past one decade transformed into perhaps the biggest market of rooms in the country — and of fascinating food concepts too.
The ‘real catalyst?
The need for a fresh approach to our strengths and strategies to face these challenges was warranted much before. It is true, hospitality will never be the same, and as an industry, we would have to create and embrace a “new normal”. The question is where do we begin?
By keeping abreast with the new emerging business and consumer trends. To be future-ready, it is important that we optimise this downtime to reassess our human resource management and service design.
It will be a brand’s individual initiative to encourage its team members to utilise this time to upskill on education and personal growth. The sky is the limit — learn a new soft skill, absorb content on
leadership qualities or training on emotional intelligence.
The key to the success of the new norm will remain on being reflective and adaptive to these changes from a business, consumer, and internal stakeholder perspective.
Inward growth movement
An immediate focus of the industry will be on short-term gains that trigger swift recovery of the hospitality industry. But at the same time, it is imperative to cater to the local market as well. Inbound tourism will hold the key to reinstating the brand faith, given the reluctance to travel internationally.
It will thus become necessary for brands to come forth with innovative ways of engaging patrons and potential inbound travellers with a wide range of customised staycations and food and beverage promotion, complemented with exciting events that offer a sense of renewed trust.
There would be a rise in artisanal and insightful classes conducted by the best in the business.
Redefining the lean
Hoteliers, year on year, have been forced to take a deep dive into every process line to discover newer ways of cost and resource optimisation with the persistent challenge of doing so without compromising the highest standard of hospitality. This will continue to hold centerstage even when we design the ‘new normal’ with the focus remaining on improving efficiencies that the industry has not experienced yet. To nurture the future of hospitality, we are working closely with educational institutes to build tools that can provide real-time training to students who would have otherwise trained with a hotel.
Tech & innovation
Digital check-ins, smart apps in rooms have been a service standard in every business hotel for quite some time now. In fact, it is one of the best designed AI available in the hotel for seamless service.
However, in the months ahead, I see the role of tech in hotels take on much of the front house activities with human interaction kept to the minimum.
Tech like Kipsu, a concierge service software that facilitates seamless real-time assistance round the clock, will hold precedence. We would need efficient applications to enable guests to manage room functions through their mobile device.
Reassessing hygiene
A greater focus on hygiene practices will be further elevated across the board for organised and unorganised sectors alike.
Additional measures developed in consultation with global and local public health authorities (including the WHO and CDC) to make cleaning and hygiene protocols even more rigorous. Guest and team member safety will remain a paramount priority. There will also be a rise in healthy dining in the industry. An emphasis on vegan and plant-based foods that highlight immunity-boosting elements will be the focus of dining experience and F&B offerings.
(The author is GM, Conrad Bengaluru)