Given the fact that the hospitality industry relies heavily on physical presence and human interaction for effective operation, a drastic change in the way businesses operate is bound to happen.

It is a challenging time and situation that we are living in. We all know that Coronavirus has had unfortunate impact on hospitality, tourism and aviation sectors. Given the fact that the hospitality industry relies heavily on physical presence and human interaction for effective operation, a drastic change in the way businesses operate is bound to happen.

‘Utilizing hotels to support government and the society’ 

At Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Limited, out of 22 hotels, 11 are still operational. We are supporting the government initiatives and giving back to society. For instance, we are undertaking various initiatives to support senior citizens and the underprivileged who are suffering the most due to the lack of food supplies and essential items. We started a neighbourhood service initiative, #THEParkHeartOfHope across our hotels, wherein anybody especially the senior citizens can call us for any help, be it groceries, medicines or food. The team responds to the request immediately taking all safety precautions. We are also providing free food every day to the underprivileged and community warriors countrywide through our hotels. Till now we have provided free food to more than close to 12,500 people.

At a couple of our hotels, we have assigned certain rooms on a daily basis for the health practitioner, medical staff battling the COVID-19 outbreak. We even have repatriate guests coming during the lockdown in some of our hotels.

At Flurys Kolkata, we are producing over 1500 loaves of bread and selling through our own distribution network.

‘Guest and Employee well-being is our top priority’

The safety and wellbeing of our guests, as well as our employees, have always been of paramount importance to the group. Our entire team at Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Limited is committed to offer Anything But OrdinaryTM experiences to our guests. 

Staying true to our culture code and values, we have optimized use of technology and social media to ensure employees remain engaged and motivated. We are ensuring to upskill our teams with online or e-learning modules being seamlessly facilitated by in-house training managers, faculties from Apeejay Institute of Hospitality as well as outsourced faculties. We have introduced special programmes for teams across departments and are encouraging them to explore them for continued knowledge upgradation during this time at home. Our teams are collaboratively creating a more flexible remote work environment while supporting each other both emotionally and professionally.

For employees working in the hotel, we are hosting fortnightly Townhalls to keep them motivated. The team leaders are undertaking daily check-ins with the respective team members and also providing emotional support. We are also planning to organize fun activities with different teams, like virtual Antakshri to keep them in high spirits.

‘Way forward for the New Normal’

There will be a huge shift in the consumer behaviour towards usage of travel and hospitality services. We need to understand that people are going to hesitant before using any public or private services, even after the lockdown is uplifted. The industry needs to prepare for an entirely new business set-up ensuring as much contactless services as possible. Everything boils down to safety and hygiene which will supersede all the previously existing wants and desires. More hoteliers will consider tech-enabled and digitalized interaction touchpoints – digital check-ins and check-outs, digital payments or ordering of food via apps. Moreover, companies will be seen using automatic lighting system, gesture-controlled doors and flushing in bathrooms among others.

This will change the hospitality landscape especially the way design and experientials are perceived. For instance, guests will strongly prefer mindful dining with attention towards immunity boosting ingredients. This is where fresh organic production of food will play a major role in differentiating the services for brands. We have already set a precedent and have been aggressively working towards the concept of farm-to-fork for years and have been leaders in the organic movement. Our chefs have been delivering sustainable food services in tandem with a smart network of farmers and experts.

To prepare for the coming times, we are confident of being able to power-up after the lockdown ends. We are working on various possible scenarios and preparing for subsequent steps. A task-force has been set-up which pre-emptively looks into the functioning and keeps a tab on operations. The idea is to keep ourselves ready for an uncertain future. 

‘Government support critical in renewal of business’

Undoubtedly, we will need a good amount of time combined with support from the government to mitigate the impact and business losses that the industry will incur. With relief measures and a very high focus once this is over, state and national tourism can help us to get back sooner. To start with, the Central and State governments must plan to promote state tourism, as domestic travel will see a surge well before international travel. 

At this point, it is encouraging to see all the industry players and bodies working together to help each other rise stronger. If we continue to work this way, build an infrastructure to cushion us, and renew the experience economy, the time is not far away when this ‘New Normal’ lifestyle will be welcomed with positivity and strength.