Panel Discussion: Maximising Revenue through F&B Operations
By Rashmi Pradhan
THE OBJECTIVE of any business is to establish itself in the market and maximize revenues. At BW Hotelier F&B Conclave & Expo 2015, hoteliers were brought together to discuss on ’Maximizing revenues in a heated market’. Among the panelist were Zubin S Songadwala, General Manager, ITC Maurya; David Hopcroft, General Manager, Le Meridien Gurgaon, Delhi NCR, Ramon Salto, Executive Chef, The Leela Ambience Gurgaon Hotel & Residences and Deepak Khera, Hospitality Doctor. The session was moderated by Vivek Narain, MD, Indomalaya Advisors Pvt. Ltd.
The panelist discussed on how the F&B plays an important role in maximizing the business revenue. Speaking on the role of F&B, Songadwala said, ’F&B drives the hotel business. It is important that locals talk about the hotel and that can happen only if they have experienced the hotel restaurants or utilized the banqueting services of the hotel. It is important to expose the services of the hotel to a larger community. There is an exponential growth from banqueting services. Through one window that is one event you can reach out to large audience base.’ Hopcroft said, ’Banqueting is important and contributes hugely to the hotel business. The outside catering market is also growing and it is a great opportunity. As people might not be opting for five-star venues but are open to undertake five-star hotel catering.’
When asked by the Narain on how design adds to the patronage of the hotel, the panelist agreed that a hotel design plays a vital role in attracting the guests. There are separate entries to the hotel lobby and banquet area. The privacy of the hotel guests is well maintained and also the banqueting services are unaffected in case of separate entry points to these well defined segments of the hotel. Khera informed, ’The hotels are designed in such a way that they can outsource their restaurants.’
The Author is Assistant Editor of BW Hotelier.
Photo: Zubin S Songadwala, General Manager, ITC Maurya, ponders a point during the panel discussion. Photo: Sanjay Sakaria.
