All industries have been impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, with varying degrees of severity. The bedding industry will be largely affected as mattresses are classified under capex and most hoteliers will defer the capital expenditure at this point of time.

Mattresses always play an important role in the hospitality industry as the guest's prime requirement is comfort.  Guests always look forward to a comfortable stay and the mattress play a major role in their overall satisfaction since a very good night’s sleep help rejuvenate the body. In this way, for hotels, selecting a right mattress is very critical as it enhances the overall hotel brand experience through the satisfied guests’ feedbacks.

Sealy has partnered with the leaders of the worldwide accommodation industry for over 40 years. We know that choosing the right bed is paramount to the success of a hotel because a quality sleep experience is what makes a stay away from home special and will keep guests coming back to the same property.

With the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the world economy has come to a grinding halt. All industries have been impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, with varying degrees of severity. The bedding industry will be largely affected as mattresses are classified under capex and most hoteliers will defer the capital expenditure at this point of time. It will result in sluggish buying behaviour. The novel coronavirus is changing virtually every aspect of daily life and bedding industry certainly isn’t immune. 

With the pandemic hitting the economy, conducting business with new norms like social distancing will almost slaughter the tourism industry and I believe that hotels will suffer the most in the coming six to eight months.  The foremost challenge posed by the pandemic is slow revival of the hospitality industry. Also, new hotel development will definitely be impacted due to weak demand. It seems that most of the hotel projects that are in development stage will be delayed at least by 12 – 18 months.

Though the hospitality industry has been on an expansion mode the current scenario is not favourable for luxury properties and most projects won’t take off at least till early January, 2021. But the boutique/resort properties could definitely see a gradual traction in the occupancies. I think even the business hotels could do reasonably well post-covid, say around September, 2020 onwards.

Sealy is a respected global bedding brand, setting the standard for quality and innovation around the world. Sealy has a long history of innovative product development, with numerous unique patented technologies at the core of our products. With stringent testing requirements and continuous research, the innovations continue to this day.

We are all determined to stick to the SOP (standard operating procedure) as per the health ministry guidelines while we service and support our hospitality clients. The lockdown, in a way, has given enough time to review and planning for operations post-covid. We have prioritized to a large extent on the “to-do list” which we will adhere once the lock down ceases. Also, we have devised new strategies to generate revenue while we service our existing and new hospitality clients.

Going forward, only meaningful collaboration will work so it is important for every stake holder to think hard and use the latest and smart technology which reduces human touch but provides the best interface in the new world order.

In order to address the industry’s urgent need to restart the business, I would recommend only one word to our team and cross functional colleagues — “reorientation” which is the key to survive in the post-covid world. The cost at every stage will rise as we start using smart technology to reduce human interface and most properties will deploy smart digital tools for contactless options. The hospitality industry will become more process-oriented in the future which will enhance productivity. 

This pandemic impact will push us to think hard how to stay ahead of the curve by utilizing the best digital smart technologies and reengineer ourselves to come out of this pandemic even stronger.