"The two leading aspects have been establishing heightened safety and sanitization measures for our guests and patrons when they visit us again and reimagining innumerable services within the hotel."

The vital piece for Marriott International during this period of planning to reopen in a new world order has been to work on the commitment to clean protocols. We have reimagined all services and dedicated superlative effort for ensuring that proactive and strong measures are taken to adjust to new business models, which are indispensable to the future success of our hotels. That includes contingency plans to safeguard our costs and recovery plans to ensure that when we do return to regular business, we know exactly how to maximize the potential of our outreach, swiftly moving towards growth again. The two leading aspects have been establishing heightened safety and sanitization measures for our guests and patrons when they visit us again and reimagining innumerable services within the hotel. For instance, we introduced a home delivery initiative, changed the operational standards of our buffets and revisited our room service standards, to meet the new protocols that are expected of any business that is being conscious of the efforts that need to be made to ensure health and safety. 

The new strategy for the hospitality business 

As an organization worldwide, we launched our commitment to clean council which worked very closely with accredited and renowned partners to provide the right chemicals, technology and ingredients and ensured that we were adopting strong measures that are not merely adequate but extremely enhanced, similar to hospital-grade. 

Hotels have always been a place for socializing but they’ve also always remained places of utmost sanitation and hygiene. The requirement today is to enhance these levels and ensure that we embrace the change diligently and with the due care. These protocols need training not only for the core team but each and every employee. We spent adequate time and effort on research, the use of the appropriate technology, quality of ingredients and the understanding that when we do use technology we completely safeguard our data and maintain privacy. Through all of these steps that have been taken in the past few months, we have sought to transform our services as we move towards welcoming customers back again. In terms of cost control measures, we have taken contingency measures on property and above, to ensure our partners and owners are provided best possible savings during these time. We launched various different sorts of services under our 'Marriott on Wheels' platform such as delivery of food, an initiative wherein chefs and bartenders visit guests’ homes and prepare a meal in their kitchens for them to experience the same cuisine at their own homes.

Leading a team effectively and sensitively is an integral function at this hour and one of the key elements in doing so is communication. Authentic, timely and constant conversations are required, where we not only share but also take time to listen. It allows a good connection within the community and ensures that we are sharing not just the knowledge of what we are learning every day but also warranting the safety of our associates as well. We constantly strive to engage through learning, continuous training and supporting them through the changes within the new world order. 

Challenges and reinventions in the FnB, MICE and Wedding sectors 

Needless to say, F&B, MICE and weddings have always been huge revenue drivers, and they do stand impacted in the short run, especially in locations like Kolkata. There has been a massive impact as restaurants were shut during the lockdowns. While they have started reopening, there is still a need for our guests to feel safe and for them to be able to come and start experiencing our services again. In multiple parts of the world where restaurants have opened, a large influx of guests have come back to those venues to enjoy the services, but we have all had to evolve in all our offerings. Our menus are starting to introduce more organic, immunity boosting, wellbeing-focused dining options. Currently, re-designed buffets will be offered at smaller weddings and much smaller MICE events, which will feature live cooking, fresh food, single-serve portions and rotating bites rather than old-style buffets which induce heavy contact. So, we’ve had to reinvent everything to be able to offer a contact-light experience, using a immense amount of technology, such as barcodes and service platforms which allow digital payments, digital ordering, viewing menus through apps on mobile phones. Besides, we ensure that the cleanliness protocols are transparently showcased to our customers through digital or animated videos or actual signage on the spot of contact.

While specialty restaurants have been an integral part of a hotel experience, in the current situation, in-room dining has been the preferred choice of guests, largely because restaurants were not operational in many hotels and in many cities as per directives. Even as they reopen, currently the footfalls are much lower than what they used to be but I believe that the importance of meeting, socializing, enjoying the ambience, the mood of the venue clubbed with the cuisine and the food, the experience of dining out in a restaurant and all of that has to come back. The overall experience cannot be matched with at-home dining or in-room dining. The fact is that we need to maintain safety and sanitization protocols, social distancing and make our guests feel safe. In my personal opinion, I think we will be back sooner than we all think that we will be and possibly stronger than ever before. 

Looking towards domestic tourism as a game changer

On the whole, we have a large domestic base and Indians love to travel. We love taking vacations very often, although possibly in the short term, travelling borders will not be possible. Hence, those who travelled abroad for vacations and events will possibly look for alternate options within the premise of the country itself and that’s a captive audience for us to cater to. These are discerning guests, highly experienced with their travel, looking for authentic experiences, value-driven propositions, transformational experiences. I think there is a large base and a tremendous opportunity to encourage domestic tourism within our own boundaries. 

Marriott East India’s community initiatives 

In the fight against the pandemic, as a hotel and a community, we have supported and served healthcare workers by providing them meals, helped civic workers in the locality by ensuring that they are provided with basic amenities, as part of the Serve360 initiative under the Marriott banner. We have also extended our support to the local authorities and central agencies by providing accommodation and meals to guests who have returned via repatriation flights from international borders and are required to stay in isolation. We have educated communities through webinars, whether it be our partners in weddings and event planners, or supporting initiatives taken by the local and government authorities. Additionally, we have continuously worked on making our contribution sustainable. In the Marriott on Wheels initiative that we have recently launched over the last few weeks, we have made sure that all our products are packaged with zero plastic use, ensuring a positive carbon footprint so that we are able to offer the best in class but at the same time offer unique experiences to our customers and be the leaders of change during this time. 

Lessons to move forward with 

The current situation has taught us important lessons for the future but I think we are still learning every day. What I see when I look back is some of the basics that were taught to me as a child, whether it’s about washing hands, eating well, looking after our immunity, valuing our family and loved ones, connecting with those that we care for – all of this has taken shape in a much stronger way over the last few months and I think it tells us that we need to continue to embrace this and stay committed to these basics while we continue to adapt with the change that is coming. We need to evolve with sincerity, with compassion and with integrity but at the same time we need to also ensure that we have our loved ones and the ones that we care for to be well looked after and are safe.