Indian Hospitality Industry 12

 I returned to India on the 5th of February 2021, after being stuck  in America for eleven long months due to COVID 19 pandemic, but was sort of relieved with somewhat promising situation here in India. The airport was well organized with equally disciplined atmosphere. Coming to India was also quite motivating because, seemingly, the situation was in control. The excitement of coming home, meeting my sisters and their families, including friends; the whole affair was quite eventful. At that time the COVID-19 numbers were fewer and we saw that Malls were fully functional and were buzzing with activity. The restaurants were doing reasonably good business and I was informed that NCR Hotels were doing nearly 55-60% occupancy. Super Markets were doing good business; even retail stores were picking up the business steadily. I was happy that all was going on as I had expected and that thing we’re really looking up.

Then, as time passed, bit by bit I started noticing carelessness everywhere, both among people and in business premises. Here are some examples of insensitivity and lack of awareness of the dormant COVID 19.

1.      The Super Markets were operating with almost full staff.  When customers pointed out to the managers at the big stores like Big Bazaar, Spencer etc., they were told that these (floor helps) men were provided by suppliers at no cost to them. On closer inquiry it was revealed that they were untrained and unqualified raw young boys who not only knew nothing of COVID 19 protection but were also very casual and nonchalant in their attitude. All these stores had dismal staff as they were trying save some money by hiring cheap representatives to manage the floor. What a mentality

2.      Now let’s talk about our Industry. The Restaurants, especially fast food outlets were boasting of COVID protocol and declared that they were going by the book. Whereas, international chains like McDonald/Burger King/Pizza King outlets had very congested seating arrangement, the outlet in the mall on MG road one could see 45/50 people were seated in an area of not more then 160-70 sq. ft. Indian fast food joints like Haldiram/Bikaner were also squeeze in guests like never before and were running full strength with little or no precautions by their staff or their guests. The situation was quite the same almost everywhere.

3.      Hotels were bursting in their seams. Although they started cautiously, but later on to attract domestic business, they floated cheap Hotel stay packages, which was a good move to increase revenue. Then came the wedding season with full force, and they started flouting all rules with no holds barred. Earlier on, the hotels which used to provide accommodation to International traveler, were now perceived as the safest option by COVID- 19 positive guests looking for hotels and by February/March 2020 as the tourist traffic increased, their new found enthusiasm and confidence made them compromise the COVID 19 safety guidelines.

Thus hotels became one of the biggest catalysts in accelerating the covid-19 virus, additionally the marriage season made it free for all. All hotels in Delhi and NCR were jam packed, their dining halls were over booked for breakfast and dinner which led to crowding and what followed is anybody’s guess.

 We can certainly blame the government policy, but we were the educated lot and were all part of the star class hotels - where was our wisdom.  During this period, the resort hotels were doing well, and so even the city Hotels started modifying their properties to offer resort-like services e.g. Swimming Pools, Health Club and Spa and all were fully packed, even in the lobbies of most of the hotels one could witness large crowds moving freely in their swimming pool attire.

It is important for me to site few definite examples for record;

·          A friend of mine from Hong Kong who moved to USA when the pandemic started, stayed with his family for over eight months in New York, Minneapolis and San Francisco in Hotels, and then moved to Dubai for few months on business. He visited Delhi early March 21, for a meeting and I booked him in Westin, Gurugram. We met for a meeting at 11 am. Sitting in their very large lobby having discussions wearing our double masks, soon I started noticing large crowd, some of them in their swimming costume and towels but no mask. Then we saw some crowd, all properly dressed up gathering in the well of lobby close to us, and majority of them were not wearing masks. As the numbers increased, we got worried and started complaining, and requested the staff to urge them to at least follow the basic  COVID-19 protection guidelines, like mask and social distancing of minimum six feet from each other, but no one listened, which goes to prove that we are educated and obstinate fools. Then I asked for the senior manager, who refused to meet us. One of the lobby mangers finally informed that they will not say anything that may annoy the guests. We were left with no option but to walk out on our own. Even my friend staying there for at least a week checked out immediately and went to a secluded Hotel in Delhi. This was the situation every day, which was later confirmed by one of their staffers.

·    It was clear that for those two/ three months one could not visit any of the Hotels either on weekends or on holidays, because their Restaurants were sold out and all the advisory of social distancing etc. were tossed out of the window. As a regular in few of the Hotels, the staff who knew us well clearly told us that this was as per the instructions of the management. It is difficult to figure out, who is to blame - the brand or the ownership or maybe both.

·       All the hotel restaurants started with Ala Carte menu, but as the numbers increased, they switched to Buffet service for all meals. It is common knowledge that Buffet is considered a major spreader, but in order to control the labor and non-availability of fully trained staff - which could result in complaints - the hotel chains opted for an easy way out and Buffet, was certainly an easy way out. This move could be a secondary factor that that might have contributed to the surge in COVID-19 cases in various cities.

4.     Biggest of all fears - which became reality- was the wedding season or the  ‘Saya Dates’. These dates were total 50 in number. According to the Industry estimates tens of thousands of marriages took place in Delhi & NCR with majority of them in various Hotels and Banquet Hall. Each wedding had over 200 Pax in each function, and all these functions were mostly without mask, leave alone social distancing. Simple arithmetic will confirm that over Fifty to Sixty lakh people only in NCR attended these marriage parties and were exposed to the possibility of catching or spreading the COVID-19 virus and then we blame the pandemic for second wave! Unfortunately quite the same was happening in all major cities across the country.

5.    Above picture gives us a clear view of negligence and nonchalant attitude towards all aspects of the functioning of Hospitality Industry. Even today- when the industry is in trouble - there is no visible introspection for course correction. Let’s consider one aspect i.e. The Man Power;

·        Research tells us that on an average 50 to 60 % of manpower at hotels and food outlets were down with covid-19 at one point in time or another.

·           Our biggest wealth of any hotel is the trained staff that runs the operations. During the first lockdown we got rid of the trained staff, in other word, the staffs with high salaries were eased out and when the market started opening up, we didn’t bring them back but hired untrained and inexperienced low cost staff. When business started picking, they became a liability and a cause of mismanagement. Another thing to note is that almost all hotels, not only dumped the high salaried staff, but also slashed the salaries of remaining staff by half

·    All the hotels participating in COVID-19 quarantine program were trained to take all precaution to protect their guests and themselves from possible infection. They did this job well. But they forgot all the training and COVID-19 precautions when the Hotels started opening for direct business. Important and very basic instructions like social distancing and removal of mask only for eating were not followed plus the banqueting was free for all.

·       We also need to ask ourselves, ‘what efforts have we made to work in new ‘COVID-19’ environment?’ the answer is NONE – period. Businesses worldwide which did not adopt the new COVID-19 centric conduct and/or environment have had to face their doom and that is the reality. It is also true that business houses that made adjustment, changed strategies and aligned themselves to COVID-19 protocol  have not only survived but are the new millionaires. Back home, due to our myopic vision we have neither made any efforts nor have invested our time and/or money to meet the new challenges.

·         Hotels in India have always scored on F&B. On an average every Hotel has minimum of two restaurants plus coffee lounge and a Bar. These outlets used to contribute minimum of 30% of the total revenue which at times went up to even 60%. But today all of these outlets are in serious trouble. Thousands & thousands of employees are out of job. The industry needs to evolve and innovate to make sure their clients get their favorite cuisines at home through, maybe a Drive-Inn or a home delivery system or any other way at a reasonable price. But just the opposite is happening all around.

·           Restaurants are in the worse situation. Some who are doing well they should thank Zomato and Swiggy for their survival. These two companies have done more then all our restaurant industry put together including international fast food chains. Surprisingly enough we do not have even one single Drive-Inn or a Curbside Restaurant. Once again our entrepreneurs missed the bus - quite typical of us. We happily let the likes of Zomato or Swiggy become millionaires as they write their own success story, while we continue to blame the Government or God. Just for our information, the fast food chains like Chic Fillet, McDonald or Burger King outlets in the USA have doubled their revenue during COVID-19 lockdown. They modified the pickup strategy, designed new restaurants and others followed; we saw long queues of cars in nearly all outlets. During COVID-19 even countries like USA saw more job opportunities in food industry. What has happened to us, why are we paralyzed? Why can’t we confront COVID-19 with all our intelligence?

      Furthermore, in the past - more often than not - the standard practice to tide over any business crisis and recover the losses has been to increase the charges. People’s misery has always been en-cashed because it presents an opportunity to rip off the guests, charge whatever at will.  Whereas, common sense tells us to cut down the rates to encourage sales and increase the volume of turnover - especially when the industry was struggling to save on the manpower cost  by reducing salaries, cut air-conditioning bills and so on. Despite all these measures, we still seem to be in trouble – I think the problem is in the mind – As a nation we are petty minded and cunning lot, looking for short term gains.

      Yes! I agree that the administration both local and /or central, our societies and associations also failed us miserably. They completely ignored the blatant flouting of COVID-19 protocol; alongside there was total misuse of authority by hotel and restaurant staff at all levels. Whereas on the contrary under the circumstances, constant monitoring of all sensitive services should have been built-in the daily schedule of events. All said and done there is no justification for all the damage that was done to our industry in the country be it  due to ignorance or attitude – at best it was ‘Hara-Kiri’.

 After what has happened, no one wants to take the blame on behalf of the hospitality industry or country’s fate. The fact remains that after setting the house on fire, we are trying to find a scapegoat. Now as the situation is limping back to normal and seems to be a little under control, we expect some sort of miracle to occur and expect that within few weeks, the businesses will start opening up. Like Navin Berry wrote in Destination India on 17^th May, 21;

   “ As we look ahead to open our industry again, we must be cautious in how we portray ourselves as an industry: we must be seen as caring, sensitive and emerge as the first line of defense against the virus. And, we should not go aggressive in raising tariffs that may look like profiteering!”

Now, as we prepare to open up once again there is a need to critically examine our mistakes in the past, incorporate the strategies which are formulated by the government agencies and various hotel associations to open up/restart the property or a F&B outlet. Furthermore, in order to make sure that we enter the market with redoubled confidence and are better equipped to ensure optimal protection and safety of our guests and staff.

       I am placing below some of my recommendations;

1.      Enhance Safety and protection for staff

a.      Create staff security bubble of protection, by providing in house accommodation.

b.      New staff joining must be subject clearance of COVID-19 test.

      2.      Enhance Safety & protection for Guests

a.      Follow UAE procedure, all guest must be subject to COVID-19 test before they are allowed to move around.

b.      Limit Housekeeping service by request only.

c.       Guest Room occupied by the same guest over multiple days, should not be cleaned daily, unless requested. 

d.      Provide Guest with Guest Safety Checklist for protection.

3.      Evolve a ‘Revenue Generation’ Policy

a.      Promote Sales & Marketing over platforms of digital  Apps’ with e.g. Douyin, WeChat, Taobao, Weibo etc.

b.      To increase conference business, promote Live Streaming of conferences to replace face to face meeting.

4.      Remodel all F&B outlets including Standalone Restaurants.

Plus exploit all other revenue generation areas

a.      Design innovative services, seating, take away system, delivery and pick up orders

b.      New concept, safe surety operation based on social distancing

5.      Incorporate latest COVID-19 Centric technologies

a.      For check-Ins’ and F&B access introduce Face Recognition devices

 with AI temperature displays.

b.      Implementation of new and advance touch less technologies. 

c.       Introduce and device interactive   Corona Protocol Displays.

Written By Virat Varma & Anil Chak