The third edition of the Hotel Operations Summit – India (HOSI), focused on bringing together the ‘Ring-Masters’ and understand the various challenges and opportunities they face in the hospitality industry By Archana Sharma
With the relocation of the 11th Hotel Investment Conference – South Asia (HICSA) 2015, HVS decided to re-launch the Hotel Operations Summit – India (HOSI), held at JW Marriott on April 6, 2015, with a special focus towards general managers. While welcoming the delegates, Manav Thadani, chairman – APAC, HVS and chairman, WTTC-II, stated, “With HICSA in New Delhi, the focus has been shifted to general managers for HOSI 2015 and more than 315 delegates have registered with around 140 general managers from all over the country, accounting for almost 41 per cent of the total delegation.”
Focusing on revolutionising the industry by striving and searching for excellence, Nakul Anand, executive director, ITC, highlighted the need for a better and continuous service excellence model. During his keynote address, Anand, gave the examples of Walmart, Mc Donalds etc. and spoke about the base expectations, specific requirements and needs and wants of the customers, based on research and actual usage, tracing the cycle of service and understanding the different dissatifiers and components of procedure and conviviality, through which service should be delivered. He also talked about the importance of communication and the five rating criteria of reliability, accuracy, tangible, empathy and responsiveness, while stating that one should have the ability to turn every problem into an opportunity.
Understanding the market
With the current market scenario and varying hotel performances, Jean-Michel Casse, senior vice operations-India, Accor, believes that the 2015 performance will be driven by ARR rather than volume. “An ideal strategy should be created between the property owners and the brand owners for about three-five years and should be focused on driving performance required from general managers,” he said. But Peter Fulton, group president – EAME/ South West Asia, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, felt that the 26 per cent devaluation of the euro has wreaked havoc on the travel and hospitality industry.
Highlighting the requirements of general managers and their operating teams by the organisation COOs, Ranvir Bhandari, vice president, operations, ITC Hotels, felt the main challenge is the delivery of main floor requirements since they need to be identified properly and only then can be fulfilled. Talking about the market scenario, Bhandari stated that post-October 2015 the year will improve in terms of yield. “Currently the supply is greater than the demand and hotels are more focused towards yields than customer service and even then the owners are more focused towards the ROE than ROI,” he said. Adding to the same, Daniel Welk, vice president, operations – India, Hilton Worldwide, stated, “The owners who are working under severe debt need to have a continuous education cycle with the owners and the brand to learn about better running operations.”
Discussing the challenges faced by the general managers, Rahul Pandit, president and ED, The Lemon Tree Hotel Company, believes that the general managers should be held responsible only for the cost and market share not the overall performance of the market. He also stated that India being a youth oriented country, it is a major challenge for the general managers to handle the younger workforce at times. Providing a different perspective, Anshul Kaul, general manager, The Oberoi Bangalore, stated that an organsiation has to show growth, development and a career path apart from other values in terms of skill and personality development for the younger generation to become more focused and loyal towards the brand.
Highlighting the importance of trust, respect and adaptability, Puneet Dhawan, GM Delegate Bengaluru & Chennai Hotels and general manager, Ibis Novotel Bengaluru Techpark, stated that the quality of the service depends on how the employees are treated, which will reflect on their behaviour to the guests. He also said that general managers will only be able to control the market share, not the market demand.
Talking about the challenges faced with the advancement in technology, Taljinder Singh, general manager, Taj Palace, New Delhi, stated that presently, the reputation management of a brand is directly related to the technological management and therefore the hotels and brands should focus more on their online marketing strategies. He also talked about bridging the gap and creating skilled labour, “Schemes like ‘Hunar Se Rozgar Tak’ are essential in the current times and the issue of employment and skill development can only be accomplished through the help of the government.”
Highlighting the global but omnipresent trends, Arjun Sharma, managing director, Select group, stated that online presence and mobile applications are a major platform in the present time and therefore marketing strategies to enhance the same should be implemented, keeping in mind the individual customer and not the group. Talking about the proliferation of F&B brands and the in-hotel outlets v/s the standalone ones, Sharma stated, “Going forward, the brands will have to focus on reputation management rather than revenue management and will have to rethink long term loyalty programmes as the present generation is looking forward to instant gratification.”
Global scenario
With the advent of the global traveller, it is becoming essential to have international service standards. Highlighting the same, Simon F Cooper, president and managing director – APAC, Marriott International, during his keynote address said, “Hoteliers should focus on exceeding the expectations of their guest and provide a delightful extra amenity that is able to help in creating an emotional connect with the customer.” Vinay Gupta, vice president, asset management, SAMHI, believes that owners require ROI and forecasts are an important tool in preparing the owner about the lesser ROI in the future. Sanju Soni, vice president- South Mumbai Hotels, The Oberoi Group, firmly stated that the room rates should not be reduced but only played around with as the decrease in room rates affects the ROI greatly.