Cover Story
HOTEL Business Review
T
he Pandemic dramatically changed the travel and tourism segment which affected the hotel industry adversely. Virtual conferencing and events led to remote working and personal meetings were completely off the list for people who believed that social distancing was best to avoid Corona virus. With a complete blockade on travel to combat the pandemic, the hospitality business fell by 98 percent in tourists compared to May 2020 with 2019. Between January and May, the year-on-year drop in tourists fell by 56 percent. This represents a fall of $300 million in income from international tourism. This is triple if we compare it with the crisis of 2009. However, things have slowly changed in recent times. Events and meetings data indicates that more and more corporate events are happening in person. But hoteliers are still left pondering on the question: When will the corporate event business finally return to normal? Over the past two years, due to changing values after the acute phase of the pandemic, there has been a shift in society. While in 2020 and 2021 the focus was on staycations and hygiene protocols as well as contactless technologies, there will have to be more changes undertaken by the hotels to entice the guests back. With this in mind new trends are being adopted by the industry to persuade
the guests back. Increased facilities would have to be provided by the industry. According to Mandeep Singh Lamba, President (South Asia) HVS Anarock, the Indian hotel industry will continue its uphill journey on the long road to post-COVID recovery, during this year. He believes that new trends will pick up steam over the coming year.
Facilities for Guests In order to entice more guests to visit their properties, what are the facilities now being offered by the hotels to the guests? Sunil Narang, General Manager, Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai, states, “At the present moment, I am happy to inform the readers that, the guests have access to all facilities
Four Seasons Hotel, Mumbai
Mar-Apr ’22
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