We spoke to four managers from different IHCL properties across the city — Arnab Chatterjee, hotel manager, Taj Bengal; Vishal Sharma, general manager, Vivanta Kolkata EM Bypass; Ankur Gairola, hotel manager Raajkutir- Kolkata — IHCL SeleQtions; and lndranil Ray, general manager, Taj City Centre Newtown — to know about their plans for their hotels in the new fiscal and also their thoughts on the post-pandemic hospitality scene. Here’s getting you excerpts.
Post-pandemic, the industry has really bounced back. To what do you attribute this boom?
Ankur Gairola: Post-pandemic, the volume of travel, especially domestic leisure, has been extremely high. The resumption of international flights and the recurrence of more offline meetings and conferences opened avenues for a boom. Concepts such as staycations and weekend getaways became popular.
Indranil Ray: The hospitality industry has indeed recuperated well post-pandemic. Aiding the revival was a high vaccination rate, effective management of the pandemic, resumption of all regular international flights to and from India and momentous events like IPL and G20 summit. Business and leisure (Bleisure) and domestic retail were the segments that were instrumental in driving buoyant occupancies.
Arnab Chatterjee: Domestic travel was one of the key reasons for a faster recovery. Corporate travel and MICE also made a comeback after a hiatus of two years. Calcutta was no exception to this trend and we saw an increasing number of guests who booked themselves for staycations. Weekend occupancies soared in comparison to pre-pandemic times. In addition, we saw a huge revival of the social segment for weddings and other related functions, which also helped increase occupancy and overall revenue of the hotel.
Vishal Sharma: This is primarily attributed to the pent-up travel, food and beverage and experiential demand of the hospitality user followed by the urge to utilise idle resources and facilities from the hotel’s point of view that got accumulated over 24 months of virtual stagnation in the hospitality industry.
What were your pandemic and post-pandemic strategies?
Arnab: During the pandemic period, the main strategy for us was to keep afloat and ensure we keep everything operational. Some out-of-the-box thinking to back this strategy was to start the QMIN brand so as to reach the guests/customer at their doorstep. Additionally, it was important for us to take note of the security and safety of all our associates and guests and hence our operations were geared in order to serve the guest. Post 2020 July we introduced packages of staycations, driving holidays and many more to ensure guests can enjoy our hotels across India and the eastern part of the country.
Vishal: We reimagined and reengineered our offerings and service standards in alignment with individual hotels’ survival strategies that prioritised alternate revenue streams during the pandemic to stay afloat. The strategy to leverage the post-pandemic demand boom is that of agility and having the first mover advantage in terms of offerings to target segments, response-closure of queries and maintaining customer centricity.
The budget for this year has increased allocation for the industry. How does that impact your fiscal policies?
Ankur: Allocation of funds for the development of tourist infrastructure, such as new airports, railways, and highways, will make travel easier and more accessible. The focus on promoting domestic tourism thus will provide impetus to revive the hospitality sector and align with our vision to strengthen the system.
Indranil: The increased budget allocation for the hospitality and tourism industry is a welcome step. It will lead to a new growth trajectory for the travel and tourism industry. Tourism promotion being taken up on a “mission mode”, with the active participation of states, public-private partnerships and convergence of government programs will drive domestic tourism growth. The selection of 50 destinations to be developed as holistic tourism packages, combined with the focus on local-level tourism and the promotion and sale of GI products and handicrafts, will give a boost to local arts and artisans.
Arnab: At IHCL, we have robust plans which are guided by our CEO and MD Puneet Chhatwal as part of AHVAAN 2025.
Vishal: Last year’s revenue streams and profit margins have set new industry benchmarks — it is safe to assume that this year itself will ride the wave of optimism. The policies at the hotel level would reflect that same level of optimism.
Are there any new policies and programs for business and leisure travel?
Ankur: As a leading hotel chain, we regularly launch promotional offers to encourage staycations and business travel. Additionally, we revamped our loyalty programs, providing both our business and leisure guests additional benefits and rewards.
Arnab: We have always tried to come up with programs which are unique for our guests and hence the launch of Tata Neu Loyalty programs was done earlier in 2022. At Taj Bengal, we are focused on delivering quality service to all our guests and have guest engagement platforms to suit business and leisure travellers. Every evening, we organise a ‘Chai Adda’ for all our in-house guests, which gives us the opportunity to meet and interact with our guests and take feedback on their stay. We have designed special kids’ bag to ensure our young guests are well taken care of during their stay. We understand the essence of business travellers and ensure they have swift movement starting from the airport to the check-in process and allow them to spend their quality time on meetings etc which they are travelling for.
Vishal: We have curated festive stay packages, and urban getaway packages for domestic travellers (focused on families).
What are your key focus areas for FY ’23-24?
Ankur: Our prime focus lies on the wedding segment since it is an emerging market with endless business opportunities. Also, in today’s digital age, it is imperative to have a strong digital footprint. We are continuously working towards establishing our digital presence across various digital travel platforms and social media.
Indranil: Yield maximisation from food and beverage spaces, banquets, capitalising on weddings and off-site catering segment for incremental revenue.
Arnab: For FY ’23-24, our key focus will be to upgrade our facilities at the hotel for all our guests and provide a world-class product. The first step towards the same will be done with an upgrade of our pool and lawn area and also include upgradation of the look and feel of our public areas. We have already started working on relaunching our tea/coffee lounge at the lobby level, The Promenade, which has a new look and service design and menus which reflect the ethos of nostalgic Calcutta. We have a new expat chef at Chinoiserie and we are looking at offering a whole new menu of dim sums and other specialities which chef Travis brings in from his decade-long experience of working in various parts of the world.
Vishal: The major focus areas would revolve around leveraging premium room rates, curating customised food and beverage offerings at high-end rates, continue to focus on alternate revenue streams that offer higher net profit margins.
Indian travel per se has been up in leaps and bounds. What are your plans to capitalise on that?
Ankur: The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) has witnessed major growth and due to this we have realised the need to expand and present more options for our guests to choose from. Therefore, we intend to grow on retail, capture corporate events, tap MICE and make inroads to big ticket events to propel top lines.
Indranil: There has been a steady increase in inbound and outbound travel post-pandemic. The announcement of the resumption of international flights has further boosted the industry. The recovery over the past years has assured the achievement of improved results.
(Left) Vishal Sharma, general manager, Vivanta Kolkata EM Bypass (Right) Arnab Chatterjee, hotel manager, Taj Bengal
The outlook on travel has changed and now people are looking for experiences and we have the opportunity to curate such experiences.
Arnab: This is the right time for us to capitalise on the ongoing pent-up demand and at Taj Bengal we are equally excited to capitalise on the same. With the new bouquet of offerings and increase in footfalls at our restaurants, I am sure we will be able to take our gains higher. While the demand is equally available to other competitive brands in the city, we at Taj Bengal promise to offer luxury dining with a difference.
Vishal: We plan to optimise the usage of available resources and facilities at the hotel.
What offers can we expect around the ongoing summer vacation season?
Ankur: Staycations including Jiva spa and dining offers are a major attraction during the vacation season. Discerning travelers look for unique experiences and we specialise in curating such experiences.
Indranil: Travellers are mostly interested in daycation and staycation offers. We have some interesting staycation packages with a focus on spa and dining options.
Arnab: We continue to offer value packages for our guests and customised holiday offers are launched for the summer season. Staycation continues to be a strong segment for us, coupled with celebrations. We have designed room packages for birthday and anniversary celebrations which are available at the hotel reservations. We just concluded our food promotions for Bengali New Year and Easter celebrations at our restaurants.
Vishal: Curated staycation offers such as Urban Getaways with meal inclusions and extended stay packages with special offers on food and beverages, laundry etc. will help cater to the domestic leisure and work-related travel demand.