As countries around the world slowly start to lift their quarantine orders, and are starting to create travel bubbles with neighboring countries, avid travelers can finally get their hopes up that they won’t spend 2020 entirely cooped up at home. After months of isolation and social distancing, there is finally a real chance to visit some other destination than the local grocery store, especially now that the hospitality industry has implemented the survival solutions necessary to kick-start the travel industry while minimizing risk.
However, it has not always been that straightforward or a success. Many guests report that being left with a bedroom that is not refreshed daily detracts from the hotel experience, particularly where they have still paid a resort fee and half the other facilities are closed too. One of our large resort customers in the U.S. reports that while they implemented a ban on all in room cleaning when a guest is in residence, the hotel intends to return to cleaning stayovers as soon as is feasible.
Without regular cleaning, the rooms are in a state that requires much more extensive cleaning at checkout, which in turn complicates turning the rooms fast enough. This strategy delivers on safety, but it doesn’t necessarily deliver on guest expectations, cost savings or efficiency on balance.
The pandemic has maneuvered radical changes in the Indian hospitality industry at an unprecedented level. The hospitality industry is witnessing some serious changes in trends this time. Today, they are focusing on providing seamless and exceptional hospitality while ensuring contactless services to the world that coronavirus has changed. Chairman of Claridges Group of Hotels, Suresh Nanda, says, “The pandemic has fostered the speed of the change in the already fast-moving world. This time, the brands did not get time for the technical evolutions and they were forced to embrace the changes in this new world where social distancing is the new normal.”
Brands in the sector are taking the help of some of the highly advanced automation technology including artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) amongst others to ensure contactless services. “Before the pandemic was officially announced, almost everything was manual. Now, hospitality is trying to automate things as much as possible and this is the global phenomenon of change,” he says. Earlier, installing smart devices such as voice controls and automatic detectors for lights were signs of technical luxury. Now, it has become the need of the time, and “you might witness this phenomenon during your stays worldwide very frequently.”
Promotion of environmentalism in tour and travel
Suresh Nanda suggests that the new world order will be more sensitive towards protecting nature. “Today, when the whole world has experienced being locked at home, people are expected to become more concerned about environment protection and nature conservation.” He also said that implementation of technology to ensure contactless services are inevitably going to enhance the idea of environmentalism in hospitality. “With automation, it is going to reduce the wastage in energy. Moreover, the players in the sector are going to care about the environment by promoting proper management of resources.”
Vocal for Local
Restriction on international tourism is expected to get continued most of the months of this year as well. Suresh Nanda called it an opportunity for exploring most of the pockets of India. “For all the inveterate travelers, restriction on international tourism is an opportunity to explore India to the fullest. As the Prime Minister of India recently called for being vocal for local, what can be a better opportunity? Travelling locally will not only help you understand your nation better but will also help the local tour and travel businesses economically which is crucial for our hospitality industry as it constitutes the lion’s share in the sector.” “I would like to take this opportunity to call for a change in trend this time, where I will suggest every youth to travel locally this time,” Suresh Nanda adds.
Worldwide lockdowns and “no-contact” safety measures triggered a forced digitalisation in every sphere of activity. The hospitality industry is no different and has adopted this change with agility. From booking to check-out, the digital transformation is apparent. The online booking process has been made more robust with online check-in and payments. Guests can personalise their stay while booking with their choice of room rate, bed, meals, etc. Mobile check-in is commonplace and hotel lobbies have safe kiosks for online check-ins where needed – no more standing in queues near other guests. Guests can order meals in rooms with a smarter room service system.
Brand diversification
As room revenue dried up, hoteliers looked for new ways to generate revenue. From “home-offices in hotel rooms” to meal deliveries and stronger customer loyalty programmes, hoteliers will need to apply ingenuine ways to generate revenue – both for sustenance and prosperity.
Changed customer preferences
The post-pandemic guest is already shaping up to be very different from the ones we left in January 2020. Health and hygiene are the centre and front of every experience. Guests need to be assured of cleanliness – not just the dust, but a deep clean and complete disinfection. This could mean not just a change of your housekeeping regime but also the introduction of stand-down periods for rooms as a mandatory to allow for such cleaning to take place. As people are staying away from public transport, local travel and nearby destinations that can be reached by private transport are preferred. This is expected to last into at least the medium term till vaccinations take root. It will pay to change your target audience to cater to these guests in your location. As families have been kept apart for so long, easing of restrictions is already seeing a rise in multi-generational family gatherings. Wellness and nature are other trends that are becoming stronger coming out of the pandemic. Properties that cater to this experience or can expand to tap into this audience set could benefit greatly.
Planning for crisis
Like it or not, crisis planning will need to become an even more essential part of hotel operations after travel restrictions are lifted. This means not only having adequate sanitation measures visibly in place to reassure nervous travellers, but also anticipating risks like public health emergencies, natural disasters and even climate change in future capital and operational planning. Your property may not be in a place to hire a full-time resource for crisis management, but it will pay to have a consultant on board to help you get through this pandemic and build a sustainable business model when another crisis strikes.
The post-COVID-19 world will never be the same as before. And humanity will also never be the same. Now that these changes are in effect (or at least clearer to us), it is important to start crafting strategies and plans to capitalise on the new trends and adapt business models to facilitate growth and success in the new normal.