Revving up the Revenue

The corona virus outbreak has not only impacted travel in affected regions it has also caused the cancellation of some of the world’s biggest exhibitions, which has adversely affected the hotel industry globally. Though the lockdown for India’s hospitality sector was lifted from June 8 by the central government several states have continued with curbs on usual operations. This has affected the industry on several fronts. Ashok Malkani reviews the upshot of the pandemic on different aspects of the industry and the steps taken by it to tackle this situation effectively.

- Ashok Malkani

As hotels reopen after the lockdown, with all SOPs in place, the question foremost in the minds of the entire hospitality industry is: when will things come back to normal? Due to the lockdown thousands of people lost their jobs and some had to be content with receiving trimmed down salaries. Even after opening their gates the hospitality industry, which was reeling under the lockdown, is not sure of the response of general public which is scared to venture out of their homes. With constant advice of shelter-in, the travellers – both domestic and international – are reluctant to hazard out. This poses a serious problem for all marketing and revenue managers of various properties, whether small inns or large hotels.

As per Hospitality Valuation Services (HVS), demand has not yet revived because corporate travel is on a standstill. Leisure travel has also not seen any uptick in states which have eased restrictions because of increasing Covid cases in the country. Since hotels are operating with very low occupancy, revenue strategies are being reevaluated.

Boosting revenue

With several restrictions being imposed on the hotels several changes are anticipated in the operation of hotels. The changes would be on several fronts ranging from technology to ideas for supplementing revenues lost due social distancing.

Vineet Verma, CEO & Executive Director Brigade Hospitality Services Limited, states, “The global pandemic has left a grave and detrimental impact particularly on the hotel industry. Revenues have plummeted to an all-time low across all segments of hotel business and we have no visibility on how the traditional sources of revenue generation will fare in the short to mid-term. In order to survive and sustain, hotels will have to step on to uncharted territories and come up with hitherto unexplored options.”