NEW YEAR, NEWER OPPORTUNITIES

Hotel Sahara Star is seeking new business verticals like residential weddings with maximum in-house services and pre-booking of bulk inventory for future dates to improve its top- and bottom-line

Over the past few months, the travel and tourism industry is devising inventive ways to overcome the pandemic’s economic side-effects. Guest safety and support to local communities are the emerging trends this year, at least for Hotel Sahara Star.

The Mumbai-based property reopened its doors last November 2020 with a motto ‘You are our only concern’. This was to reassure guests and associates that it was following enhanced cleanliness and safety measures.

According to Manish Sodhi, CEO, Hotel Sahara Star, 2021 will be all about the experience, and not just the destination, for guests. As their preferences and behaviours shifted towards the familiar, predictable, and trusted, he is confident that his property is in a strong position to grab a bigger piece of the city’s resurrecting hospitality pie.

What new tourism opportunities will 2021 provide, which were missing before?

At Sahara Star we are seeing an increase in curated social experiences and weddings. Though the number of guests has reduced, there is an increase in personalised activities, larger F&B spread and tailor made events. Similar trends are visible with our staycation guests, who don’t mind spending a premium for these unique experiences.

Of course, with safety and hygiene being the biggest parameters, our discerning guests are extremely interested in learning about the measures implemented by the hotel. We are seeing a growing number of such inquires by our corporate and social guests.

We are looking for new verticals, like creating a work space from the hotel, more residential weddings with maximum in-house services and pre-booking of bulk inventory for future dates along with health and safety briefings by the hotel team. These steps will surely help improve our top-and-bottom-line.