BOTT DESK
With the Summer Season in full bloom, are you finding the occupancy levels discouraging?
Yes of course, it’s very discouraging to see hotels and restaurants empty and so many even shutting down. The Indian Hospitality Industry is going through one of its toughest periods with little or no governmental support, but we are hopeful of coming out of it once the pandemic ebbs. The support of our guests is what keeps us hopeful.
What kind of concerns are you facing from the customers who are engaging with you for bookings?
While guest interest is very high and many are just waiting to start travelling on resort holidays again, the major concern is the travel uncertainties, testing and quarantine requirements that vary from State to State, and the current shortages of vaccine doses. All these prevent our guests from finalising and undertaking their travel plans.
What kind of Steps is your Hotel undertaking to ensure safety of the Guests? Do you have any testing parameters for your staff as well as guests?
At the beginning of the pandemic last year, The Fern Hotels & Resorts initiated a series of safety and hygiene measures across all our hotels. Branded Staygiene, these measures incorporated contact-lite touch points at all guest-contact areas, from check-in & reception to housekeeping, our restaurants and the final check-out. Stringent hygiene measures were also enforced in all our kitchen and back-of-house areas. All this instilled guest confidence in our hotels and operations, and we saw an increased occupancy level at our resort between the two pandemic waves in 2020-21. As per our Staygiene operations, all our team members and associates are regularly tested and put into self-quarantine any time they get any symptoms, to ensure a sanitized atmosphere at the resort. Regarding testing for our guests, that is dependent on the protocols put in place by the local State government from time to time, which we strictly follow as directed. Any guest already in-house who displays any symptoms is immediately made to test and in case found positive, made to comply with the Govt. quarantine protocols.
Has your Hotel (Individual or Chain) come out with a special package to attract more traffic?
From the time of the first lockdown and its subsequent opening last year, The Fern Hotels & Resorts has been at the forefront in offering our guests a variety of experiences and packages to suit all requirements. At our Mussoorie resort, we currently offer various packages to suit all needs – Stay for 3 nights/pay for 2 nights Staycations, get 20% off our BAR rates on production of your vaccination certificate, work-from-resort packages, week-long rejuvenation spa packages, etc. Our guests are quite excited by all these various offers and interest is high to book them as soon as the current lockdown travel restrictions ate lifted.
When do you see the Hotel industry in India going back to normalcy? How much time, in your opinion, will things take to settle down?
Last year once the first lockdown was lifted from June/July, resort destinations saw a surge in ‘revenge travel’. This is expected this time too. While resorts in North India will probably not see our traditional guests from areas like Gujarat and Maharashtra immediately return in large numbers for now, we expect a lot of travel from locations like Delhi NCR and Punjab, which are in driving distance. Business locations will take much longer to return to normalcy, and foreign inbound business seems to be lost for at least another year. Experts predict the Indian Hotel Industry to return to normalcy only from end-2021 or early-2022 and to get back to pre-2020 occupancy and ARR levels only from 2023.
Are you also seeing some movement in the meetings / events / weddings market?
At this present time, corporate business movements are at a standstill. Meetings and events will only return towards the end of the year depending on the pandemic levels between now and September/October. Small weddings are happening all over India but the Big Fat Indian Wedding can only return once there is clarity from the government on the number of guests allowed at a function.
How are the F&B outlets performing at the property?
Currently there is no or very little local F&B business happening in Mussoorie and most of our F&B is catered to our in-house guests only. But our other hotels in various city locations are doing decent numbers of F&B takeaways and home delivery orders.
Is there any more information that you would like to share with us?
Whilst we as an Industry have gone through some of the toughest times we’ve ever experienced, the interest and support of our guests keep us optimistic that things will pick up once the pandemic conditions in the country improve. We stand hopeful for better times to come our way soon.
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