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Business News/ News / India/  Hotels embrace contactless tech with DIY menus
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Hotels embrace contactless tech with DIY menus

Hammered by the pandemic, hotels woo customers with quick getaways, staycations and bizcations

Photo: MintPremium
Photo: Mint

Hammered by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, the first response of the hospitality industry was to bolster hygiene and sanitization standards in order to build traveller confidence.

OYO Hotels and Homes launched an umbrella brand called “Sanitised Stays" under which it started giving hotels that tag after they fulfilled mandated hygiene protocols. It also launched a Sanitised Before Your Eyes (SBYE) campaign to sanitize rooms in front of the guests.

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“Properties in India displaying the Sanitised Stay certified tag started seeing an average 35% gain in revenue per available room (RevPAR). So far, around 1,600,000 bookings have been made across India with SBYE since October," said Shreerang Godbole, senior vice president and chief service officer, OYO.

Pandemic pinch
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Pandemic pinch

The pandemic also accelerated the shift to digital and the industry had to embrace technology at a faster rate, with new travel expectations such as digital check-ins/menus, digital invoicing and online payment options for travellers.

“In India, the hospitality industry is human contact led, with services such as concierge, porter and assistance being offered across hotels of various categories. However, post pandemic our consumer research indicated that travellers did not want to interact with multiple people at a hotel property," said Godbole.

“Honestly, all these initiatives are relevant even after the pandemic ends. In fact, they will act as a differentiator for travellers especially in the budget hotel space."

With restricted international travel and the absence of big corporate events, it became crucial for hospitality firms to identify alternative avenues of revenue growth.

Hotels started offering quick getaways, staycations and bizcations to drive holidays. Accor-owned ibis and Novotel chain of hotels and Bird Group’s luxury hospitality brand Roseate Hotels & Resorts started pitching their properties as co-working spaces. “We moved quickly and tapped into the changing customer needs by and developed new products. The company also launched wellness offers to tap into the new need of digital detox," said a spokesperson from IHCL which runs the Taj group of hotels.

Online food services, both independent and in partnership with platforms such as Zomato, emerged as a key area of innovation where hotels experimented with menus, packaging and DIY food kits. IHCL, for instance, launched its own online gourmet food delivery services Qmin in June which now reaches across 13 cities.

“Qmin was launched with a long-term vision to create a separate business vertical. After launching gourmet store Qmin Shop in Mumbai, the group plans to extend it in key cities such as Bengaluru and Delhi. We will be launching a branded food truck shortly," said IHCL spokesperson. Qmin has already served over 20,000 meals till date for virtual weddings, board meets, conferences and summits across the country.

Radisson Hotel Group has also introduced food delivery and takeaway vertical in collaboration with table reservation and food discovery platform EazyDiner, outdoor catering vertical and innovative concepts such as “Meetha" and “Take Home a Chef" to extend its hospitality to guests at their chosen locations.

“We reinvented touchpoints like concierge services to deliver services such as housekeeping, home catering, salon and fitness training to our guests in the comfort of their homes. These strategic initiatives have begun to yield returns and we are now fine-tuning them as long-term sustainable models. Our association with EazyDiner, for instance, has led to 25-30% growth in food delivery revenues for us," said Zubin Saxena, managing director and vice president, operations, South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group.

There were also partnerships between hospitality and other travel service providers such as airlines and travel operators to woo guests from all segments including for weddings. The local arm of French hospitality firm Accor partnered with Vistara and IndiGo airlines inviting guests from various segments for the familiarization trips. The firm is also a part of IndiGo’s 6E Rewards Program as well as for their wedding charter service across India as the preferred hospitality brand. Additionally, in November, it organised its first multi-city physical roadshow in association with Thomas Cook India and SOTC Travel Ltd.

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Published: 30 Dec 2020, 07:33 AM IST
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