Apart from IT, textile, agriculture, and construction industry, the Tourism and Hotel industry is also one of the biggest generators of employment and revenue worldwide. In India, the hospitality industry provides employment to approximately 40 million people. In fact, 30 million are involved directly, and roughly 10 million indirectly.
As this COVID 19 pandemic inflicts havoc across the globe, tourism and the hospitality business in India has also not been spared. It is certainly one of the biggest victims of the Covid19 outbreak. The service demand has dropped to an all-time low. The reasons being deferral of Visas, ban on mass gatherings, the imposition of Section-144, etc.
Presently, where almost 80% of India is under lockdown, the impact has been severe. The total growth in the Hotel & Tourism Industry of India has been stunted. While it should have been around 6% in the next year, however, it is expected to go down to 3-4% or even lower.
THE IMPACT ON THE HOTEL INDUSTRY
Ever since the coronavirus outbreak, the Indian hospitality industry has encountered mass-scale cancellations. Especially for hotel accommodations. And this is expected to continue for months to come. Some hoteliers don’t see any hope of the sector reviving even by the end of 2020.
The hotel occupancy in the cities has rapidly declined by 45% compared to last year. This is a really sharp decline in such a short period that the industry has never experienced.
THE REVIVAL STRATEGIES
To keep up with partial earnings, some hotels have tied-up with food delivery partners. Like the popular ones like Zomato and Swiggy for home delivery of their food items. Other big names like ITC and IHCL are making arrangements to get their food collected through contactless delivery. However, this is not expected to compensate for their actual revenues.
Some hotels have also started leasing or licensing out their spaces. Particularly, on a commercial basis so that the rentals and license fee can be met.
Some hotels are also offering hospitality services to help COVID-19 infected people. They are offering paid quarantine facilities at their hotels.
While all the good work is being done, it is high time for the hotels to make a sound presence online. And this can be achieved by either launching a website, app, or boosting the current online marketing strategies.
POST LOCKDOWN PLANS
We have been living in lockdown for 40+ days, it would be eventually eased. As and when cities start reporting fewer infections and are declared as a green zone, the hospitality businesses can slowly reopen. This should be a strong recovery for the domestic front. Here are a few practical pieces of advice the hospitality companies can follow to gain back the trust of their guests. These must be followed to ensure a successful reopening:
- A lot of emphasis needs to be laid on cleanliness
- Shift your focus to no-touch services
- Offering steep discounts should not be the strategy
- Safety messaging
This step can eventually attract more number of guests and generate fresh bookings. During the lockdown, more customers are spending time online. This is the best opportunity for hotels to market their services online. Initially, one should target a contactless reopening strategy. Especially, where the mobile-first experience can do wonders in convincing the guests.
IMPACT ON TRAVEL AGENCIES
In this COVID19 crisis situation, even online travel portals and travel agencies have been hit badly. India’s tourism sector is estimated to suffer an overall loss of ₹5 lakh crores. And an employment cut of around 4-5 crores people. This total loss includes the organized sector. And this includes the branded hotels, travel agents, adventure tour operators and the domestic tour operators.
Apart from that, there are many small hotel operators, small homestays, etc. that will also suffer. With the restrictions in traveling, it is being anticipated that the travel industry is not going to bounce back even in the next 12-18 months. The industry has witnessed the sharpest decline ever since 2015.
THE REVIVAL STRATEGIES
The travel and tourism industry, the Ministry of Tourism recently launched the webinar series named ‘Dekho Apna Desh’. This would cover virtual online sightseeing of tourist destinations.
As even governments are heading towards the online travel and tourism aspect, the travel agencies can boost their business by going online with websites. Or if they have existing websites, they can go for SEO and SMM to cut through the competitive clutter.
POST LOCKDOWN PLANS
The founder of OYO is thinking of capitalizing the opportunity by focusing on spots that people can drive down during the weekends.
So, the travel agents and tour operators should accordingly promote these places. They can do this offering several schemes online before they resume their service.
LOOKING FORWARD TOWARDS THE GOVERNMENT’S COOPERATION
The ultimate revival of the hospitality industry is dependent to a great extent on government cooperation. Lowering the GST, giving concession in some quarters, waiver of interests, offering concession in lease rental, and much more. Unless some fast economic action is taken, the good job done over the years in the hospitality industry would go down the drain. Till the times of uncertainty are over, the travel and hospitality industry stakeholders can build a strong presence online. And monetize it as and when the situation permits.