An extraordinary gesture for extraordinary heroes. Our team at Mandarin Oriental, Marrakech has been busily sewing masks to distribute to local hospital workers. Thank you to our community heroes; thank you to our MO heroes.
Hotelier Tejinder Singh, who moves to Kolkata as the Area Manager, East & Cluster General Manager will now head ITC Hotels East. In this capacity, he would oversee both the Kolkata properties, namely ITC Sonar and ITC Royal Bengal. Additionally as the new upcoming WelcomHotel properties at Bhubaneshwar, Kathmandu and Port Blair become operative, the same will be under his leadership
Mr. Tejinder Singh, popularly known as 'Teji' began his journey more than two decades back at ITC Maurya in 1994 as a management trainee. Since then he has held senior management positions at several ITC Hotels in Delhi, Jaipur and Hyderabad.
He has also garnered management expertise through international exposure in the aviation industry as the General Manager Customer Services & in-flight Dining for Europe, UK & North America based in Brussels and subsequently as the General Manager Service Delivery & Guest Experience for the brand.
An integral part of the pre-opening team as the General Manager of ITC Kohenur, Teji, was one of the leaders for positioning and launch of this 274 luxury destination located in the heart of Hyderabad’s new business district (HITEC City)
He has been a core member of the pre-opening team of ITC Hotels and has played an integral role in the launch of several hotels, namely ITC Grand Chola in Chennai, WelcomHotel Jodhpur, WelcomHotel Bella Vista, Chandigarh, ITC Grand Bharat, Gurugram as well as WelcomHotel Dwarka, New Delhi
He has also served as the Resident Manager of ITC’s flagship Hotel ITC Maurya, New Delhi in 2014 and the General Manager of ITC Rajputana in 2015.
Accor has partnered with testing, inspection and certification provider Bureau Veritas to develop a ‘label’ certifying that appropriate safety standards and cleaning protocols have been achieved.
The label will cover both accommodation and catering, and will set the sanitary standards applicable to all of the group’s hotels, “as well as to other chains and independent hotels”.
Accor said that the project had been carried out in partnership with doctors and epidemiologists, and had been developed in collaboration with Accor owners and trade associations.
Concrete proposals will be submitted initially to the French government and subsequently to relevant European governments, ministries and committees, and the result of the project will be “an operational guide made available to all stakeholders in the hospitality industry, enabling them to rigorously apply the health and safety recommendation of authorities (WHO, Health Ministry etc), both in guest services spaces and in back office and catering spaces”.
“Welcoming, protecting and taking care of others is the very DNA of Accor and at the heart of what we do. Today, more than ever, our employees, customers and partners need to be reassured of our ability to offering them the best welcome possible.
“As the European leader in hospitality, it is our duty to anticipate needs and respond to health and safety requirements by adhering to the highest standards. We are pleased to be pioneering this drive with Bureau Veritas and to extend it to all stakeholders.”
Hilton, a leading global hospitality company, has partnered with top food aggregators Zomato and Swiggy for home delivery of its signature dishes to customers, following a safe and contactless delivery practice. Currently, six Hilton properties are operational for food delivery via Zomato and Swiggy including Conrad Bangalore, Conrad Pune, Hilton Garden Inn Gurgaon, Hilton Chennai, DoubleTree Ahmedabad, and Hilton Mumbai.
Hotel's select delivery menu across cities features the top 20 signature dishes from the most popular F&B outlets of Hilton Hotels in those cities, at special delivery prices. Hilton claims to have always followed stringent hygiene protocols, and due to the outbreak of COVID-19, is taking all necessary precautions to ensure utmost safety in the delivery of food to its customers
Hilton will also be offering a curated delivery service for private parties and gatherings. Deliveries under this service will be done by Hilton's staff using company-owned vehicles
By the way, this list is based on the scientific process of baseless, wild speculation, while waiting out the quarantine.
F&B and Restaurant
Re-draw your floor plan so that there is a minimum of 6 feet between tables.
Research which food costs will increase when you order less volume.
Move kitchen stations (if at all possible) to create more space.
Create a re-opening menu with items that limit the number of cooks in the kitchen
Front Office/Reservations
· In expectation of occupancy restrictions, add “Covid19 Out-of-Order” designation in your PMS system. These rooms will be tracked differently than regular OOO rooms.
· Decide which rooms you will take out-of-order to ensure social distancing and limit elevator use.
· You may have to read the temperature of all guests when they check-in so decide on whether that will happen at the front door or front desk. You may want to start writing an SOP for this.
· Start talking to your GM about the possibility of requiring a Covid19 affidavit to be signed at the front desk where guests confirm that they have not been close to anyone with virus symptoms.
· Start crafting a Covid disclosure for Phone Reservations to read to each guest and to post on the website (with an electronic “Agree” button).
· If your credit card scanner does not accept contactless cards, get one that does.
Finance/Revenue Management
· Add a new line for “Covid19 Out-of-Order” rooms to your Pace, Forecast, and Yield reports. This will allow you to better compare Year-over-Year results this year and next year. If you bundle all the OOOs together you will affect the variances.
· If there are occupancy limitations, you may be sold-out or close-to-sold-out every night, so you have to find alternative metrics to track the strength of the market. Try putting together data from your POS or CRM to track KPIs like average guest spend for all outlets year-over-year
Marketing/Sales
Compile “Best Guests” list from your CRM to send personalized messages. A simple email blast will be lost in everyone else’s email blast.
Redraw your meeting space floor plans for social distancing requirements. Load the new floor plans to your website.
Divide your Sales contact list by group size. Large groups may not be able to commit to events for a while because of logistics, but small groups are very manageable.
Be it providing food to the needy during these times of national crisis or ensuring there will be no pay cuts across its 72 hotels, The Fern Hotels & Resorts, India's leading environmentally sensitive hotel chain is trying to spread the message of being sensitive.
The CEO of the company, Suhail Kannampilly said,” We as a company are doing our bit to contribute during this time of crisis. Quite a few hotels are offering food to the needy in Mumbai and other parts of the country.”
He assured his employees that the company will not be reducing any salaries. “The Labour ministry's advice on not reducing any salaries is clear and we as a company want to show our commitment in resolving this crisis.
At this point we are compelled to take some actions. So rather than salary cuts or unpaid leave we will work towards a salary deferment, where by each hotel pays based on their available cash flow, a base amount for substance and then when the situation reverts to normal the balance is paid out in tranches “, he said.
The CEO also exhorted his team members not to lose touch with the guest and used this opportunity to re-analyse the business. Run through P&L / trial balance with a fine-tooth comb and evaluate as to how we can make this a healthier and more profitable business once the situation normalizes
Royal Orchid & Regenta Hotels, through their 60+ hotels across India, have undertaken a noble initiative to provide food and comfort to the needy amidst the lockdown. The group has been distributing food packets to the migrants and underprivileged through their hotels in Bangalore, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Navi Mumbai, Goa, Mysore, and Rajasthan.
As a part of the initiative, the Regenta Resort in Pushkar (Rajasthan) has adopted a village named Bhagwanpura which is home to 300 people. The resort is regularly supplying meals and groceries to the locals. Likewise, in Gujarat, the hotel has distributed food packets to 200 people in Bharuch, 600 in Rajkot and 900 people in Vadodara respectively.
Besides, food packets were provided to more than 2500 migrant workers during last week’s mass migration through their hotels located in Jaipur and Madhya Pradesh’s Pench National Park. In Bangalore, the hotel has continued with its ongoing initiatives through its flagship property - Hotel Royal Orchid and Regenta Place.
Just a few weeks ago, it was typical for personal assistants to make reservations for thousand-dollar rooms at the Four Seasons Hotel New York for their high-profile bosses.
Remnants of the hotel’s luxurious past — the Art Deco-inspired entrance, the onyx ceiling in the main lobby, the oversize soaking tubs in the suites — are extravagant extras now that the five-star property has been converted into something akin to a military barracks.
The Four Seasons, just like nearby Central Park and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens, is yet another New York City landmark being retrofitted to fight the pandemic.
Although other hotels in the city are helping with hospital bed overflow, the Four Seasons has dedicated itself exclusively to keeping doctors, nurses and other medical professionals well rested and safe
At the entrance, two nurses, wearing N95 masks, take the temperatures of all guests, asking questions about symptoms over the past 72 hours and if they’ve washed their hands. Once inside, guests go straight to their rooms; there is no bar or restaurant. Elevators carry one passenger at a time; others must wait on taped Xs on the floor, placed six feet apart.
Of the hotel’s 368 rooms, only 225 will have guests to limit crowding on the property.
Guests and hotel staff no longer interact. For check-in, keys are placed in envelopes on a table
Dirty items are collected only after guests, who stay for a minimum of seven days, check out and the room has been fumigated
With social distancing becoming the new normal, hotels such as Indian Hotels, Marriott, Grand Hyatt and Accor Group Hotels are ensuring their meals reach the doorsteps of guests. For an industry that counts heavily on the overall experience, a personalised touch and ambience to pamper its guests, this is a first.
Guests can choose their favourite cuisines from a specially curated compact menu at a tad lower price than what they would have paid when dining at the hotel restaurants.
The owner of Taj hotels is offering confectionary and gourmet hampers and a hamper for spa at home
Marriott International, the world's largest hotel chain, too, is pulling all plugs for its guests to beat the lockdown blues. Its brands including JW Marriott, Sheraton, Ritz Carlton, and Four Points are giving the guests an option for a take away or home delivery.
The hotels have introduced a compact menu of their signature dishes and are already seeing a positive response from local residents in their vicinity, she said. Stringent checks and safety measures are being taken while preparing, packaging and delivering these meals across homes.
The group said that more than half of its Accor-branded hotels worldwide are currently closed, with this figure likely to rise to two thirds in the coming weeks.
Accor said that the deteriorating situation had led it to take “aggressive, incremental actions”, including a travel ban, hiring freeze, reduced schedules and /or furloughing for 75 per cent of global head office teams for the second quarter of this year, resulting in a reduction in costs of at least €60m for the year
Recurring investment plans have also been reviewed, reducing costs by another €60m, and other costs including sales, marketing and IT have been streamlined.
Board members will forego 20 per cent of their fees, and the group’s chairman and CEO Sébastien Bazin will take a 25 per cent pay cut, with the cash equivalent being contributed to the fund.
The group said that its “recent asset-light transformation and cash preservation strategy” meant it had a strong balance sheet, with over €2.5 billion in cash on hand and an undrawn revolving credit facility of €1.2 billion, and it stressed that while it expected “a severe impact” on its 2020 performance, it remained bullish on the long-term perspective of the hospitality industry.
Accor pledged to pay Covid-19 related hospital expenses for all of its 300,000 employees who do not have social security or medical insurance
Beam Suntory, a world leader in premium spirits, has come forward to support the food and beverage community in India at this time of social distancing to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
With the lockdown of restaurants and bars across the country to maintain social distancing, several thousand members of the hospitality community have been affected financially. Beam Suntory India is partnering with the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), the largest restaurant body in the country, to pledge support of ₹1 crore which will be used to provide relief to thousands of staff of member restaurants and their families at this period of the lockdown
Beam Suntory is also utilising The Blend, its global bartender engagement programme , to directly reach out and support the bartender community in India. The company has launched a ‘learn and earn’ program to encourage bartenders to utilise their time at home effectively by taking up online training modules.
Reading material and virtual engagement modules have been made available online, where bartenders can continue to be safe at home and enhance their knowledge and skills. To make the learning experience rewarding, The Blend will host online programmes every day, spread across 50 sessions, with prizes for the participants.
Ever since the outbreak of the dreaded Coronavirus, the hospitality industry has been doing its best to make a difference. Many hospitality companies across the country have also stepped forward when it comes to preparing meals for the needy and engaging in the best way possible with local authorities.
“At Radisson Hotel Group, we are committed to support our community and the country in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.
The group has contributed INR 35 lakhs to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and also donated to United Way Delhi for Covid-19 related initiatives.
“We are routinely engaging with the government, industry bodies and fellow industry leaders at the highest levels to advocate for relief measures for the hospitality industry,”
The Atria Foundation, owners of Radisson Blu Atria Bengaluru has offered to serve 1,50,000 free meals every day for the needy in Bengaluru. Similarly, Arpit Projects Limited, owners of Radisson Udyog Vihar Gurugram and KJS Group, owners of Park Inn by Radisson IP Extension, New Delhi are providing meals to the needy.
The Pride Group of Hotels announced the distribution of 1000 food parcels every day till April 14th 2020 (lockdown period) in the cities of Pune, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, and Nagpur.
Kerala Hotel & Restaurant Association (KHRA), an association with around 2500 members across the state are also contributing their bit.
“700 of our members are participating actively and supporting the state government in their community kitchen initiative. A lot of others have voluntarily offered their hotels,” said G Sudhiesh Kamar, President of KHRA.
Another Day to Brighten and Help someone. Together WE WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN. Dwarka Dist. Police in Partnership with Roseate Hotels & Resorts & CII gets ready to feed 1000 people on a daily basis under Relief & Rehabilitation initiative.Great initiative to fight against Corona
I want to let you know how we’re focused on supporting the communities where our associates live and work. I also want to provide you with an update on our room cancellation policy and Marriott Bonvoy status and points expiration dates.
In the Community
Marriott understands that the pulse of the world beats as one to overcome COVID-19 and its devastating impact around the globe. To that end, we have established the following programs to aid in the urgent fight against the pandemic.
With support from our credit card partners, American Express and JPMorgan Chase, Marriott has committed to provide $10 million worth of hotel stays for healthcare professionals leading the fight against COVID-19 in the United States. The initiative, called Rooms for Responders, will provide free rooms in some of the areas most impacted including New York City, New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C. and Newark, N.J. To implement this initiative, we collaborated with the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Emergency Nurses Association to match doctors and nurses with free accommodations at participating hotels.
In a separate effort for frontline healthcare workers, we have joined with a number of our hotel owners and franchisee partners to launch the Community Caregiver Program. This initiative, available in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America, provides significantly discounted rates for first responders and healthcare professionals who want to book rooms at hotels in close proximity to the hospitals where they’re working. The rate is available on Marriott.com at nearly 2,500 hotels.
With both initiatives, our goal is simple – we want to support the frontline heroes who are selflessly supporting us.
For Our Customers
We remain committed to ensuring our customers experience flexibility during these challenging times, so we have further extended our cancellation policy and I wanted to give you an update on those changes.
For guests with existing reservations for any future arrival date, including reservations with pre-paid rates that are typically more restrictive, we will allow full changes or cancellation without a charge up to 24 hours prior to arrival, as long as the change or cancellation is made by June 30, 2020. Please note that any changes to existing reservations will be subject to availability and any rate differences.
For guests making new reservations for any future arrival date, including reservations with pre-paid rates, between March 13 and June 30, 2020, we will allow the reservation to be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival date.
For Our Marriott Bonvoy Members
Status Extension: We want you to be able to enjoy the status that you earned in 2019. With that in mind, the status you earned in 2019 will be extended to February 2022.
Points Expiration: To provide you ample time to redeem points, the expiration of points will be paused until February 2021. At that time, your points will only expire if your account has been inactive for at least 24 months.
HSMAI hosted a Hotel Management Company (HMC) Chief Revenue Officer Virtual Roundtable on March 25 that focused on the impact that COVID-19 is having on hotel revenue optimization. In addition to discussing key indicators they are using to track how the hospitality industry is doing, HMC CRO participants shared their best practices, lessons learned, and ideas for preparing to accelerate as quickly as possible. Here are five of their suggestions, presented in their own words:
1) EXPLORE NEW STAFFING MODELS:
“We’re lucky enough to still have 90 percent of our corporate team, but completely redeployed our team into a secure division, a support division, and a succeed division. Succeed is focused on ramping back up — procedures, staffing, strategy plans, markets to proceed with, staffing messaging, communicating with properties. It’s been our main focus.”
2) WORK ACROSS MARKETS:
“We have been focused on a solid post-COVID plan, taking as much information across markets as we can to build that. We’re also synergizing our efforts across markets and sharing knowledge across markets. We’ve been heavily focused on our weekly forecast across all markets, so we’ve come up with a market-level focus for each market as well. We are also gathering a lot of digital information and consolidating it on a common forum.”
3) RECOGNIZE YOUR TEAM MEMBERS’ WORK:
“It’s been exciting to see my team in the field step up. They’ve been sharing what trends they’re seeing, leads that come in. We’re trying to focus on the good things we’re seeing
“We had to lay off a lot of employees last week, but those who have remained showed great compassion and empathy toward those who were furloughed. They’re all having to learn different brands that they never thought they would have to know three weeks ago. This is a great time for cross-training, and they are willing and open to learning.”
4) FOCUS ON RECOVERY:
“Anything that we can put together that’s hopeful or positive looking forward is more important than ever and is better received by employees. I look forward to putting that together for each property.”
“We’re focusing on when we are going to reopen and what happens then, instead of focusing on right now when we’re closed. We’re cross-training our revenue team with other departments who can’t work remotely. We’re also making sure we’re educating teams that discounting isn’t the best way to go.”
Accor is offering a day-use room package across 10 hotels in Bangkok to guests who need a private office space for the day.
Bangkokians who are desperately looking for a spacious hideaway to get their job done or who need a quiet place to focus on an important project can now book a room for up to 8 hours between 8:00am-8:00pm in 10 hotels.
Participating hotels are located all over Bangkok to enable local residents to select a private office location that is close to their homes:
GRAND MERCURE ASOKE RESIDENCE
GRAND MERCURE BANGKOK FORTUNE
PULLMAN BANGKOK KING POWER
PULLMAN BANGKOK SUKHUMVIT
VIE HOTEL BANGKOK MGALLERY
IBIS Styles Bangkok Sukhumvit Phra Khanong
IBIS STYLES BANGKOK SUKHUMVIT 50
NOVOTEL BANGKOK ON SIAM SQUARE
NOVOTEL BANGKOK SUKHUMVIT 20
MERCURE BANGKOK SUKHUMVIT 11
Accor recommends that all travellers review guidance from the World Health Organization and follow any travel advice issued by the Thai authorities.
Last week, Accor announced the launch of the 'ALL Heartist Fund', a COVID-19 special purpose vehicle dedicated to supporting employees and partners globally. This fund will typically assist the Group's 300,000 employees, pledging to pay for their COVID-19-related hospital expenses, for those who do not have social security or medical insurance, as well as furloughed employees suffering great financial distress.
The fund will also seek to support individual partners facing financial difficulty and assist in the deployment of solidarity initiatives to support front-line healthcare professionals and non-profit organisations.
Hong Kong -- Marriott International across Asia Pacific will light up its properties to send a positive message, offering a ray of hope to the communities they are in for locals and travellers alike. The "Light for Hope" initiative looks to spread positivity amidst the challenging times the world is currently facing.
Over 270 hotels across various cities and regions, from Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Saigon, Jakarta, Maldives, Mumbai and many more have lit up their hotel rooms to the symbol of a smiley face, as seen from the façade of the hotel. The symbol was chosen to project a happy demeanour radiating positivity, with hopes that it brings a smile to the faces of everyone who sees it.
"In times of uncertainty one thing remains certain - we are in this together, and we will come out stronger", said Craig S.
Putting people first is at core of Marriott International. Hotels across Asia-Pacific have been going above and beyond to demonstrate the extraordinary collective power of people to help others
In these challenging and unprecedented times, associates from hotels across Asia Pacific have volunteered over 40,000 hours to serve their communities
Throughout April, guests and travellers can view the "Light for Hope" initiative at select Marriott International hotels across Asia Pacific.
Hilton and American Express are partnering on an initiative to provide up to one million hotel room nights for doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other frontline medical staff who need somewhere to sleep or safely self-isolate between April 13 and the end of May, the companies announced Monday. Rooms will either be paid for by Hilton and American Express or, in some cases, donated by individual hotel owners.
“During this crisis, we have seen so many examples of medical professionals working in the most challenging circumstances, sacrificing their own needs for the greater good,” Hilton President and CEO Christopher Nassetta said in a statement. “They truly are heroes.”
Hilton is initially working with 10 medical associations, including the American Hospital Association and the Society of Critical Care Medicine, to assist the organizations’ more than one million members find a place to sleep away from home as a precautionary measure against spreading coronavirus to family members.
Rooms will be available across a variety of Hilton brands and be staffed by team members who underwent additional safety and health training to protect themselves and guests during the ongoing pandemic. Hotel rooms and common areas will also be sanitized with industrial-grade cleaners and updated cleaning protocols in light of coronavirus.
30-year old Sandra Wigger began her career by training as a hotel specialist at the Mövenpick Hotel Zurich Airport and has continued to expand her knowledge base ever since.
In September 2019, she obtained a degree level qualification in "Hospitality Controlling & Hotel Asset Management" after completing a 6-month course of study at the IST University of Applied Sciences.
Sandra Wigger was employed at the Steigenberger Bellerive au Lac between November 2014 and December 2019. She held positions as Front Office Manager and then as Rooms Division Manager during this period before making the switch to IntercityHotel GmbH on 1 January 2020.
Hilton (NYSE:HLT) and American Express (NYSE:AXP) announced that the companies, in partnership with Hilton’s ownership community, will donate up to 1 million hotel room nights across the United States to frontline medical professionals leading the fight against COVID-19.
Hilton is initially working with 10 associations who collectively represent more than 1 million healthcare workers to provide access to the program, designed to support individuals who would otherwise have to spend their own money on accommodations.
American Express, Hilton’s long-standing strategic partner, is investing alongside Hilton in the donation of the hotel rooms, which will be provided at or below cost by Hilton’s network of independent owners and franchisees.
Rooms will be available across a variety of Hilton brands, including Hampton by Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, DoubleTree by Hilton and others. Hotels will be staffed by Team Members who have received additional training on relevant health and safety measures to safeguard their own and their guests’ well-being. Hotel rooms and common areas will continue to be sanitized using industrial-grade cleaners and updated cleaning protocols. In some high-demand locations, room availability may be limited at times.
The following organizations will provide their networks with further details about booking rooms through this program, which is currently planned to cover stays from April 13 through May 31.
American Association of Critical Care Nurses
American College of Emergency Physicians
American Hospital Association
American Nurses Association
Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association
Emergency Nurses Association
National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians
Society of Critical Care Medicine
Society of Emergency Medicine Physician Assistants
Society of Hospital Medicine
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