hotelscapes
Expect Recovery Tail to be Shorter Says Marriott's Neeraj Govil In Times Like These, the winner is who reads the writing on the wall quicker and clearer. Conserve cash, cut on non-essentials, plan newer revenue streams and ensure comfort and confidence of your customers. Destination India, in an exclusive interview, engages with Neeraj Govil, Senior VP, Marriott International, India.
Much of the scene has now become familiar territory, but there is always room to capture the highlights again, for greater understanding. Where and how did this begin and where are we at this stage in the COVID devastated travel and tourism industry?
Perhaps a good time to start would be towards the end of last year. We saw a recovery of sorts, but then in February the corona began to surface, and you know the rest of the story. I see the month of May being spent in trial and error situation as we begin to experiment with the easing of restrictions from the lockdown. I expect May to be about the same as April. Only in June, as we witness more relaxation, we can begin to see the potential. We can expect domestic flights to begin with low load factors. We could see state borders opening, we can expect some recovery around our business. Once we begin the recovery, I am expecting the tail to be somewhat shorter than most predict. After September, we can expect to be in business, though nowhere near last year’s numbers. If there is no second wave, growth will be here to stay, I am confident. Going back over the first impact of the COVID, we first saw the
dangers surface by end February, beginning March and most of us started to plan, looking ahead. Occupancies had plummeted by midMarch, we were witnessing large scale cancellations. At that time, we were just under 30%, partly because the first week had been good. April has seen a single digit occupancy across our portfolio, and May looks the same. But even more impactful has been the fall in overall revenues, even when rooms were not being sold; in this case scenario, nothing was being sold. 90% fall in revenue!
How did you choose which hotel to shut, and which to remain open? It must have been a sudden war on every front?
Some were mandated by government decisions. Others, we talked with owners and reached this conclusion. Some were required by local agencies to be used in the war on COVID. As of now, we have downsized operations; a few are partially open. Out of our 125 operational hotels, over 40 of them are closed, as we speak. When do we open them? We will keep reviewing the position, follow local guidelines, and keeping in mind the parameters set by health authorities and international agencies such as WHO. Meanwhile,
destination india | june 2020 | 28
