Human Connect: Here to stay forever in the hospitality business

 The most troubling question which perhaps is still unanswered by the industry remains - "Can we afford to belittle people in a people-first business?"

Like every volcano settles after spewing hot dangerous lava and causing irretrievable destruction, so will this unsolicited phase of Covid-19. The fastest vaccine developed to date has infused a new oomph in masses to get back to their normal work-life schedules. There are signs of life on the horizon as the country starts to reopen gradually. Plummeted economies are improving, trade is recuperating and travel is progressively gaining pace –thanks to pioneering offerings by destinations and hotel brands.

It’s no secret that the hospitality industry was amongst the hardest hit in the wake of coronavirus. Hotels - a major CRE vertical, were hit by two distinct elements of the spread of Covid-19: the freeze of global economic movement and the government-mandated social distancing norms. March 2020 saw the worst ever abrupt decline in occupancies and hotel revenues due to incremental restrictions on domestic as well as international travel. The sputtering of travel caused a thousand cuts to the hospitality industry and the economy at large. Budgets were similarly fatigued. The situation got worsened when the owners and their asset managers started running out of CAPEX and FFE reserves and the effects of cash crunch started percolating down to retrenchment of staff for keeping businesses afloat.

Hospitality think tanks across the globe came up with innovative corporate, operational, and technological solutions for minimizing OPEX and keeping the show alive. Many entities are looking at technology to replace labor resources to promote contactless service and other service concepts that presumably will require lesser people to operate and manage. Yes, robots are already being put to work in hotels and restaurants for serving, cleaning and other functions and androids are next to follow. Virtual assistants and software applications such as BOTs have certainly raised the bar of a customized service landscape. The fact cannot be ignored that the pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of the hotel industry and there is growing evidence that a certain percentage of jobs will never return. However, the most troubling question which perhaps is still unanswered by the industry remains - “Can we afford to belittle people in a people-first business?”