Editor: Tell us about your journey. How did it all start?

My father has always been my Idol and he would cook the dinner meals with great style and passion as a hobby which in turn inspired me to be a Chef and I convinced my Father to let me pursue Hotel Management and there the journey started. I left my Civil Engineering breaking the family league and joined IHM Shimla in the year 1998.

Editor: What do you think it takes to succeed in this industry?

Any success anywhere has its own trajectory path, in our industry success starts once you start adapting to human life from guest need point of view and you start innovating measures which would bring change in the experience from a guest perspective which in turn gets you recognition and your success story kicks each passing day.

Editor: What are the attributes you look for while selecting or hiring? If someone wants to work

with you, what should they do?

I simply look for an approach of an individual whether he/she is eager to learn and is a team player as our industry needs an individual with a positive attitude who can deliver with a smile at all times.

Editor: What according to you can trainees do while they are training at hotels to make it a win-win for them & the hotel/unit?

Trainees must not think that they are being used for menial jobs rather they should try and learn all the basics of each department so that when they become leaders during their course of time, they shall understand each one’s job profile and can co-relate to it easily while leading the show. To make a win-win stepwise protocol of individual training program shall be discussed and formed before the commence of the training program during Induction.

Editor: What are some of the trends you see impacting the hospitality industry?

Across almost all industries, the need for personalization is a major trend and the hospitality industry is most dependent on this since the beginning. This is primarily driven by the rise of big data. Meanwhile, a growing number of hotel guests want to be treated as individuals, rather than just another anonymous customer. Personalisation can be deployed in a variety of ways. Within hotels, for instance, returning customers can be automatically provided with similar services to last time they stayed leaves an impression always. Apart from the above being ahead in technology is another thing which has to come in our blood to be ahead of our competition.

Editor: Tech is now an enabler for great hospitality. Can you share with us some of the tech that goes into creating your guest experience?

In these present unprecedented times of Covid 19, technology has become the key driving factor for any business and for us, right from Contact Less Check-In, In-Room dining E- Menu to E-payments has become a mandate to safeguard our associates and all our Guests.

Apart from this our Database management, Hotel Operations, Revenue Management etc remain to be technology-driven and there is a need for continuous improvement in this space.

Editor: Two things you would like to change in the industry.

Looking at the current need of time, we need to work fast on getting onto Remote working culture. With cloud-based systems, the majority of the operations can be controlled remotely. In hospitality, cloud-based systems will help manage everything remotely and instantaneously. Secondly, would like to replace the word “Training” with “ Coaching” for our future leaders studying Hotel Management as Coaching them would make much more sense to choose their right stream from various options available.

Editor: What can we expect in the coming year?

Next year doesn’t look so stable for our industry which has been worst hit by COVID-19 pandemic impact. Millions have lost their jobs in our sector already. I personally wish a speedy recovery from this pandemic so that our millions of associates can join back the work and do their self-motivated jobs with same passion and courtesy. All our Guests also have to transform themselves and adapt to New Normal and we shall pay utmost attention to their Safety. We would have to reinvent our Processes, Culinary experience and much more.