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

Dr Bansal: It all started as a student in 1984, when i dropped out of Aligarh Muslim University where i was pursuing M.Sc in Biochemistry on my uncle’s Late. Shri Naresh Chandra Agrwal persuasion of joining three years Hotel Management program in the city of Lucknow. Although, i was truly fascinated by the glamour of the industry, when my parents took me to Hotels of New Delhi and Agra but the decision of pursuing hospitality as a career, was fairly my fascination towards this trade at that time.

After graduating, the industry rewarded me with opportunities to work with leading hotel chains of India including Taj, ITC and U.P Hotels Ltd. After about three years of industry experience, I realised my keenness towards academics and joined Institute of Hotel Management, Lucknow as an Assistant Lecturer Food and Beverage Services. I honed my skills as a Lecturer and a Researcher by completing various programs including B.T.S, M.T.M, PGDTT, L.Lb , C.H.E, C.L.F, Q.L.F, D.T.S, D.O.T and a Ph.D.

Being in academics provided me a chance of attending management programs from premium institutes namely as XLRI and IIMs. I took my passion of research ahead by broadening my exposure and undertaking projects of IHEI/ ILO/ UNDP. Alongside my career as an academician, I also got an opportunity for being a facility planner for various hotel groups, single owned restaurants & bars, IRCTC and UP Government where I significantly contributed towards strategic planning, and kitchen planning and designing.

Next phase of my journey takes me to being an Author. My teaching notes shaped out as 3 books on subjects of Facility Planning, Hotel Engineering and Food and Beverage Services. I consider myself fortunate to be recognized by the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India and rewarding me with the title of “Best Faculty”.

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

On the very first day of joining the Hospitality industry as a student, I realized one thing to the core, which one really needs to be passionate about what he/she wants to deliver to their guests. The industry is tough, but rewards hard work. One should follow a self learning process, keep faith in their seniors/colleagues and should be able to anticipate the needs of a guest.

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 be open minded and have zeal to learn by observations. They should be ready with a checklist of their own before joining the industry. No manager says “No” if a trainee wants to learn from them, so they should ask someone to be their mentor and coach simultaneously. Industrial Training exposure is designed in a way where the institute wants to explore the capabilities of a student and can enhance them. Students when joining as Industrial Trainees, they access the HR and training department to solve their queries which they somehow under utilize, they should use it to full potential.

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

Technology driven operations in Hospitality, Frequent improvements and explorations in culinary arts and Globalization of the Hospitality market are making a very positive impact on this industry. The current Pandemic where the world is dealing with COVID 19 has affected the core of the industry negatively, but I want to take this opportunity to praise the efforts made by industry professionals - WTO, WHO, FSSAI, FHRAI and other organizations to revise their SOPs to deal with this global epidemic. We will definitely revive soon.

Again we can see LPG liberalization, privatization and globalization are having a very positive impact on our travel and hospitality industry.

There can be a few core departments which could be introduced in the Industry for disaster management, health issues, epidemic, pandemic, terrorism with safety and security.

 Medical wing as a core department with designated area and facilities and for routine medical and physical fitness checkup programs for staff at all levels.

 Emphasis on Yoga during working hours.

 Regular housekeeping activities are changing into Clinical housekeeping activities.

 CSR is to be linked CRM.

 Contact less or minimum contact services.

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

1. It is my very personal opinion that our Hospitality trade still has to reach a point where it gets the respect it deserves in the society as other professions. Having said that, industry needs “to do different things or to do things differently” to serve the society in a better way possible for achieving the desired respect employees deserve. Although efforts are made by most of the group hotel chains under their CSR programs, there is a need to look into this matter deeply.

2. Lucrative wages and incentives, pay parity and work environment conditions to improve for the entry level employees to retain good talent.

Editor: What do you expect the industry to do to support academics?

There are a few points which i truly believe in:

1. By sharing the latest Industry Trends in a collaborative approach to the institutions for current so the Institutes can come at par.

2. Involving faculty as well as research scholars in research and development of the Hotels vice versa, Industry professional mentoring the students

3. Streaming of training programs for graduate and diploma students. In here the parameters of an Army school could be integrated carefully to get the physical health and the discipline right

4. Introducing internship programs for higher education (MSc / MBA/ MTA/ MTM).

5. There is also a need to introduce a new organization [nodal agency] to ensure perfect bonding between Industry and academic institutions. This new organization needs to work as a bridge between industry and academic institutions and can take up the responsibility to prepare

a. Strategies and Guidelines

b. Suggest, recommend, implement and monitor industry- institutes relationship Senior people from Industry and academia may be assigned additional responsibilities with their current job.

Future hoteliering is not just catering & accommodation it is more than that.

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