I’ve been a hotelier my entire professional life, except for a short stint in Advertising, and that too was on the Taj Hotels advertising account. I did my MBA from S P Jain Institute of Management in 1987 and was campus-recruited by Oberoi Hotels. The first year spent as a management trainee at the Oberoi School of Hotel Management gave me great insights across all operational departments of a hotel, from front office operations to kitchen production to F&B service to housekeeping, and more.

My 7 years with Oberoi Hotels in Mumbai were the building blocks of my hotel sales career. From Oberois, after spending a year in advertising, I returned to the hospitality industry with Sarovar Hotels. My 9 years at Sarovar exposed me to business development, owner relations, building up a pan-India sales set up, launching new hotels, handling the sales, marketing & advertising (there were no social media then!) of individual hotels, and building them into a chain operation, etc. From Sarovar Hotels I then moved to The Park Hotels, where we developed a structured interlinked sales network across all our hotels and RSO cities. The hotels were fun, trendy, and hip and this permeated through all operations.

The Park Hotels also gave me the opportunity to attend 2 PDP programs at Cornel, on international marketing and pricing. After 8 years with The Park, the entrepreneur bug hit me and in 2013 I set up a hospitality marketing company with another colleague, where we represented the India sales & marketing for the boutique luxury hotel chain Baglioni Hotels, Italy, and did other hotel consulting. Deciding to move back into mainstream hotels, I spent the next year with Advani Hotels, handling the sales & marketing for their Ramada Caravela Beach Resort, Goa and from December 2016 have been with Concept Hospitality-The Fern Hotels & Resorts as Sr Vice President - Sales & Marketing.    

Editor: Please share with us the journey of the brands - The Fern, The Fern Residency, The Zinc by The Fern, and Beacon Hotels.  

Concept Hospitality was started by Mr Param Kannampilly from where in 2009 he launched The Fern Hotels, India’s leading environmentally sensitive hotel chain. By its 10th year of operation, it was the fastest-growing hotel brand in India, with 12-15 new Fern hotels being launched each year. The company has 82 hotels & resorts and 4800+ rooms currently operational under management or opening shortly across 67 locations in India and internationally, under The Fern, The Fern Residency, The Zinc by The Fern, Beacon Hotels and a selection of independently branded hotels. Internationally we operate The Fern Residency in Bharatpur and Kathmandu in Nepal, and 4 boutique resorts with homestay guest houses in Seychelles under Le Relax Hotels, on the islands on Mahe, Praslin, and La Digue. We are currently on track to have a total of 100 hotels operational by 2022.

We believe in responsible hospitality and sustainable tourism, and offer the perfect blend of luxury and coexistence with nature at all our hotels, winning us over 200+ awards across spectrums for outstanding achievements in hotel management and environmental practices in our short twelve years of operation in the industry.

The Fern Hotels are a collection of upscale full-service Ecotel hotels and resorts providing personalized services and contemporary facilities, all packaged together with minimal impact on the environment

The Fern Residency is a mid-tiered experience of hotels and resorts offering upmarket accommodations and services

The Zinc by The Fern is a collection of upmarket lifestyle business hotels, resorts known for their unique experiential offerings, and serviced apartment hotels for both short & long stays

Beacon Hotels are positioned as ‘Smart & Efficient’ economy hotels providing full services with value-for-money accommodations and all the essential amenities for a comfortable stay

Editor: What are some of the long term changes to the industry in light of the pandemic according to you?

This global pandemic has hit the hospitality industry very hard. Everyone associated with the industry, which contributes approximately 7.5%-9% of India’s GDP, has been badly hit. Full recovery is nowhere in sight for at least another 8-12 months, if not more. Our client’s patronage has also seen a sea change. Inbound travel is dead till at least 2022 and corporate travel is currently non-existent and will recover post-lockdown very slowly. Corporate travel will now be strictly essential and need-based and online meetings will replace MICE movements significantly.

The big fat Indian wedding will take a long time to get back to its fullest form. Resorts in drivable proximity are the only growth segment we are currently seeing. Buying habits and selection criteria of our guests have also changed. Safety, security, hygiene are the new buzz words, and hotels and services that provide a comfort level in these 3 aspects will be the first-choice winners in the new normal. This is where branded hotels, following strict norms of hospitality and hygiene, will score over the stand-alone.

Editor: How is the new selling process going to look like? What key skills do Sales & Marketing people now need in a new reality?

Hotel sales are all about relationships and storytelling. Strong relationships with our customer base and selling our story truthfully and effectively - on our products, on our hygiene measures, on our safety protocols, etc - is what will give us the edge to clinch the sale more effectively.