Rishi Kumar

General Manager, Indore Marriott Hotel.

With a high GDP growth trajectory of 8.2%, India is the fastest growing economies in the world. This clearly denotes that India as a market will be bringing in a lot of opportunities for all kinds of sectors in the coming years. Marriott International is one of the largest hospitality chains in the industry and with having so many brands, hotels are now opening up in different parts of India to keep up with the growing demand. It also helps us to cross train people within various classifications of brands under the Marriott portfolio. In the next 5 years, there will be ample growth opportunities for hospitality professionals in India.
Marriott International is continuously developing technological platforms and innovating offerings to make it easier for the consumers. Marriott’s strategy for 2022 is ‘Growing Forward’ and with the world’s best loyalty program Marriott Bonvoy, we were able to successfully increase the density of Marriott Bonvoy members over the years by using data driven knowledge of valuable guests and customers.

Mehul Sharma

Founder & CEO, Signum Hotels & Resorts

The world is undergoing a major shift in decision-making and buying power, and it’s changing the hospitality industry. The only way to see continued success is to prepare for these inevitable changes.

The hospitality, travel and tourism sectors have been hit hard but we can’t ignore the impact on society. Consumer behaviour and eventually consumer spending have been, and will continue to be altered and business plans need to adapt to these new circumstances.

We must all now adapt to new rules, standards and values which have and will continue to influence our social behaviour, and hence our spending behaviour. Consumers will pay more attention to the different security, hygiene and health procedures that establishments are implementing. In order to gain the confidence of consumers, firms will need to be both transparent and reliable.

Online webinars and meetings as well as usage of platforms for teleworking are now fundamental components of our working habits. Home delivery services, contactless payments, medical appointments through videoconference, online purchasing all point towards an accelerated era of digitalization.

The sanitary crisis has forced many businesses to implement telework as part of their new procedures. In most cases remote working has been efficient and productive both for the employee and the employer. On the positive side, employees believe some of the benefits of teleworking include, but are not limited to, reduced stress; work-life balance optimization; flexible time schedules; and commuting time savings. Employers have also noticed better productivity, reduced costs associated with physical offices, decreased staff absenteeism and better use of technologies. As teleworking has proven to be successful it looks like many organizations will maintain this concept as a definite or hybrid alternative for workers.

Before the pandemic, sustainability was already a key topic addressed by individuals, companies and worldwide organizations such as the United Nations. Consumer behaviour will be more orientated towards reduced and conscious consumption and minimal waste. Sustainable products, responsible brands, eco-friendly policies, ecological products and environmental concerns will gain greater interest in the future.

We are not yet tech ready we must encourage lots of SAAS products to come into hospitality.

Hospitality industry has suffered a lot due to lack of govt initiatives and multiple tax structure in multiple forms. These complex tax structure globally makes running the business unviable and we need minimum taxes for business to flourish.