1. How has your journey at Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach been so far?
Being a general manager is an experience to cherish. Personally, for me, I have had the pleasure of overseeing operations at Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach for over 3 years now. I take pride in the entire team of our hotel who has worked ceaselessly to create momentous experiences for the guests. It was my pleasure to surround myself amidst the team members who shared the optimistic vision and motivated each other in the difficult times of the pandemic. Due to this blessing, we could gear up our operations while the industry witnessed a slow pace. The other factor that brought us to our potential was our scenic location. This factor made us a best choice of the pandemic day traveller. I continue to look forward to making my journey at Novotel by delivering best of our guest experiences and enhancing the work culture for our team each time.
2. Was there a shift in your role as a General Manager after the pandemic? How did the Hotel manage its revenue during the pandemic era?
During the pandemic, the hospitality sector saw some difficult times. Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach remained operational throughout the pandemic because our staff collaborated to change our priorities and rearrange the business mix. Families that wished for a change of scenery after spending several months at home were welcomed. They celebrated birthdays, anniversaries and other important milestones with us, thus contributing to our revenue largely.
Concepts such as staycations and workcations have become the new trends of a modern day traveller. The beach view paved our way while curating relaxing and rejuvenating experiences for these travellers while pertaining to safety restrictions and maintaining the vacation mood. Not just that but our pet friendly approach made our guests stress-free as they could get their little friends along and seize the moment with them.
3. What are the sustainability initiatives taken by the hotel?
We at Accor have deeply committed to sustainable value creation and our Planet 21 – Acting Here program keeps us in momentum. We can proudly state that we have been eliminating plastic use to a massive extent and shall achieve our goal to be a single use plastic-free hotel by the end of 2022. Sustainable practices such as promoting the use of glass bottles, employing refillable dispensers to avoid wastages, placing green-seal products that represent its environment-friendly ingredients and more such implementations. The most effective practice that we follow at Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach is use of wall mounted bottled bath amenities. Here, the guests’ can use enough amount of supplies during their stay and as the supply content in the bottle ends, the same is discarded and sent to a local vendor to recycle the same thus protecting the environment and enlightening the guests to conserve the environment in smaller steps.
4. ​How has Novotel as a brand evolved in the past couple of years?
As time progresses, Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach has had to adapt to keep up with the customer’s needs. At first, known among the business travellers, the hotel’s USP now is a variety of travel-related activities, including business travellers, staycations, social gatherings, weddings, events related to shoots, and corporate conferences.
Moreover, the Novotel brand has also introduced “Vivaah at Novotel” during pandemic as a means to improve the modern virtual wedding experience in the new normal. Through this, Novotel gives its customers the chance to connect with all of their family and friends to participate in both in-person and virtual celebrations while upholding social distance conventions.
Our first goal has now become the health, safety, and well-being of our customers, employees, and partners. The group’s cleanliness and hygiene protocol, #ALLSAFE, which was created in collaboration with Bureau Veritas, was launched by Accor at the beginning of the pandemic. With #ALLSAFE, the hotel maintains stringent controls that adhere to legal requirements of cleanliness.
5. How has the social media influx changed the way the hotel revenue is managed? and what has been its impact on the present and the future?
Social media has played a significant role in the hotel industry. It has facilitated a closer connection between customers and hotel staff. Today, customers can obtain information about hotels and book rooms through social media sites. These sites have also facilitated the sharing of experiences and opinions about hotels and directly contributed to hotel revenue through bookings online, statistics on website traffic and conversions and customer requirements, thus creating a better understanding of the needs of customers.
6. What are the other engagement tools and strategies that hotels are looking at to maximize their revenue?
Social media, mobile apps, web platforms, offering exclusive deals and discounts, hosting events and generating targeted online marketing content are some of the strategies that hoteliers are using to maximize their revenue.
7. ​What are the trends that we will we foresee in the F&B sector for the coming months? Has mock meat been introduced in the Hotel?​
With the outbreak of pandemic, the food preferences of the people have changed drastically. Healthy food dishes in every type of meal are favored at restaurants.
People have dedicated themselves towards veganism; many are replacing the meat on their plates with healthier, plant-based alternatives. In addition, as more and more economical ready-to-cook options become available, this trend is starting to catch on in cafes, restaurants, and among people who prepare food at home.
Herbal teas are getting increasingly popular too because they are calming and packed with health benefits like antioxidants, anti-aging effects, and immunity boosters. However, this year is anticipated to witness increased use of green tea, chamomile, and matcha.
Another trend would be the Asian cuisine and dishes that have been gaining popularity. Dishes like sushi, cheung fun, sake and hot pot have been quite liked by people and it is only going to be more sought-after this year.
8.       What are your plans for Novotel Mumbai Juhu? Does the hotel plan to expand its branches in the coming times?
Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach has marked completion of its glorious 13 years on 1st of July which entices us to strive for more and more betterment. With the commencement of new year we look forward to keeping the momentum of providing enriching experiences to our guests alive and keep the same spirit amongst our team to grow collectively while sharing the same vision. Further, we plan to set our foot in venturing out our rested outlets back to time and seek to spoil the guests by catering to their every type of food choice and savoring their culinary involvement with us.
