COVID-19 has taught us to get our basics right, says Ravi Rai, Cluster General Manager, Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach, Novotel Vijayawada Varun and The Bheemili Resort, Accor
Nisha Verma
What were your biggest learnings this year?
The pandemic has taught us many things and the one learning that will stay with me for years to come is that we should be prepared for any circumstances. The ‘new normal’ lifestyle that we have adapted to now has given new meanings to adaptability & flexibility. COVID-19 has taught us to get our basics right i.e. our safety & hygiene measures that play a vital role now. The ALLSAFE label by Accor includes new elevated cleanliness protocols & standards and provides assurance that these standards have been met in our hotels. The learnings also include exploring new avenues for business.
What have you drastically changed for the future in your brand?
To ensure the guests safety, through Accor’s #ALLSAFE programme, we have intensified hygiene & prevention measures at all the three properties. The following measures have been undertaken by the hotels as part of #ALLSAFE:
- Dedicated guest hotline to answer questions.
- Employees given comprehensive safety & hygiene training
- Social distancing enforced in all common areas.
- Contactless check-in, check-out and payments carried out whenever possible.
- Sanitiser provided in key public areas. (Front desk, elevators, restaurants, etc.)
- Reinforced cleaning programme in public areas with frequent disinfection of all high touch areas.
- Reinforced food safety standards and new protocols.
Any initiatives or new concepts that your brand introduced or is planning on introducing?
The hotels are dedicated to working towards a more frugal approach. Technology is playing a vital role which has aided us in curating services like virtual meetings, hosting virtual weddings with Novotel’s latest initiative – Vivaah at Novotel which is crafted, designed, and conceptualised for the contemporary virtual weddings. With this initiative, we are providing the guests with an opportunity to connect with all their relatives and friends to join in for both physical and virtual celebrations, while maintaining social distancing norms through a web telecast of the wedding celebrations.
The two distinctive features of this initiative are ‘Dawat by Novotel’ and ‘Shagun by Novotel’ for food and gift hampers respectively which are the two integral parts of any Indian wedding. The guests attending the virtual wedding will have the same culinary experience delivered at their home, which is served at the host hotel through Dawat by Novotel. Shagun by Novotel will help guests in delivering selected gift hampers to their relatives and friends from a plethora of gifting options starting from Royale package, luxe package to the premium package.
“Novotel’s latest initiative – Vivaah at Novotel is crafted, designed, and conceptualised for virtual weddings”
