Normally, new is better...correct?
Before COVID-19 turned the hospitality industry on its head, everything was about getting more with less. For hotels it was all about maximum bums on beds paying the highest rate at the minimum cost; for airlines; it was squeezing in more passenger seats with diminishing leg-room and reduced on-board offerings, for restaurants; more chairs and high table turnarounds in the shortest possible times, etc.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, there were the crowded hotel lounges, the bars packed elbow-to-elbow with beer drinkers, participants at workshops clustered around tables - sometimes as many as ten seated next to each other, and, invitees taking up every available space during cocktails at an evening event.
Once this pandemic subsides and the recovery takes hold, our way of doing things will change drastically; if not forever, for at least until a vaccine is discovered. Until then, the mandate that each of us stay six feet away from another human being, will not only determine but also dictate, how all of us in the hospitality industry operate.
For hotels occupancy levels, be it for accommodation, meals, communal spaces for business or leisure will need to be reformulated. Housekeeping activities – often considered the ‘dark side’ of operations will come under a ‘theatre of visibility’ as post-pandemic travelers will be vigilant for evidence of enhanced levels of cleanliness, as well as listen carefully to the hotel’s ‘voice ‘on what measures it is taking to ensure their health.
Hospitality involves making guests feel comfortable and the face-to-face interaction with guests has been considered a long standing traditional value that has remained fundamentally unchanged for decades. In the post-recovery days ahead, direct face-to-face communications as we knew, it will take a backseat, since the new way hotels are expected to interact with guests will change. Many will switch to technology. Those hotels that had embraced the digital realm of customization prior to the outbreak will have a distinct advantage.
In the post pandemic run up, expect technology to gain an even stronger foothold in the industry. As long as the fear of travelling persists, conference planners will convert their live group events to virtual ones with organisations opting to video conference meetings. This will have a negative impact on hotels that have large and extensive meeting spaces.
Furthermore, owing to the fear of infection, corporate employers may encourage their sales staff to skip flying and conduct cross-country meetings on the digital landscape. Without the need to fly and stay in hotels, there will be a huge saving. On the flipside, hotels could expect fallout from business travel. Even airlines may have to re-configure their cabin seating. With less ‘high spending corporate flyers’ the demand for business class travel may well drop. And reduced premium-priced seats mean fewer subsidies on the price of an economy ticket. Add the airline’s physical loss of seats for ‘distancing’ requirements to this equation and flying can become quite expensive.
What we are seeing now is the new normal. Some of it is good, some not so good. I for one, wish we could turn the clock back a little so that we retrieve some of the ‘good’ the old normal taught all of in hospitality – where a hug was harmless and visiting loved ones was safe.
How the pendulum has swung.
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Ex-Hotelier.
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Everyone keeps talking of the ‘new normal’ in hospitality. So what is the ‘new normal’? To get a handle on what this really means, we may perhaps have to first look at the ‘old normal’.