Not adjusting to higher levels of hotel occupancy can prove costly
As the hospitality industry recovers slowly from the impact of COVID, a recent hotel guest satisfaction survey relating to product and service standards encountered during guest stays, done over a specific period, reveals that the overall level of satisfaction was less than up to expectations. On the other hand, hotel room rates in general were on the up – bringing about a perceived mis-match of ‘value for money’.
As tourists arrivals improve, driving occupancy up, hoteliers keep exercising caution on bringing back staff levels that were reduced owing to the set-backs encountered at the height of the pandemic. The mood is to wait until the trajectory of recovery moves upward and a sustainable level of demand returns. Operating with leaner staff levels is not just observed in the hospitality industry but in many other business sectors as well.
Meanwhile, operating with minimal staffing in the face of rising demand is proving to be a double-edged sword – putting a strain on operations and leaving guests unhappy. Some of the declines in benefits were owing to COVID- related safety and health protocols. One area of concern was where check-In / check-out was found wanting and actually appeared to drop below pre-COVID satisfaction levels.
It’s not as if, all of a sudden, staff lost the desire for showing care and being courteous when engaging with customers. Then, what really caused the pain in satisfaction levels? It would seem that as more and more guests’ trooped into the hotel and formed queues, it put a strain on operations. The reticence of hoteliers to top up staff levels that were reduced during the downturn was one major cause.
The sudden jump in ‘check-ins’ gave front desk staff less than adequate time to interact with them and to provide a warm welcome to the hotel, Staff did not have time to find out whether the guest checking-in was a ‘first timer’ so as to describe what services and amenities were on offer. Some did not even have the time to inform the guests of the breakfast times and where it was served, and, as the queues kept lengthening; it became a hustle, Devoid of any interaction between staff and guest, the guest check-in was just that…and a very ordinary check-in!
Hoteliers need to be on the ball as it were, by periodically monitoring how their staffing levels are coping particularly during peak times. With a rise in demand, is staff short-circuiting the check-in touch point where guests are hurriedly processed instead of being properly welcomed? When that happens, don’t expect any real connection to occur between the guests and the hotel.
At what cost are some cost reductions costing you? It’s better to find out now…rather than be taken by surprise when your cost reductions cause your occupancy to slide downhill.
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Ex-Hotelier
|
|
|
|
