Tourism blame game

Ok, so the government is realising what it should have realised years ago… what a laugh!

Observing that lack of cleanliness could be a reason for low tourist traffic, a Parliamentary panel yesterday pulled up the Ministry of Tourism, saying the country’s global tourism share of 0.6 per cent is ‘unacceptable’ as it has a wide variety of tourist attractions.
In its report tabled in Parliament, the Standing Committee on Tourism and Culture reprimanded the Ministry for spending Rs 194 crore on overseas promotion saying the expenditure was not commensurate with foreign tourist arrivals. The Sitaram Yechury-led Committee also pointed out that the tourism potential of Indian islands was more than that of popular destinations such as Thailand and Singapore, but insufficient facilities have marred the tourism scope of these places, according to a report by PTI.
“Even though India has a vast variety of tourist attractions, the global tourism share is less than 0.6 per cent annually in terms of world arrivals. The Committee feels that this percentage is just unacceptable, and what we are aiming at is to achieve one per cent during the 12th Plan,” it said.
On the overseas tourism promotions, the Committee said Rs 194 crore was spent on this activity up to February 2012, which was not commensurate with the return in the form of number of foreign tourist arrivals. “The Committee is surprised that with so many attractions – religious, tourist, health, why we have not been able to attract enough tourists to India,” it said.
The Committee said it has ‘doubts’ about the overseas promotion campaigns and asked the Government to have a re-look into the necessity of various tourist promotion offices abroad and the efficacy of various officials under Overseas Promotion and Publicity

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Myths about Leadership

Leadership Mythology

Leadership is about getting things done and helping people reach their potential. My experiences have shown me many organizations do a pitiful job helping people reach their potential. One reason for this is due to old-fashioned leadership concepts or what I call, “leadership mythology.”

Myth 1 – Leadership is a rare ability only given to a few
Most people have the potential to become good leaders. Leadership is not like a diet pill. Like most learned skills, it takes time, training, and lots of trial by error. The key ingredient making people good leaders is the ability to care about others. The second ingredient is a sense of purpose, vision or mission. A good leader charts a course and provides direction to those they lead.

Myth 2 – Leaders are charismatic
Closer scrutiny shows that most leaders are not. Some of the world’s most famous leaders had some sort of shortcoming or personality issue. In a leadership role, people skills are very important–more important than technical skills. However, the best leaders are those who work toward a goal. Your cause, your purpose and your mission in life will make you charismatic, not the other way around.

Myth 3 – The person with the title, most rank or the highest position is the leader
True leadership is based on action, performance, ability, and effectiveness. We all relate to working for those people who were placed in leadership roles who did more to demoralize and destroy the business than anything else.

Myth 4 – Effective leadership is based on control, coercion, and manipulation
Leadership is about the future, not the past. “A leader is someone you would follow to a place you would not go to by yourself.” Good leaders gain followers out of respect and their ability to cause people to work toward a particular goal or achieve a destination. People follow because they can relate to the vision or goal personalized by the leader. A good leader helps people become better than they are. A good leader creates a work environment that attracts, keeps and motivates its workforce.

Myth 5 – Good leaders have more education than other people
Educational degrees may mean you have a good education, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you are a good leader. When it comes to leadership, experience is the best teacher.

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Strategic Role of HR in the Hospitality Field

Strategic Role of HR in the Hospitality Field

We conducted a workshop on 19th/20th Feb 2012 on “The Strategic Role of HR in Hotels” for the HR and key Line Managers of Zuri Hotels. This program was facilitated by Mr. D. R. Nagaraj an eminent trainer and assisted by Rajan Parulekar. Some of the key learning’s were as follows:

HR needs to add Value: HR needs to ask a fundamental question: why do organizations need us? In a fiercely competitive market, companies need to keep costs under control. The concept of core competency has led to outsourcing of facilities and administration functions. The day is not far off when HR may also get outsourced if it does not add value. Currently tasks like recruitment are already being handled by manpower consultants.

Traditional Approach: One of the main problems is that HR executives work on a cut & paste approach. They presume that what has worked in other countries or companies can work equally well by just adopting those practices. But they do not realize that each company has unique challenges and the one-size -fits-all solution may be an inappropriate proposition.

Difference between Talent and Competency: In order to move from a reactive to a proactive role, HR has to think creatively. If talented executives leave the organization, leading to a high attrition; it is not only because of the opportunities outside, but also because of the strengths without. An important difference between talent and competency is that talent is inborn but competency can be developed. Talented people do not need training as much as they need opportunity.

Concern for Guest: If one looks at his job as a means to one’s livelihood then he says I work to get paid. But an exceptional performance happens only from the guest’s perspective. One must think of the guest while doing a job. Think of a housewife adding salt while preparing a dish. As a mother she thinks of the children to make it tasty but also thinks of her husband to keep his BP under control. In a similar manner if the team members think of their guests while discharging their duties they can produce superlative performances.

Ever increasing demands of Customers: The changing profiles of customers like Gen Y have much more expectations than Gen X. Today’s customers are gadget savvy. Customer service is also changing. Remember the iphone? Steve Jobs wanted to have a gadget having only one button to switch it ON and OFF, and users must not be troubled with complicated menus. In a similar vein, everything should look simple in front. The customer, internal or external wants a one-stop solution for most things todays.

Importance of Mentoring: Managers are necessary but leaders are essential. They think differently and act differently. Leaders contribute in a significant way. Leaders have followers but managers have subordinates. In leadership even failure is success, achievement happens because of risk.

Mentoring is to put the other person on the right path. For mentees the Guru is one; whereas for mentors there are different mentees, each of them unique people.

If you have one acre of land, there are three approaches to cultivate it: In a traditional approach you grow paddy you get 100% returns in the short term and 0% in the long term. In a conceptual approach you grow coconuts you get 50:50 returns in the short and the long term. With a spiritual approach if you establish a school you get 0% in short term but 100% in the long term.

 HR needs to make a paradigm shift from a traditional approach of looking at the short-term to a combination of the traditional, conceptual and also the spiritual approaches so as to reap not only the short-term benefits but also the long-term advantage not only for the organization but also for the employees.

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Japanese Fish

Japanese Fish – Don’t create success and lie in it.                                                  

The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste.
To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price.
So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish.

So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan? To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank. The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. The fish are challenged.

As soon as you reach your goals, such as finding a comfortable job, paying off your debts, having already achieved your pre-set targets or whatever, you might lose your passion. You don’t need to work so hard so you relax.
Like the Japanese fish problem, the best solution is simple. L Ron Hubbard observed it in the early 1950’s. “Man thrives, oddly enough, only in the presence of a challenging environment.” The Benefits of a Challenge – The more intelligent, persistent and competent you are, the more you enjoy a good problem. If your challenges are the correct size, and if you are steadily conquering those challenges, you are happy. You
think of your challenges and get energized. You are excited to try new solutions. You have fun. You are alive!
Instead of avoiding challenges jump into them. Beat the heck out of them. Enjoy the game. If your challenges are too large or too numerous, do not give up. Failing makes you tired. Instead, reorganize.Find more determination, more knowledge, more help. Don’t create success and lie in it. You have resources, skills and abilities to make a difference. Put a shark in your tank and see how  far you can really go!

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Govt. of India – Hospitality Employment Initiative

It seems the Indian Government has woken up to the importance of the hospitality industry and it now aims at creating 77.5 million jobs in the tourism and hospitality sector by 2016 by adopting a ”pro-poor” approach to the development of the sector in the 12th five year Plan. “Initiatives to be taken towards the development of the tourism and hospitality sector in the 12th Plan will aim at increasing net benefits to the poor from tourism and ensure that tourism growth contributes to poverty,” said a Ministry of Tourism official.
The total employment in hospitality sector is estimated to be at 47.26 lakh in the year 2012-13 and 63.79 lakh in the year 2016-17. “To meet this requirement, there are plans to initiate a number of skill development programmes,” the official added. The Ministry also plans to enhance the institutional infrastructure of hospitality education by opening new Institutes of Hotel Management (IHM) and Food Crafts Institutes (FCI). The capacity of the existing hotel management and food crafts institutes will be augmented. Private sector investments will be encouraged, strengthening the institutional infrastructure of hospitality education.
This is the need of the hour and we wish them the very best in this endeavour!

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A Revenue Manager’s ‘yes’ and ‘no’ for 2012

In 2012, hoteliers face more challenges than ever. From resolving to concentrate on “SoLoMo” (social, local, mobile marketing), to navigating “new” distribution channels, to implementing a Google+ strategy, to improving local search rankings via citations, it is near-impossible for a hotelier to distinguish viable strategies from trendy or temporary opportunities without a dedicated digital marketing partner.

With so many new “don’ts,” it is easy to confuse or let slide the “do’s” of hotel distribution.

In 2011, 26% of total bookings for the top hotel brands came from the Internet, with 18% from Brand.com and 8% from OTAs.

For non-branded hotels, the situation is more troubling, with 42% of bookings from the Internet – 32% from OTAs and just 1% from hotel websites.

What to do in 2012

1. Focus on your hotel’s website

First and foremost, your website must be “in good health” in order to follow and comply with best practices in hotel distribution. Make sure your current website adheres to industry’s best practices for design & site architecture.

Most importantly, make sure it is compatible with the recent Google Panda and Freshness algorithm updates.

Be sure that all site content is engaging, unique and branded. Create dedicated pages as well as specials and packages that appeal to all key customer segments.

Once your website is in tip-top shape, use search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), email
marketing and other digital marketing efforts to drive traffic to the hotel’s website and encourage direct reservations.

Bring SoLoMo (social, local and mobile) initiatives to the forefront of your hotel’s targeted digital marketing strategy.

The convergence of these three content and marketing platforms allows the hotel to deliver more personalized, relevant content to existing guests and customers in real-time like never before.

2. Maintain rate parity

A principle once considered elementary now merits a reminder: All hotels must maintain their best available rates and last-room availability on their own websites!

According to RateGain, from December 2011-February 2012:

  • 60-87% of 3-star      hotels were cheaper on OTA sites
  • 75-93% of 4-star      hotels were cheaper on OTA sites
  • 69-86% of 5-star      hotels were cheaper on OTA sites

3. Use the OTA channel correctly

Focus on the “big players,” e.g. Expedia, Priceline, Booking.com, Travelocity and Orbitz. Smaller OTAs do not provide additional reach; rather, they require more work.

From day one, include in all contracts that neither the OTAs nor their affiliates may bid on branded keywords in SEM campaigns, i.e. the hotel’s official name-related keywords.

Use strict rate parity when using OTAs, and monitor their attempts to sell “lower” rates for your property by reducing their commission/markup, or using math gimmicks when calculating the overall taxes and fees.

Use OTAs for need periods: weekends, group cancelations, low season, etc., and not as a replacement for or alternative to the direct online channel. Additionally, any sale or promotion via an OTA should be used only as a last resource and should equally be promoted via the hotel website and support marketing (SEM, email, mobile, social).

What to not do in 2012

1. Don’t participate in flash/social buying sites

While flash sales may address the hotel’s immediate needs – occupancy – they do considerably more damage than good in the long run.

With heavily discounted rates out in the open, flash sales have inherently flawed business models, causing your hotel to rebuke the principles of rate parity.

The most powerful reason to forget flash sales and social buying sites is “The Law of Unintended Channel Share Loss”: Any booking via the most discounted channel (i.e. flash sale sites like Groupon or Living Social or BloomSpot or OTAs) is one fewer booking for the same hotel via its own website, call center or GDS. These sites also lead to the cannibalization of the hotel’s existing loyal consumer base.

2. Don’t do last-minute discounts via OTAs, mobile discounters

Both hotels and airlines manage perishable inventory, so rather than launching a last-minute Groupon or sale with HotelTonight, why not take a cue from the airline industry? The closer to the date of departure or check-in at the hotel, the higher the rate – not the other way around.

Mobile is by nature a last-minute distribution channel. Most hotel mobile bookings are for the same or following night; therefore, these bookings will occur in any case without discounting. Use mobile SEM and SMS marketing for last-minute reservations, but market your true best available rates and avoid the temptation to discount.

When 24- or 48-hour sales on OTAs are “necessary” to increase occupancy immediately, do not neglect the hotel’s own website. Though Expedia will not allow you to promote the same offer on Priceline, its “rate police” will not stop you from opening the same rate or package on your own site.

Sales on OTAs should be cross-promoted on your website through direct marketing campaigns

3. Don’t use social media as a distribution channel

Social media is not a distribution channel, and it was not designed as a sales platform to sell rooms. Use social media instead for customer engagement, customer service, customer relationship management (CRM), branding, awareness, etc.

Social media is best managed at the property level and needs to be monitored 24/7/365. Establish onsite champions who will speak with a consistent brand voice, provide exemplary customer service and serve as models of the hotel’s product.

Use a full-service digital marketing agency for training, auditing, recommendations and technical design and build-out for custom tabs, backgrounds, widgets, sweepstakes, etc. Post, tweet, repost, re-tweet!

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10 Tips to becoming your own Boss

I picked this up from ET-Online and liked it for its simplicity and truth…  

Essential lessons when you embark on the entrepreneurial journey.

1) Prepare your family:  “My wife wasn’t too comfortable with my entrepreneurial zeal, so we agreed to give it a year. If I failed to zero in on something within this period, I would return to a job.” – Rivi Varghese, Customer XPs.

2) Plan your finances: “You might not earn anything in the first 2-3 years, so you need to plan your family’s finances accordingly. A capital cushion is essential to ensure that your family lives comfortably.” – Ashutosh Garg, Guardian Lifecare

3) Forget the job perks: “As a manager in a company, you are accustomed to other people doing things for you. In a start-up, you have to take care of everything yourself- from operational expenses to food bills.” – Jiggy George, Dream Theatre

4) Learn to cope with failure: “I met 15 VCs before one agreed to fund me. One investor rejected my proposal within five minutes of a presentation. Instead, he spent an hour trying to convince me to go back to my job.” – Kunal Bahl, Snapdeal

5) Have a plan ‘B’ ready: “After the first few months, we realised that service was not our core competence. Besides, the margins were quite low. This was the time we concluded that it was better to focus on products.” – Rahul Anand, Happily Unmarried

6) Don’t take too much debt: “If you are thinking of starting up, this is the best time. But don’t take a home loan since it kills entrepreneurship. You can never get out of it.” – Binny Bansal, Flipkart

7) Gain enough experience: “I used to teach at a diving centre in Lakshadweep. After teaching more than 600 students for eight years, I decided to float my own diving company.” – Anees Adenwala, Orca Dive Club

8) Interact with like-minded: “My partner Abhishek was running an e-commerce portal, which was acquired by a bigger website. He expressed interest in working with me and we launched our site.” – Chetan Bafna, Fetise.com

9) Believe in yourself: “Belief in one’s idea can take you a long way. Our concept was ahead of its time, but I didn’t give up on my vision. At every step, there were people who ridiculed the idea. I had the last laugh.” – VSS Mani, Just Dial

10) Have a plan that is unique: “The business plan should be unique and clutter-free. An entrepreneur must look into his area of core competence and use it to devise a strong plan.” – Kavindra Mishra, Zovi.com

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Straining for Training!

“India, with a population over 1.2 billion people and a growing economy, is allowing the Indian hotel market to prosper as hotel brands continue to expand their portfolio within India”.

India’s hotel industry is showing an overall year-to-date growth in performance data and the supply pipeline, according to new figures from STR Global. Looking at the hotel pipeline, India’s hotel inventory is expected to increase by more than 61,000 rooms in the next three years with over 30,000 rooms currently under construction

As part of this expansion, Hotels are seeking to attract and develop high-quality talent in India to drive future growth. As a result, proactive hotel companies are investing in training curriculums and accelerated leadership programs.

As India’s hotel industry readies for unprecedented growth, it is about to face a manpower crisis the likes of which it has never seen before. Too few people are being trained for the industry; many of those who have received the training choose greener pastures and fierce fights break out regularly to keep or poach the few who remain. All this while a new hotel or restaurant is being added every week – all the more reason to redouble training efforts

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Seminar: “I did it OUR way”

Recently we conducted a program for a 5 star hotel in New Delhi on Teamwork. The most interesting part of the program was the interaction between the participants who had never really sat together for an entire day. Speaking about their issues made them feel liberated and the feedback shared with us was very encouraging.

At times, unless we are watchful, the daily grind at work comes in the way of creating bonds and fostering positive work relationships, especially when cocooned in departments. The big picture is by-passed and employees tend to play the blame game instead of the same game!

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Feel my bottom-line

Just concluded a two day public seminar on Contextual Selling with participants having sales experience from 1 – 15 years in selling heavy to light machines, real estate & hospitality, high-end cables etc.

Surprising to note that after all these years of selling, sales persons are unaware of the concepts of bottom line and top line. Some of the answers on top line were “management”, “high quality”, “top down approach” & “booker” while their take on bottom line ranged from “customer” to “low quality” to “bottom up approach” & “guest”. In an audience of 19 participants, not one came close to the concept of revenue and profits!

Organizations must seriously ensure their sales personnel understand the basic concepts of their financial statement as then only will they sell with a better understanding of their contribution to the organization.

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