The series of lockdowns since March 2020 disrupted business operations for hotels. On one hand, customer footfalls became negligible following the travel ban. With the subsequent interstate and inter-region travel restrictions, even suppliers found it challenging to deliver products to their hospitality customers.
Sita Lekshmi, General Manager of ibis Kochi City Centre pointed out that during this period of uncertainty, local communities supported hotels to a considerable extent. This reiterated the importance of building and maintaining a local supply chain.
Long before going green became a trend, Accor adopted sustainability as part of Planet 21 programme in 2012, 18 years after it first established its Environment Department. This global initiative involves educating guests about green practices, innovating with partners and giving back to the local communities.
Over the years, the company has been shifting its procurement journey from global sourcing to national and even local sourcing. Buying local and working with local suppliers helps it keep pace with changing guest expectations, who want immersive experiences while travelling across the world.
Lekshmi noted that contemporary business and leisure travellers are keen to try local products and cuisine while staying at a property and often opt for traditional items in the F&B menu or the gift shop. Hence, localised supply chains can deliver economic benefits for the hotel while safeguarding the environment.
Moreover, backed by regular demand from hotels, farmers are in a better position to provide high quality produce over a period of time. Lekshmi noted that this leads to better inventory management in hotels since the lead time for ordering goes down when the supply comes from the immediate vicinity.
Adopting this approach has another constructive fallout. When hotels start using local produce, they no longer have to worry about dealing with seasonal availability of certain products, which otherwise works out to be a cost prohibitive exercise.
Moreover, it allows the brand to have a positive impact on the community by creating more job opportunities. This can develop the local region’s economy and help the hotel gain goodwill. Moreover, it can be involved with the people engaged in the entire process – from the production stage until the end of the supply line.
Giving back surely never felt so good – especially when it yields a brand lower operating costs, better business results, reduced environmental footprint, stronger brand image and better access to local resources.
