Two interesting panel discussions were the highlights of the Hotelier India GM Summit 2023 with the first one on ‘Innovation in Disruptive Landscape’.
Mahesh Aiyer, CEO, Carnation Hotels (the management subsidiary of Lemon Tree Hotels), was the moderator along with the speakers – Gaurav Singh, Market Vice President, South & East India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, Marriott International; Lokesh Sabharwal, Regional Vice President, Operations, India & South West Asia, Hyatt; Parveen Chander, Executive Vice President-Sales & Marketing, IHCL; Ranjan Malakar, Senior Regional Director Operations, Hilton, India; Yazad Marfatia, Regional Director-Sales and Marketing Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels and Sharad Puri, Senior Vice President – Sales & Distribution at The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts.
Mahesh started off the discussion asking the panel a very pertinent question: “Innovation and disruption are considered as two heavy words. In the past 10 years, what is the one disruption that has impacted hospitality?”
While Gaurav said, “The talent pipeline seems to not be matching the hotel’s pipeline and visions,” Lokesh added, “Experience in supervisory and middle-management levels is missing in the industry.” Ranjan too shared the view and said, “Talent seems to be a big challenge across the industry.”
Praveen added an interesting point: “COVID, of course, was the biggest disruption in recent times but beyond that, technology is an enabler and disruptor across the value chain of hospitality.”
For Sharad, “Sustainability is the biggest disruption,” while for Yazad, “Demand is growing for homestays, which affects the hospitality business. Airbnb caters to the growing needs of millennials and Gen-Z which affects the hotel business.”
The speakers threw interesting insights on the topic and went on to speak about the many learnings from COVID, how digital was the way forward, and ended the discussion on a positive and high note.
