As Cluster GM for Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach, Ravi Rai, embraced new thinking styles, especially when it was related to revenue strategisation, and put in place newer metrics and measurement variables. This creative approach helped the property achieve its highest ever GOP – better y-o-y revenue than 2019 and highest RevPAR till date.
Rai recalled how managing payroll costs during the lockdown was an emotionally challenging situation. “At a Town hall meeting, I discussed the latest situation by sharing facts and figures and making people aware where the hotel stood,” he stated. “Though we reduced manpower, we paid these staffers a monthly maintenance allowance so that their families did not suffer.”
To manage with minimal staffing while ensuring that brand standards remained intact, he made sure that everyone felt part of a singular team surviving the crisis. He spruced Friday meetings by calling it ‘Breaking Bread Together’, where department heads came together to partake a meal and think of innovative guest experiences.
