Zaid Sadiq
The second wave was most challenging and it affected a lot of our people. However, we could navigate the tough time due to great teamwork and a positive outlook.
Zaid Sadiq, Executive Director – Liasoning and Hospitality, Prestige Group is excitedly looking forward to welcoming guests to the upcoming 301-room JW Marriott Bengaluru Prestige Golfshire Resort & Spa.
Whilst the past few months have been tough, he believes Prestige Group has been fortunate to be surrounded by supportive stakeholders and management partners.
“The second wave was most challenging, and it affected a lot of our people. However, we could navigate the tough time due to great teamwork and a positive outlook,” he cheerily stated. He is optimistic about the future of hotels in India. And why not?
The company is working on several new hotel projects across the country. Apart from JW Marriott at Nandi Hills, it has started construction of four more hotels in India and has more hotel agreements in the pipeline.
GOING WITH THE FLOW
The hospitality business is an intangible one, which requires empathy and understanding, along with deep understanding of what guests and employees need. “Our pivot in the last few months has been ‘Growth in Adversity’. This helped our hotels grow market share, increase F&B revenues against competition and create new segments of business that we did not focus on in the past,” Sadiq said.
Rather than take any business decisions with short term gains, the company considered its long-term strategy and company culture, even if that had a short term negative impact on profitability. “I am proud that the teams are very agile, innovative and quickly adapted to the dynamic business environment,” Sadiq noted.
“Our hotel management partners adapted to new models of business and market penetration. Our Marriott International partnership helped us get timely inputs on international trends, starting from food delivery, staycations to micro lavish weddings.”
He added that the company would focus not on cutting costs, but on cutting waste. “Our strategy for our hotels is on utilisation of space, wellness and sustainability. India for the next few years will be a key focus market for us,” Sadiq added.
The pandemic has underlined that the affluent Indian traveller is finally keen to explore their own country, an untapped opportunity for most hospitality players. Sadiq believes this is the perfect opportunity to make India a glorious tourist destination for domestic as well as international travellers.
