Vilas Pawar

Choice Hotels India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Choice Hotels International, had a strong pipeline of projects under development last year, with over 18 hotels across the country at various stages of development in tier 3 and 4 markets. While COVID- 19 affected its plans and delayed some of these, Vilas Pawar, CEO, Choice Hotels India said that it did not put a stop to the company’s expansion plans.

However, the company had to take other tough decisions. “We had to reduce headcount in many areas, multitasking became the name of the game and salary revisions occurred across the board. General Managers and operators started looking for innovative practices to reduce operating costs and seek alternate avenues for revenue generation to pull through during the stringent lockdowns,” he added.

The upside was that the company had an opportunity to grow its alternative channels. Existing independent hotel promoters started seeking brand association for improved growth started reaching out to the company, Pawar stated. He added that new builds also saw more merit in brand association and were keen to sign up.

KEEPING THE FAITH
Faith building amongst guests and intermediaries was, and continues, to be of utmost importance to Choice Hotels India when it comes to business generation. “We operationally controlled costs and expenses on one hand, and on the other, scouted for newer business opportunities to earn revenue,” Pawar noted.

Detailed property improvement plans were chalked out for independent hotels that did not meet its brand standards, to ensure that the brand promise was met. Pawar noted that a lot of value was extended to properties, taking into account the team’s experience with operations, training, quality audits, financial advice with regard to reporting and systems, etc. “The hotel, in turn, could leverage the brand equity, connect with our sales office network across the country to harness sales and use our distribution channels to increase sales and profitability of the hotel,” he explained. The hospitality chain took the responsibility to support its stakeholders, including franchisees, employees, customers and vendors.

It instituted a ‘Choice COVID Health Fund’ to provide for medical contingencies faced by its associates or their families. It took on the onus of vaccinating all its employees and their families and also made provisions for oxygen concentrators for team members, in case it was needed.