1. Can you give us a brief background about your journey at Encalm Hospitality?
It has only been a year since we launched Encalm Hospitality. However, my journey with the brand had begun much earlier when I was exploring the idea of amalgamating the hospitality and the aviation industry. As I have been associated with the hospitality industry for decades now, the intent with Encalm is to provide premium airport hospitality experience to the travelers. As I have already mentioned, it has only been a year with Encalm and I am delighted to share that we have already carved a niche for ourselves in curating and delivering luxurious experiences in airport hospitality.
To give the travelers a premium and comfortable airport experience, we are currently providing Meet & Assist Services under the brand name “Atithya”, at Delhi and Hyderabad airports. These services are tailored to suit individual requirements of the guests, to make their transit memorable. To add to that, we provide exclusive access to lounges under the brand name “Encalm Lounge” at the Delhi Airport. As a brand, we are always focusing on overall customer experiences and have recently opened our first spa under the brand “Encalm Spa” at Delhi Airport.
Having these happy travelers on board, I must say that we are immensely enjoying this journey with Encalm.
2. What is the basic ideology behind Atithya? How your meet and greet services are different from other services available at the airport?
Atithya is rooted in our culture of treating a guest like God – अतिथि देवो भव. The brand follows this to the T in our ‘Meet and Greet Services’. We pamper our guests and make them feel special. One can be on a business trip or a leisure one, Atithya is there at every step to take special care of our guests. For example, it could be a scenario where one needs to fly out their parents or unaccompanied children. Atithya takes care of everything – from doorstep pick up/drop, to baggage handling, buggy service, wheelchair assistance and exclusive lounge access. We have thoughtfully curated these services keeping in mind the specific requirements of each traveler. Taking this thought ahead, Atithya has fine-tuned its services into various categories i.e.; Silver, Gold, Elite and the flagship Travel Buddy Service. The exclusive ‘Travel Buddy Service’ is designed to assist travelers from their home, accompany them through the journey and drop them off safely at the designated destination.
Our team at Atithya is trained to take care the needs of all our guests be it a first time traveller, seasoned business executive or public personalities. We invest in numerous training hours to ensure your experience with us is tailor made.
3. Airport Hospitality is still a new concept in the market. How does Encalm bring it alive?
People now a days are always multi-tasking and trying to squeeze out the maximum from their day. In such scenarios, coming from a hospitality background, our first thought is to provide a seamless airport experience to our clients. Our services are curated not just to provide comfort and relaxation but also save valuable time through an efficient team that is well aware of all airport formalities.
Atithya, the airport Meet and Assist Service, is on track to change the airport service dynamics. With Atithya, guests can just handover all their worries about airport formalities to us and actually enjoy the experience. With trained professionals greeting the guests at the entrance to taking them through all the procedures until they board the flight, Atithya is there to serve our guests at each step.
4. How does the Encalm Spa meet the various needs of different travellers?
A Spa treatment of minimum 30 minutes is considered equal to a full-fledged sleep of 8 hours. The service is promoted as a stress-buster that relaxes your mind, body and soul. Encalm has conceptualized the Spa treatment at airports to provide a premium, relaxing experience to the travelers who are hustling between destinations. A professional spa treatment can help in stimulating the blood circulation which releases the stress and helps the body to heal. Thus, whether he/she is a business traveler, a harried parent or a stressed student, our spa services have been curated to give them all a solace in-between their transit.
5. Has there been any adaptation of international services in Encalm Hospitality?
At Encalm, we have a vision of making our guests feel privileged and special through our premium services. The Encalm Lounge at the T3 terminal of the International Airport at Delhi elevates that concept.
Travelers having an access to Encalm Lounge can look forward to offerings ranging from a cigar room, premium beverages, sleeping pods, Fitness Center and a wellness zone apart from gourmet dining. The lounge covers an area of 30,000 sq. ft. It’s actually a ‘lounge inside a lounge’ concept. The area has been aesthetically developed for travelers where they can just sit in serenity to read a book or take an important meeting, sans any external distraction. Detailing is what we focus on here. For example, we have even thought of an Ironing Service for your clothes while you take a shower! To further enrich the customer’s travelling experience, we have also collaborated with renowned chefs to provide our guests with an international gourmet food experience.
6. Any 2 things you would like to change/approach differently in the Airport hospitality sector?
Airport is a highly restricted zone with high footfalls. As a brand we are constantly innovating to ensure we are able to surpass the expectation of the new age traveller who is not only well travelled but also digitally forward. We believe that technology would play an important role in our journey. We are already working with our technology partners to limit traditional issues that brands face at the airport. A classic example is the long queues at the lounge, our IT team along with our lounge partners has made significant progress in this area and soon would have a solution to reduce the wait time to enter the lounge. Apart from technology, we are focusing on our hiring process to ensure we are able to hire, nurture and retain the right talent who not only deliver impeccable service standards but also have genuine care for our guests needs.
7. Where do you see yourself in the next 2 years?
We plan to spread our wings, so to say, and have presence at more airports – not only in India but also internationally. As a service provider, we aim to deliver more and more memorable experiences for our guests and become their preferred choice at all locations that we would be present in.
