Vinesh Gupta, GM Mövenpick Bangalore, believes that as hoteliers, the most important success mantra is the service given to the guests.
BY BABITA KRISHNAN
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Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts is not very aggressive. With only one property, how do you make your presence felt in the light of competition?
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts is an international upscale hotel management company with presence in 25 countries. We have around 30 properties planned or under construction, including one in India. We, as a group, are passionate about delivering premium service and culinary enjoyment with a personal touch to our guests. Though we have only one property currently operational in India, we do not believe in expansion for the sake of it. Mövenpick is more about a culture and identifying with it.
At Mövenpick, we don’t compete with anyone. We let our culture become a habit for our guests. Yes awareness is slow but with the advent of social media, we have made great inroads.
How active are you on social media?
Our PR team is very prompt and interactive in this field, which has worked very well for us. We use the social media platform to drive a Swiss culture with Indian influence – that is the very ethos of Mövenpick Bangalore – to our guests and the people of the city. To me social media is very important for connectivity. We have some activity or the other everyday being shares on social media. The idea is not to put so much content that people avoid it, but to be meaningful. I don’t want too many ‘likes’ but I want engagement. Today my reviews on facebook are much better than on any other travel site. The idea of the social media is not to find directions, but to do things differently.
How do you compare with the other properties in Bengaluru?
As a property we are no different from anyone. Some might have bigger rooms, smaller bathrooms, an extra restaurant or two, size of the pool may differ, etc. basically we all are offering the same thing to our guests. The difference, however, is that Mövenpick is all about personal touch. The level of staff involvement and the services that we give to our guests is incomparable with any other brand.
Does that necessarily result in guest loyalty? How do you ensure that?
Personally I feel when you offer too many things to the guests in terms of fancy foods and services, it works more as a burden on him. Ultimately, what is going to get your guest back into the hotel is the service that you offer, the high-end technology that you provide him with for his work to get done. In the past decade, we as hoteliers have increasingly forgotten that the basic premise of our job is service to the guest. We like to keep things simple and personal, we keep track of what our guest likes the last time and ensure that we give him/her a better experience.
What about attritions? Are they high at Mövenpick?
Though as an industry we were used to about 15 to 18% attrition, however, the recent past has seen it rising to maybe about 35%. The problem is that people don’t look at brands as a single unit, and each property becomes a transitory step towards the next one. I always ask them what their expectations are and then tell them that you need to work patiently towards that goal. At Mövenpick, we are clear that one has to understand and imbibe the brand culture and that takes some time. When the opportunity arises and if
you fit the role, you can be part of the global Mövenpick family.
Tell us about some of the innovations that you have introduced at the property.
One thing that I have introduced to the property and has been very successful is hydroponics. This is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. We have created a small green house to grow our greens, gourds, cucumber, tomatoes, cabbage, etc. and everyone at the hotel is very proud and gets involved in this project. Innovations should not be for the sake of being different, they should be something that is out of the ordinary, something people would want to be a part of and would like to know about.
What are the brand’s expansion plans in India?
We have been in the process of building our brand and increasing its awareness in the last four to five years. Now we are getting ready to open our second property in Cochin. The pre-opening team is already in place and we hope to open our doors to guests before the end of this year.
We have been in India for some time now and as a group Mövenpick is a very traditional company. There are certain brand values and culture that we will not compromise on for any expansion ambition, so we look for like-minded partners. That is the reason why things are slow but steady within the group. For us the brand is more about the culture and the way we are perceived in the minds of our guests and not defined by the property or our assets in a country.
