Question and Answer Session was conducted during 9th lecture organized on 20th May 2020 by the experts Prof. Parikshat Singh Manhas and Dr. Scott Richardson. Some of the questions remained unanswered during the lecture here are the replies to those questions:
Q1. What actions made by the Jumeirah group of hotels in Dubai you have observed in these stages of epidemic?
Answer: As with most other hotel chains globally, Jumeirah has had to rationalize its workforce to deal with the current pandemic facing the global hospitality industry.
Q2. Well this is a new promotion video of the Kempinski hotels in which they are showing new protocol for making hotel aesthetic as well hygienically clean. This model is definitely the future of hotel industry after COVID-19.?
Answer: Agreed, but at whose cost? With all the new cleaning measures that will need to take place will this result in increased prices being charged to guests?
Q3. Do you think that installing sanitization chambers at the hotel entrance will be the new normal post Covid 19?
Answer : No. I think this may be implemented in some hotels but I do not think it will be the norm. All hotels will have some form of temperature scanners at their entrances for some time to come and will provide sanitization facilities for guests throughout the hotel.
Q4. What is the situation of Hospitality graduate fresher’s in Dubai?
Answer : It is no different in Dubai than anywhere else in the world. The UN WTO currently estimates that more than 100 million jobs have been lost in the hospitality industry worldwide and this will undoubtedly affect hospitality graduates. As discussed in the webinar there are multiple things that fresh graduates can do to ensure that they are best placed to secure employment. For more information please watch the recording of the webinar.
Q5. Future of Hospitality graduates after the pandemic?
Answer : This was discussed in detail in the webinar but in our view the future is positive. Hospitality graduates will have the skills and knowledge that the industry requires and will be the future leaders of the industry.
Q6. What will be the Future of Banquets in hotels?
Answer : Again as discussed in the webinar in the short term we believe that banqueting will be a plated service not buffet. Buffets may continue to operate however staff may serve guests from above a rather guests serving themselves.
Q7. The core responsibility of every hospitality worker is the guest satisfaction and the chemical used in the sanitization had a very hard smell which is also going to effect the gust ambiance as well as guest satisfaction, so how we can overcome this problem?
Answer : Unfortunately, I am not an expert in chemicals so don’t really know how to address this concern.
Q8. Please recommend online courses in hotel management?
Answer : There are many very good schools and universities offering online courses in hotel management. I don’t think it is relevant here to discuss these.
Q9. Covid 19 SOP is going to escalate the cost. How the Sector is going absorb and create jobs?
Answer : In most cases the costs will more than likely be added to the amount paid by the guest. In the short term it will be about hotels returning to financial viability and some rationalisation of positions will take place. It could be some time before hotels return to their previous staffing levels.
Q10. What will be the future of front desk staff if technology will take over them?
Answer : My belief is that there will always be a need for front desk staff. Many hotel guests want to talk to people and don’t want to check in via their mobile devices or through other forms of technology. Hotel that cater specifically to certain clients such as business hotels may move to a more seamless technology driven check-in and checkout system however leisure hotels will require staff to run the front desk.
Q11. Does Technology taking over most of the operational sections of a hotel imply that the choosing a career in any of the ancillary departments would be wiser of the graduates of this industry?
Answer : Hospitality graduates should do whatever they can to give themselves an edge in the employment market. Therefore, specialising or gaining additional qualifications in functional areas such as HR, marketing or finance may be useful for the long-term success.
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