Question and Answer Session was conducted during 11th lecture organized on 27th May 2020 by the experts Prof. Parikshat Singh Manhas and Dr. Sanjay Nadkarni. Some of the questions remained unanswered during the lecture here are the replies to those questions:
Q1. What are the digital interventions you see in front office department in the near future?
Examples of front office interventions would be automated check-in kiosks with built-in biometric/facial recognition identity verification features, mobile keys and touchless protocols for front office staff. These are not exactly new concepts as they already exist, but we will see a massive scale it up in terms of deployment.
Q2. Will Responsible Tourism going to get boost.
It goes without saying that responsible tourism will get a massive boost as in the post Covid19 consumers will be increasingly conscious of their footprint on the environment as well as on society. This is a great chance to reinvent the industry and move away from crass consumption to responsible behavior towards our ecological assets and heritage.
Q3. What do you think robotics have a future of replacing people in the industry?
Some of the repetitive tasks are up for automation and wherever health safety protocols are paramount in the industry’s SOPs, robots will certainly be the ‘go to’ option. As robotic technologies develop further and the costs come down, the economies of scale for deployment of these type of technologies will kick in making it affordable for mainstream hospitality and tourism businesses to deploy them at scale. Such an approach will work in the interest of both, customers as well as employees from a health and safety perspective. Then there will be certain roles where robots and humans will work side by side as I mentioned during the webinar. We are heading into a scenario where humans, robots and algorithms co-exist as colleagues.
Q4. Which college or Institute is better to do hotel management course in India and abroad?
There are several institutions offering great high quality programs in hotel management. Which one to choose would really depend on your career objectives and locational preferences. A thorough research of reputation, accreditation, course content, industry links and faculty profile will help you pin the institution best suited for your aspirations.
Q5. What sort of courses is there that can be beneficial for the front desk staff so that they can go miles in the hospitality sector?
Apart from the technological upskilling, front desk staff should also pay attention to soft skills such as enhancing their emotional quotient and adaptability quotient because this is what the industry now requires moving forward into a touchless world of hospitality. Wat will set apart one candidate from another is not just the qualification and experience but also soft skills that are a reflection of ability to engage positively with guests.
Q6. How to attract students to tourism courses in this pandemic?
As they say when the going gets tough, the tough get going. This industry is up for radical shakeup post Covid19 and in every adversity there is an opportunity. this is an excellent opportunity for tourism and hospitality education institutions to revamp the curricula to make these more industry relevant. Humans are social animals and traveling is part of this nature; hence there will be a rebound in this industry and institutions which are able to demonstrate their adaptability to the new normal will certainly be able to attract good quality students who have both passion and ability to engage with a transformative industry.
Q7. How will India recover this current situation specially hospitality & tourism sector?
India is much better place than many other countries for the revival of the tourism and hospitality sector. There is a tremendous domestic market which can be tapped into and this will be the first segment to recover. Many countries which extensively rely on international tourists will have a much longer recovery curve for their tourism and hospitality industry. This is a great opportunity to spruce up infrastructure, enhance hygiene and cleanliness protocols at tourist sites. Such measures will increase the confidence of the travelers, both domestic and international.
Q8. After layoffs, many of the professionals will try entrepreneurship, so, survival will be tough. Business Intelligence and Business Competitiveness will be key. Your take ?
Business intelligence and business competitiveness will certainly be the key differentiators for entrepreneurs trying to solve specific problems within tourism & hospitality industry. This is exactly where Industry 4.0 plays a big role. There is no need to reinvent the wheel; best practices from other sectors can be studied and adapted to meet specific requirements and solve specific problems in the tourism and hospitality industry.
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