Answer to Question #271989 in Management for Janvi

Question

Lemon tree , a premium chain of hotels across the country has suffered tremendous losses during the pandemic and have hired you as a consultant in order to analyze the same.

a Can you explain Political , economic and social forces which have had an impact on the business?

b Can you also help them apply the contingency approach of Modern approach in order to face the pandemic effectively?

Answer 1

Discussion

The pandemic created significant challenges for all sectors and deeply impacted the hospitality industry. Lemon Tree chain of hotels based in India being in the hotel industry which is under tourism sector has been greatly affected. With the coronavirus pandemic wiping out profits, the Indian hotel industry has been left in a state of total disarray. The hotel and restaurant business in India has been among the sectors hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, with the resulting lock-downs and economic slowdown decimating revenues and profits. Hotel executives and analysts stress that repayment of loans with interest has been difficult under the current harsh economic environment. With travel reduced to a bare minimum and an economic slowdown, the pandemic has done immeasurable damage to luxury hotel chains across the country. Almost every segment associated with the hotel industry that is meetings, conferences, restaurants, destination weddings and family entertainment, among other things has been crippled by the impact of the health crisis. Hotel chains have taken measures such as freezing new recruitment, partially closing hotel floors and shutting down restaurants. In some cases, they have also begun job cuts. The hotel announced furloughs of staff, leave without pay, closing of hotels and postponement of new hotel plans meaning so many people have become jobless.

Considering the severity of what is happening, Lemon Tree and other hotels need to find good strategies to deal with the pandemic effectively. They can try to ensure the security of their customers since in the current circumstances, guests and travelers will consider safety and hygiene measures a priority when choosing their accommodation and they will demand that client-hotels implement strict cleaning protocols to deal with the coronavirus. Also they should ensure flexibility since it is an important aspect guests consider when booking hotels now that the new policies can adapt to unforeseen changes, like business meetings that may unexpectedly change or vacations that will need to be delayed due to sudden travel restrictions being imposed. Hotels can give flexibility to the customer by giving them a degree of confidence who are undoubtedly worried when booking accommodations due to the inherent insecurity of possible isolation situations, closing of borders, and flight cancellations. 

Reference

Jiang, Y., & Wen, J. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 on hotel marketing and management: a perspective article. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.