Global economic crisis forces star hotels to offer five-star ambience at three-star rates

Chennai:

As the world is reeling under economic crisis, hotel industry is focusing on providing five star ambience at three-star rates to woo tourists and customers, according to an expert.

Delivering a keynote address during national conference on contemporary trends in tourism and hospitality organized by Women’s Christian College here, general manager of The Gateway Hotel Ranjit Shankar said on Tuesday that with the global downturn the spending by consumer has gone down which has resulted in shift in customer patterns as such many five-star hotels are charging three-star rates to woo customers.

Interestingly, hotel industry is also aware of the growing importance of social media. Shankar said by 2016 half of the travel industry would be using social media as a way of generating revenue and bookings. 

He said the traditional marketing is being replaced by content marketing and hotels are now developing its own websites. He said that there has been a real shift in the marketing spend of the travel industry, away from the perceived expensive adverting to engaging with customers through social media.

He said even the cuisine of Indian hotel is undergoing a change and the local food is back. He said there is also innovation in food and beverage.  He also said many hotels are now focusing on safety and security after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.

Prof S P Bansal, vice-chancellor, Maharaja Agrasen University, Himachal Pradesh, who also spoke on the occasion, stressed the need for winning the confidence of the community in the area where a tourism project is launched. “Communities are main stakeholder of tourism and it is important to take them into confidence,” he added.

He also stressed the need for policy document on tourism to focuss more on domestic tourism, which is growing at a rate of 13.81 per cent. He also stressed the need for innovative marketing strategies to boost tourism sector in India.