By Neha Kirpal
In this exclusive interview, Miguel Munoz, Chief Resorts Officer, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited, talks to us among other things about Covid safety measures, revenge travel to Club Mahindra’s three properties (Mashobra, Naldehra and Kandaghat) in Himachal Pradesh, and the brand bouncing back after the pandemic.
In the first phase of the pandemic in 2020, the hotels in Himachal stayed shut until August/September 2020. How did your property cope with this phase? Did you have to let go of staff?
The Covid-19 pandemic presented an unprecedented challenge to the hospitality industry with sharply declining occupancy rates, as India went into lockdown from late March 2020. In fact, during March 2020 itself, the occupancy rate in hotels across the top 13 markets dropped by 53 percent compared to the same month last year.
Mahindra Holidays too, temporarily, suspended its operations in compliance with the advisories and directives issued by the government. Q-4 has historically been the company’s best performing quarter; however in 2020, we saw our member additions and occupancy rates being adversely affected. Despite this adverse impact, we recorded a 23.7% growth in Profit Before Tax for FY-20, over the previous year.
However, we have a uniquely resilient business model, and our brand ‘Club Mahindra’ enjoys the trust of 255,000+ member base which saw our members and guests return to the resorts as soon as the restrictions were lifted.
How long was it before you could get all the parameters in place to start welcoming guests safely? Are the staff members now fully trained/vaccinated?
With ease of restrictions across the country, we saw people travelling again with their friends and family. They chose offbeat, non-congested tourist destinations at drivable distances in the safety of their own vehicles and with 80% of our resorts at drivable distances, there is no one that covers India like we do.
We also adjusted to the new normal with our key staff (we call them Champs!) staying back in the resorts away from their families to ensure that the resorts were maintained in pristine condition.
As our country started to emerge steadily from the lockdown, we evolved our resort experience to prioritise the safety and well-being of our members, while ensuring that we exude the same warmth and deliver our signature ‘Club Mahindra’ experiences. Our initiatives like Club Mahindra ‘SafeStay’ program and ‘Travel With Confidence’, ensuring highest standard of safety and hygiene at our resorts, continue to instil confidence amongst our members and guests. We also partnered with Bureau Veritas (BV), the global leader in testing and inspection, which certified all our resorts with the highest level of certification in safety and hygiene standards.
Today, with mass vaccination gaining momentum, we have also vaccinated our frontline staff with first jabs.
As per reports and social media posts, the perception is that there is a major exodus from the lockdown cities to destinations like Shimla. Has this trend been fruitful for your property? When did the tourists start arriving? How long do they generally stay?
Travellers prefer trusted brands like Club Mahindra as their vacation partners. In Q1FY22, we recorded 68.63% occupancy in Himachal Pradesh. Despite such prevailing uncertainties and restrictions across the country, we have seen a positive response towards our offering. We are seeing an increase in the average stay our members at our resorts to 3.1 room nights per stay.
Usually, it is the summer months that people rush to hill stations. How much of that has been different this summer? Were there more off-season tourists?
There are many new and emerging consumer trends that are being seen today. As leisure destinations lead recovery, there are many youths relocating and setting up work from home offices in leisure locations. Travellers are looking for personalized and unique vacation experiences close to local communities in niche locations. Travel restrictions have facilitated the rise of staycations, adventure led trips and solo travelling. Our rising occupancies is a result of the pent-up demand and desire amongst people to travel.
Have you created a bio-bubble for the staff, to stay on the property? How do you ensure protection of your staff?
The safety of our staff is our topmost priority. Our strict SOPs and measures ensure the highest level of safety for all the individuals at our resorts. In addition to vaccinating our frontline staff, we ensure they are ready to serve with personal protective equipment gears. We also ensure regular RT-PCR tests, thermal scans and body temperature checks.
Are you offering any packages or incentives for tourists seeking long stays?
We keep running offers for our members which they can avail to best suit their requirements.
Many homestays and B&Bs were open in the state even while hotels were shut during the pandemic. Do you feel they have benefited because of this, and have even proved to be somewhat of a threat/competition to hotels like yours?
Mahindra Holidays is extremely different from a traditional business module. We are the largest vacation ownership company outside of the US. We enjoy a large base of loyal and committed members. We are part of The Mahindra Group, a trusted brand and a market leader. Most importantly, we are a preferred as well as a trusted choice for unparalleled family vacationing experiences.
