John Dopere, General Manager, Samujana, Thailand spoke on a range of topics in an interaction with Travel Trade Insider. Following are the excerpts from the interaction.
Q. How has Covid 19 pandemic hit international business of your property? When are you expecting a recovery in international business?
A. We have been hit like all hotels tremendously. In terms of international business we had a long stay guest from Switzerland who ended up with us for three months and a corporate group who decided to relocated their office here and took three villas so we were extremely lucky. Aside from that, our market has been mainly Thai guests and we have seen a notable increase with this market which is great.
Q. As there is no scheduled international flights from India to Thailand at present, what kind of demand are you expecting from the Indian market in the days to come?
A. In the days to come very little but I think once the flights open and Indians can travel freely to Thailand again I’m sure there will be little hesitation.
Q. How has the pandemic impacted your distribution channel strategy? Do you expect more direct bookings in the future when the demand is back on track?
A. Ninety percent of our business is direct currently and we do expect this trend to continue. But we value the relationships we have with our partners so we will always wish to continue to build and grow these special relationships in the near future.
Q. What makes your property different from others?
A. We are a villa estate with almost all of the infrastructure you would expect from a hotel. The only difference is all your experiences are shared with your family, privately and not in a public place. This will be significant as everyone’s behavior patterns have changed since more recent times.
Q. Are there some Indian specific marketing plans you have in the pipeline?
A. We want to come and visit at the nearest opportunity so we can see our existing customers and spend time with some new ones. Its important for us to support each other and give the tools that make it easier to work. Coupled with this we will have some great promotions coming out targeting the Indian market.
Q. What measures have you adopted for the safety of your guests in the present pandemic world?
A. Temperature Checks
Samujana checks the temperature of all staff, and guests checking in or entering the resort.
Masks and hand sanitizer
Samujana provides masks and hand sanitizer for self service use for all our guests (including in all villas and in the private villa common areas). Masks are mandatory for Samujana employees, and our staff also wear gloves when servicing the villas.
Health and Hygiene Manager
Samujana is committed to the cleanliness and safety of our guests and our employees. We have appointed a new Health And Hygiene Manager role, responsible for the implementation of and ongoing execution of our cleanliness commitment.
Social Distancing
A term that we all have become familiar with in the wake of the global pandemic, and governments all over the world have looked to quickly implement social distancing strategies.
At Samujana, social distancing is nothing new, but they are now enforcing stricter policies that include a contactless service by utilising Portier Phones, the property’s guests have always benefited from the notion of “so far but yet so close” via Portier Technologies’ ability to boost contactless service.
In that sense, guests can always stay in touch with their villa hosts, and can call them, chat with them and request help or access to on-site services from a single place. This ensures a strong connection between staff and guests, without the need for physical proximity.