‘Do It On Your Own’

‘Do it own your own’ is Sandeep Mukherjee’s, general manager at the Taj Manjarun, Mangalore, solution to revive business suffering due to improper branding and marketing of the country. He speaks to Lakshman V

EH&C: The tourism and hospitality sectors in this part of Karnataka have not lived up to expectation. What are your views?

SANDEEP MUKHERJEE: I could not agree with the statement more. However, the expectations of not having lived up are not because of what we do not have, but more as a result of what has not be showcased to the outside world. We have kept aspiring leisure travellers ignorant about the inherent strengths of our region. Holding on to all the strengths of the destination and not showcasing them to the outer world will really not benefit any tourism entity.

The present scenario has compelled the industry to find innovative methods to bolster tourist traffic and business. Comment.

Today, a hospitality professional needs to act as a tourism commissioner or the managing director of the state tourism wherever they are. Since some states (very few in number) have done some commendable creative work which is paying rich dividends, it might be a good idea to look towards them and emulate their best practices. Further in a position where Mangalore is today, it calls for greater introspection of the inner soul of hospitality professionals. A destination so beautiful as this and no promotion whatsoever. So if this is the position, what should hospitality professionals do. One solution is to take up the cudgels of destination marketing on your own and sell the place to source markets and segments yourself. This is both a costly and time consuming affair.

How important do you feel is branding and market positioning to your property?

Since we are focused on the middle and upper segments, our performance is very satisfactory. We are positioned to outperform regional competition for the last two years mainly due to our branding and market positioning exercises. We realised that for a brand to succeed, it should be easy to identify the product and the services as well as perceived as the best value for money. Specific product positioning of price and features coupled with the property’s positioning for discerning conferencing and business travellers has worked to our advantage today. We are also looking at the leisure market as well as the religious market. However, it is still some time away. This apart, we have rationalised tariffs to come up with attractive corporate and leisure packages. This is a route we will take again in the future.

What kind of marketing activities have you undertaken recently?

We carried out a series of marketing blitzes in source markets such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore and strategic towns in Gujarat. These were quite in the form of destination promotions. Also, we have taken up partnership initiatives to sell packages with travel agents and corporate bigwigs thus effecting a five to seven per cent increase in occupancy levels in the last three months alone. We hope to achieve a growth rate of 10-15 per cent in the next one year.