South Strategy

Hard work: The way forward

A small family owned company, Uday Samudra Leisure Beach Hotel (UDS) has carved a niche for itself in the south market. Its corporate director Raja Gopaal Iyer speaks of opportunities and challenges in the business. By Sayoni Bhaduri

The year has been tough and everyone's been trying to make the most of it. Raja Gopaal Iyer corporate director of UDS agrees and says, "Though there were excellent enquires all those were not turned to business." The situation seems fine currently, but compared to last year, business has dropped by more than 28 per cent. Issues like elections, better rates in other destinations and high airfare costs have all made a difference.

It is not only Iyer who is faced with this situation, Kerala and the south as a region has suffered in a similar manner. He says that two years back things were good, but last year and this year has been quite difficult. The loss in business happened because of reduced airline crew stays, cancellation of international flights to Thiruvananthapuram and even cancellation of charter flights.

"Corporate travel has gone down by 30 per cent," says Iyer, and everyone is looking for negotiated rates. Even in MICE enquiries, conversions into real business seems distant and few and far between. "The few who wanted to come have changed their mind and plan to go to places like Kathmandu, Kullu Manali due to the heat wave in Kerala this year," he adds. The present ARR is around Rs 2,500 and the occupancy has been averaging between 45 and 48 per cent. But hope remains that in the coming months the scenario will improve.

The UDS way

In such difficult circumstances, hard work and innovation becomes imperative. Iyer gives importance to team effort. With no back-end and sales team, things are undoubtedly tough for him. "The strategy we followed was that every team had to put in their effort to get in business, including the front line team, office secretaries and reservations team. My front office manager often had to go to different cities in search of business." And business did start flowing in. UDS's international market mainly consists of UK followed by Australia, Canada, Russia, Germany and the Scandinavian countries. Domestically, "Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh have given us good business," he says. Tamil Nadu has also become one of their markets with guests coming primarily for medical reasons.

Iyer has also been visiting major cities to speak to agents, creating FAM trips for them. Apart from this, participation in government of Kerala's road-shows and creative sales through promoting spa and ayurveda are also part of his sales and marketing plan.

In terms of expansion, Iyer informs that they have grown from 45 rooms to 200 rooms in the last five years, with distinct changes in interiors and décor. There has also been addition in the restaurants and F&B outlets and the introduction of one of the largest bar cum discothèque in the area. UDS has also combined its spa, ayurveda and dental clinic to form a new brand - Blue Lotus. "The aim is to elevate the brand image from a leisure beach hotel to a complete wellness resort. We are also targeting the MICE as an important segment," he says.

With so many developments happening, revenue and expenditure play a key role in the functioning of a hotel. A candid Iyer says, "We have been slow in taking decisions on purchase related issues, but being an important part of business we are now giving it the first priority." The next decisions on season purchases will only happen in August or September. Elaborating on the weekly checks on various energy expenditures, Iyer says, "Electricity, fuel, water, linen usage, running of too many outlets, etc are a few things that we take clear measure of and make decisions with in every week's budget and expenditure check analysis," he says.

Though most of his purchasing takes place from the Mumbai office, local requirements such as fixtures and crockery are procured by the resorts from the best local suppliers to avoid any confusion in the customisation.

With so much dependence on his staff, Iyer is proud that he has been able maintain balance and extract efficiency. He says, "I do not believe in cutting down people. All my managers work for more than 14 hours per day. It clearly shows their involvement in work." A trend which is followed by the second line and supplemented by training and motivational activities.

The way ahead

Kerala has great potential which is yet to be tapped into, "One cannot miss states like Chhattisgarh and Uttaranchal, which are doing a great job for their region's tourism" believes Iyer.

According to Iyer, issues like exorbitant bar licenses, better infrastructure, and better connectivity to and from key cities in the country need immediate answers for a better future. "We have had great people working in the ministry who are full of positive energy but there are issues which need answers. We need to stand together and get things done and changing the thought process of people will be the only way to help the future of tourism in Kerala," he says.

Iyer's mantra for the future-" One has to understand the reasons for failure and act immediately. Innovation in business, new destinations, new facilities and comforts - all should come."