BUFFETS will return.
That’s the prediction of hospitality industry veteran Bruce Winton, when asked at a recent webinar what changes in hotel operations will remain or expire as soon as the pandemic is over.
“[The] buffet will come raging back, I can assure you this, especially in our market. I think you’ll see these managed buffets and modified buffets going away and the big Smorgasbord just coming back…and that’s what the consumer really wants,” said Winton, Multi-Property Vice President for Marriott International Philippines.
He added, events will also return, but maybe on a smaller scale.
“It will be a long time before people want to gather with 2,000 other people potentially in an indoor food and beverage event or venue.”
What will remain will be the digital innovations undertaken by the hotels and “and some of the partnerships that have sprung up [with] third-party logistics companies (i.e., food deliveries) as there’s a lot of win-wins there…. But I do think the traditional hotel/resort experience will come back very similarly to what it did before, with just an escalated focus on health and safety.”
Winston spoke at the recent Hotel Outlook webinar hosted by property developer Santos Knight Frank and the British Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines.
Remaining in touch with clients
IN the same event, Megaworld Hotels Group General Manager Cleofe Albiso said their hotels are ready to spring to action when less restrictive quarantine statuses are announced by the government.
“We have tried to survive given the programs that we keep on preparing that in case we are on GCQ (general community quarantine), this is what we’re going to implement. If the government allows us to operate our restaurants, and food outlets with 30-percent capacity, and then all these are just going to be prepared and switched on in case we have the go-signal to do it.”
Looking at a six- to 12-month time frame, she said, “We’re going to take it in paces…. We have tried to stay in touch with our clients—it is very pertinent now that we proactively inform our guests of…travel restrictions [and] travel requirements, or antigen testing. We have our social media platforms, to keep them informed. And we also make sure that we remain flexible. There’s so much fluidity in the rebooking options, especially in the changing classifications of the quarantine.”
Malacañang recently announced it will put Metro Manila under GCQ starting September 16 and pilot-test a new four-level alert system for localized lockdowns.
WTTC forum rescheduled
ALBISO also expressed confidence that the inclusion of Richmonde Hotel in Iloilo will help boost the palatability of their parent firm’s Real Estate Investment Trust (MREIT).
“The structure where the hotel is, is a mixed-use structure, where part of it is occupied by office spaces, leased by our BPOs (business process outsourcing offices), and half of it is our hotel facility, Although our contribution may not be major to the total aggregate leasable area that the MREIT is offering…this definitely will help boost of the Philippine economy, there will definitely be more projects in the future, and of course, that means jobs for the Filipinos.”
MREIT Inc. recently announced it trimmed the size and price of its initial public offering to just 844.3 million common shares at P16.10 each, from its initial plan of 1.1 billion shares at P22 per share. Megaworld had earlier touted the IPO to be the largest in Southeast Asia.
Meanwhile, Tourism Undersecretary Verna Esmeralda Buensuceso said the World Travel and Tourism Council general assembly to be hosted by the Philippines will likely be moved to the first quarter in 2022.
“We would like to make sure that international borders are a bit more easy to navigate so that we get to have more people coming in because we’re expecting about 650 delegates on ground and about 30,000 more who will be participating in the digital platform,” she said.