The Hospitality Industry and its present scenario amid Covid-19 Pandemic in India

The hospitality industry is among the oldest commercial activities in the world. It is, in fact, an integral

part of the larger business enterprise known as travel and tourism, which provides a wide range of travel-related

services, such as modes of travel, accommodation, food and drinks, recreational activities, and other facilities

required by the modern-age traveler. Hospitality seems to be a glamorous industry, but not many know that a

tremendous amount of hard work goes behind the sheen and glitter that meets the eye. Catering to all needs of travel-related activity; the hospitality sector is estimated to be a US $3.5 Trillion industry in the world economy today.

Hospitality refers to the relationship between a guest and a host, and it also refers to the act or practice of being

hospitable. It includes cordial reception and entertainment for guests, visitors, or strangers. Hospitality is also

known as the act of generously providing care and kindness to whoever is in need. The hospitality industry is an

umbrella term for a broad variety of service industries, including, but not limited to, hotels, restaurants, casinos,

catering enterprises, resorts, and clubs. The industry is very diverse and global and is generally impacted by

fluctuations within the economy as also by various happening across the world. If we are analyzed the present

scenario of the hotel industry, we can say that now it is hugely impacted affected by amid covid-19. Covid-19 has

affected every sector across the globe and the hotel industry is among the hardest hit. Our research suggests that

recovery to pre-covid-19 levels could take until 2024- or later. Covid-19 outbreaks have presented unprecedented

circumstances for the fragile tourism and hospitality industry. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, the world's

economy was shut down almost overnight (UNWTO, 2020). The pandemic has confronted the hospitality industry

with an unprecedented challenge. Strategies to flatten the covid-19 curve such as community lockdowns, social

distancing, stay-at-home orders, travel, and mobility restrictions have resulted in the temporary closure of many

hospitality businesses and significantly decreased the demand for businesses that were allowed to continue to operate.

Almost all restaurants were asked to limit their operations to only take-outs. Restrictions placed on travel and stay-at-home orders issued by the authorities led to a sharp decline in hotel occupancies and revenue. However, the reopening

process has slowly begun and authorities have started to ease restrictions, for example, allowing dine-in restaurants

to reopen at a reduced capacity with strict social distancing guidelines and gradually reducing restrictions on

domestic and international travels. The major implications of the study are in the form of determined themes adding

to the evolving theory on covid-19 pandemic and the hospitality industry; the managerial recommendation to address

a host of issues while taking essential learning stemming from the current circumstances. Limitations and scope of

future research are also discussed.

Introduction

Hospitality can be defined as a deliberate, planned, and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and the public i.e. the business of making and keeping friends and promoting an atmosphere of better understanding the word hospitality is derived from the Latin word ― Hospitalities. Reception, welcome, and in general the treatment of guests or a stranger in the friendliest manner is hospitality. In most countries all over the world, the guest is received with a great amount of courtesy, and 22 warmth is provided with entertainment. The basic concept of hospitality is to make the guest feels that they

are always welcome. Although the basic concept of hospitality has remained the same with the passage of time and the development of technology and science, the need and wants of travelers have changed greatly thus providing numerous services and facilities in terms of accommodation and other basic needs such as food and beverages. Simply put, the hospitality industry is the combination of the accommodation and food and beverage groupings, collectively making up the largest segment of the industry. The hospitality industry is part of a larger enterprise known as the travel and tourism industry. The travel and tourism industry is a vast group of businesses with one goal in common: providing necessary or desired services to travelers. Advances in

transportation enabled more people to travel greater distances at less cost spreading tourism across the globe. From modest origins, hospitality and tourism rose to become two of the largest worldwide industries. The origin and growth of the hospitality industry are direct the outcome of travel and tourism. Warriors or traders were the early travelers but they did not have hotels to

accommodate them. The warriors used tents but the merchants seeking to trade tools, clothing, and livestock, traded merchandise for lodging. The inns offered little more than a cot or a bench in the corner of a room or a stable which were unhygienic too. Most of them were private residences of the local residents that offered temporary residence or lodging to strangers run by husband and wife team who provided large halls to travelers where they were supposed to make their own bed and sleep on the floor guests used to stay in large communal rooms where sanitation and privacy were non-existent. After the establishment of money in 6th

century BC, in keeping was one of the first commercials enterprises, and hospitality was one of the first services for which money was exchanged Throughout the world they were known by different names such as Dharamshalas and Sarai in India, ryokans in Japan, para dors in Spain, pousadas in Portugal, a coffee houses in America, taverns and inns in Europe, cabarets and hostelries in France, mansions, and hospitals in Switzerland, paternal in Greece, and a relay house in China. In the third century AD, Roman Empire developed an extensive system of brick-paved roads throughout Europe and Asia minor. Small roadside lodges were constructed due to an increase in road transport. During the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s, the word hospitality is derived from the Latin word ― Hospitalities. Reception, welcome, and in general the treatment of guests or a stranger in the friendliest manner

is hospitality. In most countries all over the world, the guest is received with a great amount of courtesy and Europeans began to combine food and beverage service with lodging. No attention was given to sanitation and beds as well as rooms had to be shared with other travelers. These early European inns were unsuitable for aristocrats. To accommodate wealthy travelers, luxurious structures were erected. These offered private rooms, individual sanitation, and all comforts of a European castle. These elegant new establishments later adopted the French name for the mansion, hotel'. The rates they charged were very high and well beyond the means of common citizens. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, it has become difficult for health practitioners to deal with it. A worldwide recession, economic downturns, and a decline in returns of the industries are just some of, the consequences of this global emergency. The increasing number of cases has created panic, stress, and nervousness among the masses around the world.

People had to encounter psychological issues, panic attacks, anxiety, and understanding that there is no known cure for this disease. The steps taken by the government to counter the fear of COVID-19 include awareness about the disease information about the precautionary measures and lockdowns. However, the psychological aspects directly related to the people's mental health were ignored by the authorities. Researchers such as Gallie illustrated that this disease adversely impacts the mental health of people, leading to anxiety and depression. Given the uncertainty of COVID-19, the current study investigated the potential effect of fear of economic crisis and unemployability on the mental health of the employees of, the hospitality industry.

Objectives

Upon completion of this program, we will be able to understand:

· To analyze the origin and growth of Hospitality

Industry in India

· To analyze the investment trends and

hospitality development patterns.

· To understand the Economic and Mental fear

due to covid-19's bad effects.

· To understand the Covid-19 impact on Indian

Hotel's work procedure

· To Identify the steps for improvement of

hospitality industry amid Covid-19

Literature Review

Ambardar A. (2013) Training is found to be one of the most significant human resource practices in any industry. The implementation of these practices in a proper manner decides the overall performance of any organization. Trained employees are more likely to take pride in organizational achievements; believe in the goals; be committed to their organizations and the value of the organization and, therefore, exhibit higher levels of performance. Hence, the hotel organization has to endorse the training of its workforce to broaden their knowledge and skills re-orient their culture and values, and encourage individuals to become idea champions. Batra M. (2014), Service bonding, Service timeliness, Service availability, and Service communication are not showing good results though these factors are equally important parameters of service quality. All the parameters especially service bonding should be looked upon very seriously. Thus all the concerned hotels must try to improve on these fronts. It is ironic that all the hotels under study are five-star and in spite of charging high prices for the services, they are performing

miserably on Service Customization, Service Inclination, and Service recovery parameters. Bhatia A. (2013) the ministry of tourism can analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the Indian tourism industry and also explore the favorable opportunities coming its way and minimize the effects of threats posed so that Indian the tourism industry can be benefitted from it. As the world

tourism organization highlights have also revealed in their study that there will be a shift in the global trend of foreign tourist arrival from advanced economies to emerging economies and India being a part of the latter should therefore be ready enough to grab the fruits of this opportunity coming it's my way. Begum S. (2013) In order for marketing India as a unique destination for medical and wellness tourism, primarily it is important to identify the macro and micro issues facing the industry. It is essential for the Central and State Tourism Boards to coordinate and collaborate on a set of international standards. It is the unanimous opinion of all the experts and facilitators interviewed that it is high time the authorities attached significance to this issue. Loopholes in the administrative system and process of tourism services demand immediate attention. Chowdhury B. (2013) Tourism can stimulate economic growth at local and national levels and promote the growth of agriculture, industry, and service sectors.

Tourism helps in the development of infrastructure through the construction of roads and tracks to different areas of tourist attraction. Tourism can generate financial resources for the conservation of the natural environment. Tourism can stimulate the development of the transport infrastructure which can stimulate access to and from different places. Ghai A. and Rizwan S.A.

(2013) The high pressure and overloaded working will affect the health conditions of the employees of this division due to stress built up. Recognition at all levels not only in place of work but in society is missing. Hospitality should launch a program where self-esteem and overall image in the eye of the internal environment and society, in general, should be improvised upon. Once these basic issues and barriers to motivation have been dealt with for the satisfaction of higher needs the studies are to be based on the effects of media reporting, outside perception, and family and leisure involvement in employee morale. Gupta N. (2013) In society tourism profession is regarded only as the job of travel agents and tour-guide, tourism profession is not valued in society and people working in the tourism industry were not getting respect. So awareness should be drawn in society bout the contribution of tourism to the national economy and its importance as a source of revenue generation. And tourism professionals should feel proud to be a part of one of the largest industries in the country. Jain D. (2013) Every destination country is trying to attract more tourists by drawing attention and growing the interest among potential tourists by adopting effective marketing strategies. Promotion is an important element of the marketing mix and plays a vital role in developing marketing strategies. Tourism is a field where tourists want to know in advance about the attractions and facilities of the destination. Marketers need to provide such necessary information to prospective tourists through different promotional measures and thus, try to motivate and

attract them to the sponsor's destination. Jaswal S. S. (2014) Tourism helps preserve several places which are of historical importance by declaring them as heritage sites. For instance, the Taj Mahal, the Qutab Minar, Ajanta, and Ellora temples, etc. would have been decayed and destroyed had it not been for the efforts taken by Tourism Department to preserve them.

Likewise, tourism also helps in conserving the natural habitats of many endangered species. Jeganathan G. S. and Srinivasulu Y. (2014), Hotels are stepping away from the traditional bottom line which mostly concentrates on profit making. Most of the entities are following the triple bottom line approach of sustainable development which includes society and environmental contribution in addition to profit-making. Women empowerment, children's education, digital infrastructure program, and helping slum people are some of the milestones achieved by hospitality firms in the recent past. Green hotels, eco-friendly equipment, and renewable energy are the success of sustainable development. Naik A. and Jangir S. (2013) Tourism is a socio-cultural event for the traveler and the host, part of travels attraction is the opportunity to see different areas of the world and observe foreign cultures and way of life international travel brings the residents of urban industrial societies to less developed nations and culture. The contrast between residents and visitors under these circumstances is because of the difference in language, cultural values, economic development, and politics. Such differences are also observed in domestic tourism and this brings people of different backgrounds and lifestyles together and can lead to the conflict concerning land use and economic priorities in the destination areas. Pesonen J. (2012) Segmentation can be regarded as one of the cornerstones of marketing. In online marketing importance of social media has been growing. In this study, these two marketing aspects are combined by segmenting tourists according to the social media channels they use. Social media users are segmented into nine segments using a two-step cluster analysis. Also, a segment of social media nonusers is found. These ten segments differ from each other in what social media services they use as well as their online information and buying behavior and some socio- Ramachandran D. and Sundhararaman R. (2013) It is responsible for the promotion of India as a tourist destination, development of tourism Infrastructure and facilities in the country, and performing regulatory functions in the field of tourism. It has four regional offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai and a sub-regional office in Guhawati. The regional offices supervise the working of other tourist offices situated at different places throughout the country. Tourist offices are also located at various places abroad. Saraswathy R. and Premakumari P. (2014) Online tourism equips a tourist, tour operator, or travel agent for convenient exchanges using an electronic medium. Even in its introductory stage, Tourism Industry has largely benefited from online tourism in certain countries. It has led to electronic marketing popularly known as e-marketing or internet marketing. Online tourism is one such natural outcome of online marketing that boomed in the last two decades. The concept has gained much attention among modern business organizations. Thryambakam P. (2013) Community-based sustainable Rural tourism has been a valuable vehicle to bring the ultimate rural stakeholders in touch with the tourism sector to increase employment. To make this more meaningful, the sustenance issues must be discussed with the community before the start of the project and also Aggressive marketing of the destinations be taken up with the local and international Tour Operators. Both short-term and long-term planning, implementation, and monitoring are vital in avoiding damage to rural areas. Environmental management, local involvement, sound legislation, sustainable marketing, and realistic planning are crucial for the development of community-based sustainable rural tourism.

Research Method

Methodology is required to get the information related to the research work. Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In developing a research design, the researcher has to be guided by several factors such as the objectives of the study, the hypothesis to be tested, and the potentialities of the researchers. The basic purpose of research study is to survey is a widely used method of research and is used to develop information based on the potions and characteristics of the individual in a population. The researchers used various sources for the collection of secondary data: reports and publishes reports of various Government organisation data like Government of India, Ministry of Hospitality and Tourism Industry.

Hospitality SectorScenario a mid Covid - 19:

In India, the hospitality industry is evolving to the contemporary needs as they resume services after lockdown. The central and state Governments have issued standard operating procedures and the change is visible at the hotels, eateries and monuments. The security scan at entrances has thermal screening and sanitization added to the checks, the lobbies are being sanitized?more often and the staff is more cautious than before. Many services are turning contactless,?while there are many more that cannot be robotized for?now.?Amid?the?scenario,?those?in the sector may be required to acquire additional skills or even riskily for the safety procedures. The managers also have to??relearn to study the market trends, the finances would?need to be reworked to ensure that the 'safety protocols' do not make the visitors stay awkwardly expensive. There will still be things such as travel?restrictions and infection prevalence in the local city??that?would?stay?beyond?control or vision of the tourism and hospitality stakeholders. The sector thus must return to a 'new normal' with baby steps. The new beginning will have an increased emphasis on the local tourist, foreign visitors are likely to remain less for some more time. The local guests are more prone to go for short weekend stays and may return in a higher frequency, the Rajasthan Tourism department is already promoting 'short safe stay' at the popular getaway destinations. The effort has met with reasonable success as the number of such short term visitors has been increasing and up to 40 percent occupancy has been reported from tourist cities on the Indian Independence Day. Such package deals for weekend getaways will continue to attract visitors from nearby cities looking for a break from the day- to-day routine. Individual hotels/resorts or state departments may design similar packages to suit needs of the potential tourists. These visitors, local or foreign alike would prefer a destination where they can be assured of the safety standards. Increase in area per cover, partition per table outdoor seating, live cooking for guests to see every step of food production, use of digital menus, disposable crockery and cutlery napkins, drive through online food delivery and take outs are going to be the order of the day. For businesses travellers, city hotels may continue to be boarding and lodging places only this time with strict SOPs for Covid-19, however, leisure travel is going to be resort centric with a lot of open space. Among this may also be a class of those that might not be feeling explorative enough but are looking to spend some quality time with friends and family in a protective environment. The heritage and theme hotels and luxurious resorts may come as their first preference if provided with the set of other desired facilities.

The hospitality and tourism sector definitely has a lot on its platter of consideration. They aspire for a stimulus package from the government to help retain its lost glory. After all, the industry in India accounted for 8.1 percent of jobs and 9.2 percent of GDP in 2018. It has survived through the hiccups of global recession in 2007-9, the H1N1 pandemic of 2009-10 and??even??the??recent downtrends in the world economy. It even had displayed an uptrend in beginning of 2020 as in month of January it registered Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) including FTAs on e-Visa of 14,99,417 compared to 13,94,347 during January 2019, an increase of 7.5 percent as per official data of ministry of Tourism Government of India. The Indian hotel industry has taken a hit of over Rs 1.30 lakh crore in revenue for the fiscal year 2020-21 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) said on Sunday. "The Indian hotel industry's total revenue in FY2019-20 stood at Rs 1.82 lakh crore. As per our estimates, in FY2020-21, approximately 75 per cent of the industry's revenues got wiped off. That is more than Rs 1.30 lakh crore revenue hit," the FHRAI said in a statement.

However, even as much the government may like the industry to regain its lost volume and turnover, it has its own limitations. They might not be able to waive the travel and gathering restrictions as the industry might wish or even arrange funds to suffice for a stimulus package in accordance to the industry needs. Fear of The Economic Crisis The current study targeted the hospitality industry employees to analyze the effect of fear of economic crisis and non-employability on mental health through perceived job insecurity. It also explores the moderating role of fear of COVID-19 between fear of economic crisis, non-employability, and mental health of employees.

As uncertainty prevails on the future of the industry and millions employed in the services, few rays of hope emerge from promising news coming from abroad. Vaccines of many drug companies are now in final stages of development and by the end of the year several countries are expected to begin the vaccination program. World Travel and Tourism Council is also devising the new travel protocols in consultation with various stakeholders and travel industry associations as confidence building measures and to set clear expectations and compliances for travellers including 'Immunity Passport' for Tourists to confirm presence of Covid-19 Antibodies. The fact that almost 90 percent of the domestic hotels in China have resumed business and that the Wuhan province of the country, which reported the first outbreak of the virus is now returning to normal, is also an assurance of a better tomorrow for the industry. It is being assumed that by the winter season of 2021-22, business will be as usual for the Hospitality Industry in India. Once again there will be tourists arriving from all over the world to explore the mystic magnificence of India, its rich culture and grand heritage. The tourist would return but safety procedures are here to stay, the industry for now needs to display resilience and innovation along with its spirit to provide a safe and comfortable experience for the guest.

Conclusion

As Corona virus (COVID-19) continues to impact travel globally, it is important to observe industry forecasts and trends that will ultimately shape your recovery strategy as hotels begin to plan for the initial rebound in travel demand. According to a special forecast from STR and Tourism Economics, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the hotel industry is projected to report significant declines across demand, occupancy, ADR, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) in 2020. While travel has come to a virtual standstill due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the market is expected to regain its footing in the latter part of the year and next year. Overall, hotel should consider a three-point approach: While Travel is on Pause: While people are not travelling and many hotels are closed, hotels should stay connected with past and future guests through social, email, and editorial content that entertains and adds value to maintain a strong brand relationship.

Initial Rise in Travel Demand: Ramp up marketing efforts focused on brand awareness and fueling new guests into the booking funnel with affordable CPCs and CPMs to reach people beginning to daydream about rebooking and planning vacations. Ensure a flexible cancellation policy and sensitive messaging relevant to the situation .

Travel Demand Strengthens:

Continue marketing??to efforts?shifting?focus to lower-funnel intent as well as?targeting the right demographics and feeder markets?with the right messaging and packages. As closing thoughts, I would like to quote Andy?Grove, founder of Intel, who said in 1994: “bad companies are destroyed by a crisis, good companies survive the crisis; but great companies are defined by

a crisis”. Make sure your hotel is part of the latter.

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Author & Written By

Ms. Alakananda Palit

Leturer in Front Office

Swosti Institute of Management & Social Studies

Haridamada, Jatni, Odisha 752050