Wellness in Hospitality - Interview with Ashish Shome

“Wellness is in its nascent stage. It will develop, albeit slowly.” - Ashish Shome

One of the questions I like to ask hoteliers is how their perspective on the industry has changed in the wake of the global pandemic. Although experiences differ according to the market they are based in, almost all hoteliers say that there is an undeniable need for the industry to rethink how business is conducted. The pandemic has brought out a lot of character in people and every hotel has done its best under the circumstances. It’s been a huge learning curve for us all and this interview series is one way we can share ideas on how to secure the future of the industry.

I got a chance to speak with Ashish Shome, a highly experienced general manager based in India, about his views on the subject of wellness in hospitality and where he sees opportunity in the coming years. Ashish has worked in the hospitality industry for over the thirty years and his solid background in Food and Beverage gives us an interesting perspective on how wellness can be implemented throughout the entire hotel operation.

Interview Highlights:

1. The gradual impact of wellness on hospitality

It is clear that wellness has an important role to play in the future of hospitality - the awareness of and the demand for it is palpable. That said, wellness is still in its infancy, not only in India but in the rest of the world too. Hotels that offer wellness services usually do so through their spas, and unfortunately, only a handful of them have spa facilities that can measure up to the high global standards that discerning guests expect. Hence, this low percentage of high-quality wellness offerings means the impact is difficult to see and measure. It may take time for wellness to reach the trajectory where the impact is visible and measurable, but as long as there is an increasing number of hotels and institutions that do it right, the results will eventually speak for themselves.

2. Rebuilding guest trust

The new standards implemented in the industry owing to the pandemic have come at the cost of the traditional delivery of guest experiences. Hotels have had to decrease human contact in an effort to remain compliant to the stringent health and safety norms. Consequently, the guest experience has become cold and sterile with “distanced” interaction between hotel employees and guests. It is important to remember that the goal is to deliver a wonderful experience through all interactions. One way to do that would be to let the guest choose how they want services delivered during their stay, for example: the choice of alternate day room cleaning and contactless room service. It is also important to educate guests on the health and safety measures that are put in place so they feel safer and regain trust in the industry.

3. Collaboration between departments

Investing in wellness is a big question at the moment because hotels are in survival mode all around the world. The primary concern for most hoteliers is figuring out how they can bring back guests to the hotels, deliver customised experiences and make their stay worthwhile. Holistic wellness can provide the strong pull-factor that they need to give guests a memorable experience. Service delivery has to be reinvented and hotel GMs need to encourage collaboration between hotel departments to achieve this. Food & Beverage will play an important role to help tailor experiences by working with the wellness team. For example, pre-arrival connecting with guests to understand their wellness needs, customising their dietary requirements and planning delivery will be key to communicate brand promise and to grow business.

Wellness is a broad concept and should be a tool that hoteliers use to cater to the full wellbeing of their guests. It is also important to take note of how the decisions we make today can impact the industry and the environment in the future. The increased use of single-use plastics and other disposable ware is particularly worrying and is not helping the environment. My hope is that we find sustainable solutions that do not cancel out all the progress that has been made over the years but rather propels us to a brighter future.

Many thanks to Ashish for taking the time out to add his voice to this conversation and share his wealth of knowledge with us all.

Thank you to everyone who has been following this series and engaging in the constructive discussions in the comments section. If you are a hotel general manager, hotel owner or investor and you are interested in being part of my Wellness in Hospitality interview series, direct message me here on LinkedIn. Please note responses may take a couple of days due to increased interest to put wellness at the core of hospitality.