Parveen Chander, Area Director, Taj Hotels, on Thursday said that among other things like fogging every couple of hours, sanitizing each touchpoint every 45 minutes and giving PPE kits for guests and staff, Taj will also do away with the lavish buffets, it is famous for.
Chander further said IHCL is learning and implementing things every day. “It’s not like we have got it all right because nobody had predicted such a situation. Of course, we are extremely sad to do this, however, we have to do this in order to make sure the touchpoints are reduced.”
Among other measures at the restaurants, Taj Hotels will probably have to slash the menus, too. To comply with the norms, it has also reduced the seating capacity at restaurants by 50 percent, he said.
IHCL used the lockdown time to virtually train its staff. “We have had multiple sessions with all our staff to make them understand the severity of this situation, and what it means to take care of themselves, and our guests.”
Currently, the occupancy in the hotels may be lower than usual. Alongside, transporting the hotel staff to and from their homes every day was also a risk factor. In order to cut down on that, too Taj had an innovative idea.
“70-80 percent of the staff was staying at the hotel itself. Of course, as and when the ‘unlock’ is happening, and as the situation at certain locations permits, this number is reducing.”
To make sure that each person that enters the premise is not COVID positive, there are multiple checkpoints, where the guest is checked with handheld thermometers and offered sanitizers. “If the guests are picked up by us from the airport, we go into the detail of sanitizing the bags, and offering PPE kits to our guests.”
Mobile app
IHCL also announced the launch of Qmin, a mobile app. It is a repertoire of culinary experiences commencing with delivering dishes from its restaurants to the customer’s homes in the first phase of the Qmin launch.
“Guests can order from eight iconic and celebrated restaurants in Mumbai like Golden Dragon and Souk from Taj Mahal Palace; Thai Pavilion and Trattoria from President; and Ming Yang from Taj Lands’ End, to name a few,” IHCL said in a statement. The launch will cover the top ten markets in India, including Delhi, Chennai, and Bengaluru, over a period of five weeks.
This article first appeared on Business Line.
