Role of Hospitality Sector in Enhancing Guest Experience during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Hospitality is the topmost demanding industry all over the world, and there is huge competition. Therefore, satisfaction of the guests is of utmost importance for this industry to attract them to their hotels. Due to the pandemic, people are not feeling safe so are avoiding traveling to different places. They are searching for a place where they feel safe as they are looking for virus-free accommodation. Majority of them would prefer to stay at a hotel that provides proper facilities to make their guests happy. The hospitality sector is best known for its focus on quality, service, and customer satisfaction. So, in the COVID times, the pressure among the hospitality staff has increased to an extent to maintain guest satisfaction. However, the industry is primarily dependent upon travellers, therefore, the hoteliers and property managers are now planning different ways in which they can gain their customer's trust and make them visit their place. They are taking into consideration all precautionary measures and keep thinking about new ideas to attract their customers. This motivated the researchers to find out the impact of COVID 19 on the Hospitality Industry and assess the role of Hospitality Sector in enhancing Guest experience. A descriptive research design was used for conducting the present study. The study was carried out in the Vadodara District of Gujarat State. The sample comprised 30 hoteliers and managers. The tool for collecting data was a Questionnaire and was collected through Google form. Questions comprised of the Background information and how the hospitality sector is dealing with this COVID situation to enhance their guest’s experience. The results revealed that the hospitality sector is playing a very important role in enhancing customer’s experience of their hotel. They are providing various facilities related to cleanliness and sanitization, maintaining social distancing and they at the same time keep on thinking about various innovative ideas and practices that they can provide to their guests such as improving their online review system, adding their brand photos, and videos and keep on updating their websites frequently, etc. They are also working on increasing the advertisement of their business and are more active on social media sites. As the hospitality industry already suffered from a very big loss, now it has become a great challenge for them to deal with this situation. Analysis of data was done based on the data received.