The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has almost drastically affected the major businesses of the country. The Indian hospitality industry is undoubtedly one of the biggest causalities of the COVID-19 outbreak. It has mainly affected the big players in the hotel industry segment. Some of the leading names in the Indian hospitality sector are exploring online food delivery amid the COVID outbreak. Hotels like ITC, Marriot, Hyatt, and Hilton have started delivering their services across the major cities. This makes it easier for their customers to attain the service which they liked the most, in their doorstep.
Therefore, the star hotels are now opting for delivery partners to offer their dining options to its customers in the comfort of their home to sustain the COVID-19 pandemic situation. ITC Hotels has partnered with Swiggy to enable no contact deliveries to its customers on all pre-paid orders which involve a delivery partner leaving the food at the doorstep rather than an in-person exchange.
ITC also ensures safety measures and protocols including mandatory temperature checks for all chefs and food and beverage associates. ITC has also arranged a special take-out counter equipped with hand sanitizers and thermometers to assess the health parameters of local delivery food partners. The services will be provided in almost all the major cities of the country.
Apart from ITC, Marriott International has also announced the “Marriott on wheels’’ delivery service initiative through an agreement with Swiggy. Over 20 Hotels in Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Delhi, Chennai, Agra, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, and Coimbatore have started this service. Marriott also partners with Zomato for its delivery services.
Hilton has also partnered with food aggregators Zomato and Swiggy for home delivery of its dishes to Customers. Hilton has announced food delivery on select food items through Zomato and Swiggy from its six properties in Bengaluru, Pune, Gurugram, Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai.
Similarly, Hyatt hotels also partnered with Zomato and Swiggy for delivery online. The Hotels are also running a training program for precautions to be taken by hospitality professionals and establishments during the post lockdown period around receiving raw materials, guest service, lobby management, and room maintenance. The idea behind initiating this training program is to have at least one senior staff thoroughly trained in safety, security, and hygiene of an establishment. So that once the lockdown is lifted the training staff will be in a position to impart knowledge to fellow staff in each section.
