The hotel industry is one of the most affected industries by the COVID-19 pandemic, and is expected to be one of the last to recover. What makes it all the more difficult is all the touchpoints it has, changing how hotels have to do business.
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and hotel chain OYO have now developed an online training and certification course for the hospitality industry, which will redo sanitisation protocols to minimise contact, it said.
According to the two organisations, this will help hotels which are individual budget, mid-segment, boutique hotels and homestays to maintain and improve safety standards.
“The certification course will have a set of nine training modules built to help hotels and hospitality professionals implement key safety guidelines. These modules include hotel, staff, guest, front-office, F & B service, housekeeping, guest room cleaning and food production advisories. This will also include an advisory on how to handle suspected Covid or Covid-positive guests,” it said.
FICCI said that it will support with the IT infrastructure needed and the online delivery platform so that people can take this course, and provide a certificate, whereas OYO has designed the program.
Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & Group CEO of OYO Hotels & Homes said, “We have spent considerable time and effort in understanding the requirements of customers and hotels in a post-Covid world. The certification course will enable hospitality professionals and hotels across the country to determine new ways of working, fully understand local and central governments’ guidelines, align with best practices and reimagine operations in a manner that helps both customers and employees feel safe, secure and comfortable.”
FICCI General Secretary Dilip Chenoy said, “The hospitality industry in India has both thousands of unorganised and organised players who are vital contributors to both economic opportunities as well as local tourism. COVID-19 has forced changes in operating procedures for all kinds of businesses across the globe and the hospitality industry is no exception to it, hence any support to this large set of professionals and hotels will not only help them navigate the uncertainties better but also drive business and revitalise the tourism potential. This course has been designed to help develop a uniform set of self-regulating guidelines and create supporting mechanisms and frameworks for our industry so that they can benefit from systematic guidelines and sanitation protocols in the post-Covid world.”