The Hindu Business Line : `Hotels a barometer of city's economy'

"Hotels are the simple barometer of the happenings in the city and the state. If it overflows, then that means the state or the city is doing well in terms of attracting investors from across the globe. Also anything that happens in the city is related to us, whether it is bird flu, city strike or any other disturbance," said Mr Prabhat S. Verma, General Manager of Taj Coromandel, Chennai, to the young interns at Ernst & Young global tax advisory services.

"I joined this hotel service industry because I wanted to be in the limelight," said this young GM, who was recognised and awarded the `Young GM of the Year by Federation of Hotels and Restaurants India in 2005'.

`Only the best'

"But, only later did I realise that the challenges are too many and often very sensitive and therefore potentially alarming. The flowers in the room should be the best of flowers, the water must be of best quality, similarly generators, the car, the pad, the pen should be... the best. Remember your client will have a better car than what you have. What should you do to make Mr Anil Ambani or Mrs Godrej or the Australian Prime Minister say `wow!'"

He said, "If a guest says you are a good hotel, then it means that the guest is not satisfied." Guest is a God, and the guest is always right. A guest is only right when he is wrong and an angry guest is an angry guest forever. Mr Verma stressed the importance of learning the practices in various cultures.

"Once you become a GM, you do not know anything. What you learnt as a Management trainee is not relevant as a GM. You have to learn as a GM to perform in this job. We have learned a lot from the IT industry. Attrition in IT is due to pressure and tension whereas attrition in hotels is due to fatigue."

Mr P. Govindarajan, Associate Director, global tax advisory services, Ernst & Young Pvt Ltd was also present at this event organised by the Business Line Club.