"Baikal Residence" is a year-round resort, which is located in natural recreation in the North of Baikal in Taiga on the high bank of the Baikal Range. The hotel is a finalist in the category "Ethno-Hotel of the Year" of the Russian Hospitality Award 2014. General Manager of the hotel, Andrey Rodionov, shared his impressions of the award ceremony, the development of the hospitality industry and the state of the hotel services market in general.
Andrey, first of all, let me thank you for meeting and participating in the Award on behalf of the entire Russian Hospitality Awards team. What are your general impressions of the Prize, what can you say about the methodology for evaluating the nominees for the Prize?
Andrey Rodionov: No one is familiar with the detailed methodology. For us, as workers in a slightly different industry, this is not so important. The details of your method are not so fundamental. More significant is the result that people get and, in terms of their professional vision of the market, perceive it or not.
Did you take the results like a professional?
Andrey Rodionov: If I literally answer your question, I generally perceived that the project is interesting, and the award ceremony and its results to some extent. If I won, I would, of course, speak to you differently. You did a good job, trust me. I have been to the World Luxury Hotel Awards for several months, you did better.
Thanks for your feedback. We want to rise one step higher, to grow further. This is a unique award, it has never been. We have heard words of gratitude from hoteliers who were delighted with the opportunity to communicate with colleagues from other regions, which are often difficult to reach. We were pleased that the hoteliers covered such distances, spent time, effort and got there. We would like to establish ourselves as the "Oscar for Hotels" in terms of the scale of the event and the reach of the audience
Andrey Rodionov: I am sure that you will succeed even better if in controversial nominations, where it is difficult to determine the winners by a statistical sample from booking systems, you show flexibility and ingenuity, for example, invite historians as experts to determine the value of historical hotels, folklore specialists, so that understand how important the participation of an ethno-hotel in the development of culture is, and so on.
We will definitely take into account your opinion. Speaking of nominations, we had an idea to introduce the “Best Hostel” nomination in the future. How would you feel about this?
Andrey Rodionov: This is the right nomination, Hostels are a rapidly developing area of the hotel business. A unique subspecies of places of residence that makes travel accessible, thanks to which young people develop and become more socially active.
In working with this category of accommodation facilities, I think your assessment method is correct, but I think it is worth paying more attention to working with social networks, since this is the most convenient form of expression for consumers of hostel services.
What is the primary goal of hotels when they apply for participation in the competition?
Andrey Rodionov: First of all, this is participation, any mention in ratings, competitions and competitions is already good, and competition in a circle of equals allows you to find additional customers and improve the attractiveness of the hotel. The opportunity to reach the finals or win is recognized by the market and helps in self-improvement and setting benchmarks in the development of the industry.
Usually the general manager of the hotel makes the decision about participation in awards, exhibitions, forums. Is it true that the people holding this position are all special - kind, smiling, sociable, are friends with everyone?
Andrey Rodionov: Do you know everyone?
With many
Andrey Rodionov: It seems to me that you simply do not have a wide enough sample, there are very different people with different methods and methods of management, although you are right the situation is a little better than in society as a whole.
Are you yourself strict with your subordinates?
Andrey Rodionov: Rather fair.
While in a hotel, sometimes you notice such moments: at the sight of the chief executive officer, the personnel line up at attention and freeze. Does that make the service awesome?
Andrey Rodionov: This is not the goal itself, every leader strives to make sure that the staff does not freeze, but, on the contrary, revives and turns all their attention not only to the leader, but to the guests, so what you saw is probably nothing more than a stage in development staff.
Does the carrot-and-stick method always work?
Andrey Rodionov: In working with personnel providing services, knowledge and discipline are of course important, to maintain which the method you specified is required, but a really worthwhile service can only be provided by sincere and service-oriented people who know how to keep their emotions under control, and in order to to create and develop it, the carrot and stick method alone is not enough. Sometimes you need help, sometimes you need to give a hint, and it is extremely rare to force employees to be welcoming, focused on others, erudite and proactive.
Regarding the internal communication system in the hotel, why in the Russian hotel practice often the personnel allow themselves not to return the things they left behind, to be rude, to pay insufficient attention to customer service?
Andrey Rodionov: Probably, this is a consequence of the superficial attitude of the management to their work, I am talking now about the main work and the mission of the manager, to create service, comfort and anticipate the wishes of the guests. Indeed, in fact, this is what distinguishes bad establishments from good ones, and I am sure that with the development of the market and increased competition, such cases will occur less and less often.
What efforts do hoteliers need to make to avoid this?
Andrey Rodionov: You need to work on your services and be in touch with your guests. There is a banal rule: a satisfied client brings two, an unsatisfied one takes six. If you have succeeded in your work, then there is nothing to fear, neither the crisis nor the market conditions will drown your business. But if you observe a decrease in the guest flow, then the first reason for this is that your service and even the technical condition and external factors are secondary, you cannot approach the guest impersonally, as sometimes they do in various authorities or administrations, you need to strive to open it in order to make a guest if not happy, then at least satisfied. So far, unfortunately, not many have reached this understanding.
What can contribute to changing this?
Andrey Rodionov: We are with you as consumers. I am sure that natural selection will determine the best on the market, that the requirements for service, for services will only grow, and along with them the industry will improve and self-purify.
What is the best hotel in Russia?
Andrey Rodionov: As a mantra, I repeat this every day to myself and to the staff, the best hotel in Russia is us. Of course, there are many excellent hotels that are the best according to one criterion or another, there are those from which we learn and try to become better than them. But I think you will give an objective answer to this question.
With the growth of the competitiveness of hotels in the domestic market of Russian tourism and the development of the industry as a whole, there are changes in the quality of service for the better. However, the service in Europe is significantly different from the domestic one. Will Russia grow to the international level, or can it even outgrow?
Andrey Rodionov: The current economic and political situation creates a huge potential for the hotel industry, who will use it for sure will outgrow the international level, the only question is how long it will take.
I propose to conclude our discussion with a philosophical question. This year, International Tourism Day has introduced the following motto: “Billion Tourists - Billion Opportunities”. What does this expression mean to you?
Andrey Rodionov: I practically revealed this idea. I believe in the prospects of the hotel industry, I am sure that an increase in market volume will turn quantity into quality, that every hotelier will be able to take advantage of this opportunity, and make our business lively and interesting. I believe that each of our guests is an opportunity to make service, service and business better, and soon our guests and opportunities will be even more than a billion.
