“People still consider the hospitality industry inferior to others or some reasons unknown and this should definitely change.”

— Santosh Kumar Sinha

Introduction: Santosh Kumar Sinha was born and brought up at Bokaro Steel City, Jharkhand. He completed his 10th & 12th from BSL School & College, Bokaro, Jharkhand. Post completing his School Education he decided to join Hotel Industry and joined IISM, Ranchi, and completed the 3 Years Diploma in Hotel Management. He started his professional journey with Ramee Group Of Hotels – Mumbai moving on to Sun-N-Sand Hotels – Mumbai and then flew to Ramee Group of Hotels – Bahrain. Post that he joined Club Mahindra – Goa . From there he went to Green Park Hotels – Chennai then to YUM India Int’l and Presently with Hycinth Hotels – Trivandrum. During his professional career, he has worked as a HOT, Captain, Night Club Manager, Restaurants Operation Manager, Assistant Food & Beverage Manager, Food & Beverage Manager, Hotel Manager to General Manager.

Editor: Tell us about your journey. How did it all start?

Well, After completion of the Hotel Management course I started my career as HOT with Ramee Group Of Hotels – Mumbai then to Sun-N-Sand Hotels – Mumbai then flew to Ramee Group of Hotels – Bahrain, then with Club Mahindra – Goa, Green Park Hotels – Chennai & YUM India Int’l. It’s been almost 19 years I have been part of the Hospitality Industry and feel proud of it.

Editor: What do you think it takes to succeed in this industry?

Passion to serve your guests and the love for your job is what has driven me to date and I think this is exactly what is required to succeed in this industry. The more you love your guests and your job, the more satisfied and successful you can be.

SUCCESS MANTRA:

Hard Work – No Short Cut To Success.

Positive Thinking – Everything Is Possible

Be Focused – Effort In Right Direction

Never Give Up – Think Big, Achieve Big

Work On Weakness – Keep Learning, No One Is Perfect

Editor: What are the attributes you look for while selecting or hiring? If someone wants to work with you, what should they do?

What I look for is if the candidate has the eagerness to learn and willingness to develop his knowledge at work. For experienced candidates, the number of years of service he/she has worked in their previous organizations is one factor that I look for.

What they must have is “Atithi Devo Bhava” – Attitude!

Editor: What is the single factor that got you your promotion?

It’s definitely the hard work that I had put in over the years along with my wonderful team.

Editor: What are some of the trends you see impacting the hospitality industry?

People have moved more towards online offers and booking platforms than say, 5 years before. People have become more cautious about the quality of services that they get for the amount they spend these days.

Editor: Tech is now an enabler for great hospitality. Can you share with us some of the technology that you use that helps in enhancing the guest experience?

As I mentioned before, people have become more techie and have got methods and ways to gauge the service quality of the hotels based on their spending power, locality of their choice, etc, all sitting in the comfort of their homes. We have a system in place in our hotel wherein any guests who have any concerns during their stay can alert us and the same will be escalated to the concerned department for them to rectify within a stipulated time frame based on the character of the complaint. In case the issue is not sorted out within the time frame given, an alert is sent to the head of the concerned department and the GM, and a solution is found for the concerns raised by the guests within a limited time frame. This has actually helped the quality of the stay of the guests and has helped us in arresting the issues that can arise in the future faster and much more efficiently.

Not forgetting our Social Media pages which are playing an important role to keep us alive and active during the pandemic. Hahaha….

Editor: Two things you would like to change in the Industry.

1. People still consider the hospitality industry inferior to others or some reasons unknown and this should definitely change.

2. “Dekho Apna Desh” I strongly feel that we should promote Domestic Tourism within our country to let Indians explore each and every corner of INDIA. It will be definitely a thrilling experience for every individual.