Meet a leading star in the hospitality industry. Pride of Britain’s Kalindi Juneja discusses the ‘virtual lobby’, creating the finest life moments and looks to her priorities for the year ahead.
What career advice would you give your 18 year old self?
Listen and ask questions as you are always learning. Be grateful for every opportunity and especially say yes to things that might scare you. Always stay humble and treat everyone with respect.
What's the best thing about the Hospitality industry?
The best and most memorable times of our lives are when we are relaxed and enjoying the company of friends and family, often in a hospitality setting. This is priceless - we are in the business of creating the finest life moments. Just one of the wonders of our fabulous industry!
What's your favourite hotel to stay in?
That’s a trick question :)
What's the most important feature of a hotel website in your opinion?
The ease and speed of the user experience. Creative text, innovative features and fabulous photography are all great but in vain without the user finding the site responsive and easy to navigate across platforms.
What's the future of the hotel booking process?
For our hotels we can already see that their own website is the principal platforms for hotel bookings. Guests want to get a sense of the hotel through the “virtual lobby”; often the first opportunity to capture your guest. The hotel website booking process should therefore represent the same quality of service/ guest experience you want to deliver when they physically arrive at the hotel.
What future hotel technology excites you?
Virtual reality! There used to be a nervous suspense around hotel bookings and then hoping for the best when booking online in the past. In recent years, guests were reliant on guest reviews and ratings, but with the innovation in VR, guests should be able to immerse in the expected experience.
What are your top 3 priorities for the next 12 months?
Presenting our new brand identity successfully, launching the new website and unveiling a new direction for social media and email marketing.