No pick-&-choose in discounts, MD tells CITCO staff
Dushyant Singh Pundir
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 8
Taking exception to Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO) officials arbitrarily offering discounts on a case-to-case basis on hotels, Yashpal Garg, Managing Director, CITCO, has stated that the discounts should be based on an objective criteria instead of a pick-and-choose method.
“An objective criteria based on the need of the business may be worked out and after getting it approved, it should be displayed at the hotels and widely publicised for better business prospects,” he said.
He said during a discussion with the CGM, GM and the DGM yesterday, it was informed that a discount of up to 25 per cent was being extended at the level of the GM/DGM of the hotel, up to 35 per cent at the level of the CGM and more than 35 per cent at the level of the MD on a case-to-case basis.
He observed that in every case, discounts up to 15 to 20 per cent were being allowed to almost all walk-in customers by the front desk staff. “Though almost all walk-in customers are allowed discounts by the front desk after bargaining, we are hesitant to extend such discount to all customers without bargaining,” he said.
“Some of us don’t even know the basic business strategy where the breakeven point is decided on the basis of variable cost, not the total cost. Those who don’t understand this basic business mechanism are not doing justice to their job and contributing to the losses of CITCO, he said, adding that the GM/DGM managing a better occupancy by extending liberal discounts were more efficient than those having lesser occupancy because of a conservative approach in extending discounts.
“CITCO being a commercial organisation, there is need for having flexibility in its functioning and offering discounts/incentives to increase its business prospects,” he said.
