Supriya Rane, Executive Director – La Cabana

Supriya Rane lives by the values-Lead by example. She is a personality who manoeuvres the most Exotic wedding destination for dream weddings in Goa –La Cabana. A professional with a breadth of experience in legal, finance, customer service & hospitality in Australia and India she possesses strong business acumen, interpersonal, creative problem solving and leadership skills. She joined her husband in the hotel and travel business which was then in the formative process and has grown since the past five years.

For Supriya Rane, “Success is the progressive realisation of goals”. It demands a lot of dedication, commitment and long hours of work. She summarises it as a sum total of small efforts repeated day in and day out and doing what it takes.

La Cabana, a very secluded hideaway in North Goa provides five star personalised service tastefully designed for the guests to relax, unwind and make beautiful memories with their families and friends. In her opinion their informal beach resort gives a 180 degrees view of the Arabian Sea and direct access to the clean beach. Palasha multi cuisine restaurant has an amazing sea view,  provides delectable food & plays a vital role in enhancing guest’s satisfaction.

She feels that it has become imperative to provide customer satisfaction to the extent where guests are delighted and loyal in the future, This affects the financial health of the hotel as it   not only improves the influx of the new clients but also retains the existing ones. Mantra is, “Converting guests into your Fans”.

She states that the hospitality industry is vast and it requires local staff. As there is a dearth of   skilled people, we in Goa have to depend on other states for the same. Therefore the authorities at IHM should continue promoting training under government approved schemes like Hunar Se Rozgaar Yojana, whereby the economically backward youth can learn free and earn at the same time and gain experience through industrial training. Also she feels that IHM and other catering and hospitality institutions in Goa should emphasise on Goan cuisine in the Food Production Course to prevent the authentic Goan cuisine from dying out. This could work out wonders as today in this industry it is difficult to acquire Goan chefs.  Communication skills and customer service needs improvement on priority basis as the graduates lack customer and people skills.

The Ranes have not invested much in marketing as they feel that “word of mouth” publicity is the key in increasing their sales and repeat guests. However social media cannot be ignored totally and hence they have a strong base on online portals, Instagram and Face book.

Rewards and recognition along with provision for good working conditions, looking after staff growth and career opportunities help to motivate them to perform better. Timely management talks, performance appraisals, explanation of the current business scenario and creating awareness of the competition acts as a motivation to the staff to improve and excel.

Goa is blessed with rivers and beaches everywhere. So using cat marine services can ease the traffic as well as add value in terms of tourism. Boat cruises with dinner and music in prime tourist areas, improved water sports can enhance guest experience. Focus on health and wellness resorts, medical tourism, eco tourism can also add revenue as well as help promote Goa as the most preferred and unique tourist destination.

It is mandatory to manage the Resort Operations to assure optimum performance and continual improvement in the five Key Result Areas (guest service, employees, sales/marketing, propertyappearance, and profit/financial control). A happy customer contributes in many ways to improve the business. Supriya believes that they need to invest in better automated processes which can ease up the burden of the staff, prevent duplication of processes and allow the employees to greet the guests in a warm and friendly manner. She intends to personalise the guests experience with better technology and skilled personnel thereby delighting guests as “Customer loyalty is the outcome of Customer delight”.

She believes that even people without a hotel management degree can shine in the hospitality industry. She recommends the youth joining the hospitality industry need to be passionate about work, surpass expectations and always show willingness to work & adapt. The key is, “Attitude of gratitude” and thinks that people who enter this industry cannot dream of magic overnight.

Supriya considers that hotel consultants are mentors and bring with them vast experience, expertise, skills and processes to improve the sales and client experience. They help to explore ways and means to resolve various problems, live the dreams of the clients by excelling in every department of work and suggesting the best ways to march ahead thus contributing positively in growing the existing business.

Her advice to new hoteliers:

As there is a lot of competition, you should dare to be different and make a mark for yourself. At times if the going gets tough, just need to hang in there. “Never Overpromise & Undersell but  Undersell and Over perform.”

Her message to the guests:

We appreciate and thank the guests for giving the opportunity to serve them. We would also love to hear their experiences through feedback and reviews and are passionate to deliver the best outcome.

Share: