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Peninsula Chicago GM gets by on virtual hugs, meditation

Maria Razumich-Zec, regional vice president of The Peninsula Hotels since 2007 and GM at The Peninsula Chicago since 2002, misses certain things she still had before COVID-19 such as hugs and handshakes, as well as checking off travel destinations on her bucket list. In the meantime, she focuses on virtual hugs, more team meditation moments and preparing for the return of regular guests.

Last week, we posted a story about how Zec has more personally managed through the pandemic and her wishes for hoteliers in the months ahead. In this second part of the mid-January interview, Zec talks more about how she is honing her communication skills, how she is managing the day-to-day and her outlook for the near term.

HOTELS: How are you communicating with the team and guests?

Maria Razumich-Zec: I’ve done regular Zoom calls keeping them abreast of what’s going, trying to give them encouragement and making sure that they don’t have any real hardships – and if they do that we can maybe assist them.

To reach out to the community, we used our house band that usually plays in the lobby to go outside on to our terrace to sing songs to the community. At first, we didn’t stream it and local people were opening their windows and clapping. It was really, really satisfying from a personal standpoint as well as a professional standpoint. So, then we ended up streaming it and we had some really positive comments and feelings about it.

 “We’re really working on the experience a lot more. We always have and Peninsula is known for that, but now, more so than ever before, we’ve really stepped up our game.” – Maria Razumich-Zec
“We’re really working on the experience a lot more. We always have and Peninsula is known for that, but now, more so than ever before, we’ve really stepped up our game.” – Maria Razumich-Zec

H: How are daily meeting different during COVID?

MRZ: They are much more detailed now than they were before because now instead of having 100 arrivals, we might have 20 or 50 arrivals. So, we’re really working on the experience a lot more. We always have and Peninsula is known for that, but now, more so than ever before, we’ve really stepped up our game. Because people are more often coming for special occasions, we try to tailor every single visit, and we have a team of people with that role. But we all get involved in it to a certain extent.

H: How quickly are you expecting business to come back, and how much?

MRZ: Even after 9/11 and then the financial crisis, the Midwest took longer than the two coasts because there’s so much international travel on both of the coasts. In the Midwest and Chicago, the majority of our business is domestic and a good portion of that business is within the driving market. So, for us, the leisure travel, the small meetings will come back fairly quickly.

Conventions, unfortunately, the large groups – that’s what’s going to hurt us. They’re saying ’23, ’24 before conventions come back in full force.

H: What does the luxury hotel segment need to do to come back stronger

MRZ: Safety and security are really critical, and the flexibility.

I also think being more considerate and conscientious than ever before is very important – just going that step beyond. Being very conscientious of what we’re doing, cleaning up after ourselves and wiping things down will continue.

“Giving back to the community in a meaningful way to people that could really use our help. That is something that I aspire to do even more.” – Maria Razumich-Zec
“Giving back to the community in a meaningful way to people that could really use our help. That is something that I aspire to do even more.” – Maria Razumich-Zec

H: What is your biggest concern and biggest opportunity moving forward?

MRZ: My biggest concern is that the vaccine doesn’t come out fast enough. It’s out, but obviously it’s not moving nearly as quickly as we would’ve liked. The longer that that takes, the more concerned people will be about traveling. My other concern is that there’s not another strain, or another COVID that follows this one.

On the positive side, once that vaccine is out and has reached the masses, people will really want to travel. To shake someone’s hand, give them a hug – that touching of other people. I think we all miss that.

H: What goals do you still have ahead of you?

MRZ: Giving back to the community in a meaningful way to people that could really use our help. That is something that I aspire to do even more. Then I’d love to travel again… The biggest bucket list for me is a safari.

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