A Report International Housekeepers’ Summit 2019

Over 250 delegates flew in from Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Indonesia and Vietnam, apart from across the Indian sub-continent, to be part of the 4th International Housekeepers Summit 2019 at the Jaypee Hotel & Convention Center, Agra. In store for them was a knowledge packed and conversation-filled itinerary carefully curated by the Asian Housekeepers’ Association and Virtual Info Systems Pvt. Ltd Clean India Journal brings you a brief synopsis of the two-day session, one-day sightseeing, the spectacular Asian awards, business meetings, live demo and much more…

The host association for IHS2019 was i-PHA. The member associations of AHA include:

I-Professional Housekeepers’ Association, Sri Lanka Housekeepers’ Association, Maldives Housekeepers’ Association, Dubai Housekeepers Association, Doha Housekeepers Group, Kuwait Housekeepers’ Hub, Saudi Arabian Housekeepers’ Association, Bahrain Housekeepers, Oman Housekeepers Group, Executive Housekeepers’ Group of Bangladesh, Nepal Housekeepers Group, Vietnam Executive Housekeepers’ Association, MAHIR-Malaysian Association of Housekeepers, Indonesian Housekeepers’ Association, Association of Singapore Housekeepers.

Although they had travelled long distances, both the national and international delegates lost no time in getting to know each other as well as the city of Agra during the city tour to the iconic Taj Mahal and the majestic Agra Fort. This set the momentum for the two-day Summit on “Total Quality Management 2.0”, the theme of IHS2019.

August 29 began with much excitement as many clicked joyful photos with their friends and colleagues at the selfie corner, made new acquaintances, renewed old ones, inspected the product range on display, mingled with vendors, and interacted with one and all in the housekeeping, facility management and laundry segments, right from the student level to the MD of the hotel.

The summit was inaugurated at the august hands of Naveen Jain, Honourable Mayor of the City of Agra. He was very impressed by the arrangements and said, “You have done an excellent job in organising the International Housekeepers Summit. It is a great start to emphasising the importance of housekeeping in every sphere of life.” The delegates responded with a thunderous applause.

The first session, led by corporate trainer Panch Iyer, set the tone for the theme as he laid out ways and means in which housekeepers could adapt TQM for their work, and inculcate an attitude of always pursuing excellence in their team members.

Giving the housekeepers hands on information on tried and tested practices, experts from the airports, malls & multiplexes, estates and other properties shared inferences of implementing TQM in housekeeping and facility management.

Pamini Hemaprabha – Complex Executive Housekeeper – Mina Seyahi Complex, Dubai said, “TQM is something I had heard about at the beginning of my career. We need to refresh our knowledge about it time and again. The session was very informative. After I go back, I will retrain my team accordingly.”

Apart from speaker-led sessions, IHS 2019 was also replete with panel discussions in which panelists expressed and debated a wide range of views about very relevant topics such as digitalising housekeeping and overcoming the perennial crunch of time in delivering a quality experience to guests.

Maldivian delegate Imran Mohamed found the tips and tricks very useful: “The speakers all have practical experience, it is not bookish knowledge they are sharing. When they share their experience, it is very helpful for us to grow.”

The sessions were interspersed with live demonstrations, during which delegates congregated in the centre of the summit hall to witness the latest technology in action. Talking about the importance of these sessions, delegate Prabhat Shukla said that it is because of such demos that people become aware of the advances made in product design. “Someone from a Tier-II city may not know; such a summit is a common platform for everyone to observe and ask questions,” he said.

Networking was what occupied every spare minute. Mohamed said that although the Maldivian delegation was sizeable, many of its members did not know each other. The summit gave them an opportunity to share their country-specific knowledge among themselves, as well as with delegates of other nationalities.

Live Demos

The highlight included B2B speed-dating session, during which representatives of our vendors moved from table to table, striking upon one on one conversations with delegates, answering their queries and exchanging contact details to follow up after the summit. The hall was abuzz with conversation punctuated by handshakes, and both vendors and delegates agreed that this session was extremely productive for everyone at IHS 2019. Mohamed summarised everyone’s satisfaction when he said, “Earlier, we just got quotations from vendors, and it was always difficult to communicate over email. Today, we have had the opportunity to sit face to face with them.” More than one vendor said that he has now found contacts in regions where he does not yet have a presence.

All work and no play, is a bad thing, but what if work can be structured as play? Some sessions took the form of games in which enthusiastic volunteers participated to demonstrate important tenets of housekeeping: from speed and accuracy to the gender biases inherent in the sector. The laughs were aplenty, and the lessons well learned.

Throughout the summit, delegates made sure to visit the stalls of vendors, where they examined the products on display and inspected their finer details. “The response to our stall has been positive. I got to have many one-on-one conversations. We look forward to taking them forward even after the summit,” said Samir Sabu of Soma Specialities.

As yet another successful summit drew to a close, the delegates were most effusive in their praise. Executive Housekeeper of Reliance Industries Limited, Pancham Narkar said, “These two days were so well structured. It is such a good opportunity to update one’s knowledge.” Concurring with her, Hemaprabha added: “I have been associated with IHS for the past four years, and every year, there has been a tremendous improvement. From Colombo to Agra, there has been a huge jump in the number of nationalities participating. There is a lot more recognition on social platforms too.”

Nguyen Quang, Chairman – Vietnam Executive Housekeeper Association said, “Every country has its own strong and weak points; by discussing them at a forum like this, we can help serve our customers better. IHS is getting bigger and bigger; this is a sign of its success.”

Signing off, delegate Meenu Tognatta, Divisional Housekeeper – ITC Hotels had the last word: “The kind of effort that has been put in, both in India and abroad for organising this is beyond description. I can’t wait for IHS 2020! We can only add – neither can we.”

Buyer-Seller Meet

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Thank you Partners

 

I am overwhelmed by the response we received after the fashion show. High-profile delegates have personally asked us to get in touch with them after the show to take our conversation forward. I am expecting a lot of business. A small team has put together such a big event; this is a real achievement”

– Gurpreet Singh Chhabra, Product Director, Lecoanet Hemant

 

 

This is my third event, and from year to year, I see the organisation getting better and better. From Mumbai to Colombo to Agra, I see only improvement. The VIS group is doing a great job and I am very happy to be associated with it.”

– Jay Raman, MD of OLHS

 

Having buyers and vendors sit across each other at a common platform is an outstanding concept. I would recommend this summit to any vendor who wants to grow fast.”

– Director (Sales and Marketing), Hindustan Facilities, CLR.

 

 

 

IHS 2019 has been an overwhelming journey for us. It is always good to meet your customers and get so much positive feedback. Our visitors were all people who have the right to make purchase decisions in their organizations. We have got immense support from the organising team.”

– Suranjana Mukherjee, Territory Manager – Institution, Karcher Cleaning Systems

At this summit, we have launched new products for laundry and housekeeping. During our interactions, we found that the delegates were excited by our products when it came to avoiding long term environmental impact. They accepted our contacts very well. This is a platform in which we can reach out to hoteliers to the maximum possible extent. And we too have learned a lot of new things from the summit sessions.”

– Abhishek Dhamija, GM – Global Business, Atlantic Care Chemicals.

Everyone in the organising team was really helpful. What makes IHS unique even for vendors is that not only do we have sales-related activities, we ourselves get to learn so much. Usually, we miss out on meeting someone or the other, and that person may be the decision-maker. But because of the way the B2B interactions were structured, we got to meet every single delegate. “

– Abhishek Dhamija, GM – Global Business, Atlantic Care Chemicals.

At this summit, we have launched new products for laundry and housekeeping. During our interactions, we found that the delegates were excited by our products when it came to avoiding long term environmental impact. They accepted our contacts very well. This is a platform in which we can reach out to hoteliers to the maximum possible extent. And we too have learned a lot of new things from the summit sessions.”

– Atika Rao, Director – Manmachine Solutions

Our interactive session on stage was very good, and the audience was both enthusiastic and supportive. The B2B interactions were excellent. We were able to interact with representatives of all leading hospitality chains, understand their requirements and introduce them to our products.”

– Neeraj Sharma, Director – Sales & Marketing, Global Solutions