Life as a Manager at Marina Towers, Chennai

As India continues to grow as a superpower economy in the world, the hospitality business should prosper as well. More multi-national companies have chosen to outsource their practices to India in cities like Bengalaru (Bangalore), Chennai (Madras), and Hyderabad. Hence, there will be more demand for hotel occupancy for business people who are doing business in these cities. In addition, I assume that tourists around the world will be intrigued by India's growth and would like to experience for themselves. Due to this growth in business and tourism, hospitality business should grow and those who are part of the hospitality business should benefit. Well it does not seem to be the case.

Our second stop in our trip to India was, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. We stayed at Comfort Inn Marina Towers from Saturday January 8th until Wednesday January 12th. During my stay I took the opportunity to get to know two of the managers at the hotel. After getting to know them, they felt comfortable with me and I was able to interview them. My main goal was to get an understanding of life as manager at a hotel in India, both positives and negatives.

The first manager I interviewed had 20 years experience in the hospitality business but had only been with Comfort Inn for 40 days. His position is as manager of food and beverage. He told me that the favorite part of his job was interacting with customers. He speaks three languages: Hindi, Tamil, and English.


The second interview was more in depth. We spoke in one of the offices at the hotel. He is only 31 years old and has 9 years of experience in the hospitality business and also speaks Hindi, Tamil, and English. He has a degree in hospitality management which took him 3 years to acquire. His favorite part of the job is managing the bar because he is able to build an intimate
relationship with patrons. On the other hand, he mentioned other parts of his job that he does not enjoy as much. First "the duration of work is overwhelming" he said. His regular schedule is Monday through Saturday 8:30 am to 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm to 10:30 pm. These long hours do not leave disposable time to spend with his families. Secondly, he mentioned that the pressure of work is fatiguing. As a manager he was doing the job of three people. Instead of having more employees, these companies seem to be putting more pressure on their employees to do the job of multiple people. Last but not the least, poor pay was his main concern, "especially in South India" he said. He was curious as well and asked me what I get paid for my job here in the US. I used my summer internship at Enterprise Rent-a-car as an example. After doing the math and converging rupees into dollars and vice versa. We concluded that the amount I got paid in a week as an intern, he gets paid for the month as a manager. I was shocked! I understand that the cost of living in India is less than the US but I did not expect the pay to be that low especially for a manager at a 4 star hotel with such qualifications.

I am grateful I got the chance to speak to both managers and pick their brain. It helped me appreciate the opportunity I have as an American. Even though India is growing as a superpower, the real questions is: who is it really going to benefit? The Indian population or the multi-national corporations who have chosen to set up camp in India.