As the pandemic slowly recedes, several markets will inevitably face a lower demand period.

Travel budgets of both companies and people have shrank due to the economic shut down. Also, there are many potential travel trends in the making. Will Zoom meetings replace business trips? Will people be reluctant to attend mass gatherings and conventions? Will international travel be seamless and safe enough? What effect will home office have in travel? Only time will answer these questions, but it is safe to assume that demand will be slow to recover. This poses several challenges to the industry, such as the two listed below.

Dealing with a demand constraint is particularly tough in hospitality. On one hand, we must cut costs and services, while on the other we must keep quality high to avoid losing guests to the competition. In some cases, managers expect a drop in satisfaction when applying cost reduction measures, though many reject that dichotomy and focus on maintaining quality regardless.

Another challenging factor has to do with revenue management and a hotel's ability to employ dynamic pricing. When a normal business faces a crisis, it sells less and/or applies discounts. Hotels construct an entire pricing strategy with every significant demand change. Many times, however, a short-term strategy might have long-term negative consequences. Dropping rates indiscriminately will reduce the perception of value of your product for years. During the past crises, it took 2 years to recover occupancy, but up to 5 years to recover average daily rate.

To cope with these challenges, I suggest the following:

Apply discounts to those segments that would otherwise not visit your hotel. Either because they are a once-in-a-lifetime visitor or because they are not your target market. This is even better if the guest does not have access to the price they are paying. It could be that their room night is bundled with other services, or because they are part of a confidentially negotiated group deal.

Make sure your guests spend money in your outlets, retail, spa and any other service you might have. Make sure they do so happily. This means not overpaying for a bag of M&Ms at the minibar, but instead getting a flight of local wines at your bar, or a yoga class in the morning.

Your guest might have changed, whether due to the pandemic or simply because they've spent a year isolated putting things in perspective. Focus on what your guest loves about your hotel and remove what they do not use as soon as possible. It is time to turn that shoeshine stand into a teleconference cabin.

A good service proposition for locals will get you revenue during low occupancy as well as guest referrals. We keep underestimating the power of a local recommendation when people visit town.

In many markets, recruiting has turned into a challenge as many people have left the industry. We should have jobs that have decent schedules, are fun and pay well, without necessarily going over our payroll budget. The answer is productivity — running the hotel with fewer, more versatile people that make more money. Technology is a big part of this equation but so is recruiting the right people and training them well. Nothing beats ordering a mojito from the front desk agent during check-in.

Hugo Desenzani is chief executive officer of Intursa (Libertador Hotels, Inversiones La Rioja), a Peruvian hospitality group and the largest owner of Marriott-branded hotels in South America.

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