What is being a hotelier if not a choice? A paradox for Swatti Arora who is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Hyatt Place Gurgaon but calls herself an ‘accidental hotelier’. With a strong leaning towards finance and economics, she was set on embarking on a career in that direction but life had other plans. After completing her MBA, she joined ITC Maratha, Mumbai and there was no looking back.
Speaking about her time at ITC, she said, “I had great bosses, was pushed to my limits and I think what kept me going was just knowledge. The kind of people I met, the kind of interactions I had – I felt like I belonged there”. She joined Hyatt Regency Delhi in 2019 and Hyatt Place Gurgaon in 2021.
Her appointment at Hyatt Place Gurgaon came at a time when the hospitality industry was going through volatile times due to Covid-19 and in less than 2 years, she has undertaken initiatives to deepen relationships with customers (travellers, bookers, decision makers. She is also responsible for post Covid-19 recovery and steering the hotel that has always been a corporate hotel towards tapping the wedding market by channelling her earlier experience of working with luxury hotels like Hyatt Regency and ITC.
As a leader, she believes in a ‘we’ mind set over an ‘I’. “I am a firm believer that 80% of any leader’s success is attributed to the foot soldiers and folks on the ground. Therefore, importance of looking after associates so that they can be their best is something that’ll shape my professional journey” she said.
She is of the outlook that it’s imperative to recognize and appreciate everybody and to celebrate small successes. “Nobody in the team should feel insignificant and I think I’ve managed to achieve that with my team. Whether it’s a person who is at entry level or senior, I hold them in the same regard. Also, adaptability, as a leader, you have to be agile so that you can lead by example.” she added.
As a woman leader, Swatti wishes to be a change agent for diversity and also pave way for more women leaders. To start with, her team comprises a similar ratio of men and woman. She walks the talk as five colleagues have been promoted and two have progressed in their careers and moved ahead in senior roles with Hyatt in her tenure.
Year 2023, she anticipates more demand along with stability fuelled by segments across the spectrum be it Corporate, OTA, Leisure, Blended trips, Socials, City Events or MICE. She believes that personalization will be taken to new levels with hyper-personalization in the coming year, along with health and safety. Another important aspect for hotels to consider would involve being attentive of geo political issues that may impact travel.
Being a people’s person who loves to create experiences for others, she wishes to gain foot in the operations department in the future. According to her, operations is not just a non-human job and in fact it brings life to the end experience of the guest which is the goal.
She signs off by saying that in a few years’ time she envisions herself to be in a position where she leads a hotel.
