Ajay Bakaya is indeed the face of the modern Indian hoteliers. With more than three decades of hospitality experience, few have seen the transition of the industry as him, who in his current position oversees the operations and development of 75 hotels – 50 of which are in India.
Waxing eloquence on the hospitality industry, an optimistic Bakaya says, “The industry has been through some real challenges in the past. However, it bounced back rapidly and is well equipped to tackle the challenges ahead. With the changing business environment, it is important to restructure and experiment to meet the new age customer expectations. Investments in building knowledge and information sharing can be of great help to grab opportunities and challenges.”
Calling his team his “core strength”, Bakaya adds that the only way to tide over the current challenges – and those that will showcase ahead – is to “invest in building up high quality resources adequate to address complexities and other issues which we may face. We are working to develop specialists who can understand the market trends, guest sentiments and expectations. It is imperative that our fundamental characteristic of quality service at best rates is maintained throughout in any markets or conditions.”
Talking about the group’s expansion plans, he says, “We are setting up our presence in new markets and scaling up all our brands Premiere, Portico and Hometel. We aim to further strengthen our overseas presence and take our brands to additional destinations across the African continent.”
