Hotelier India brings you the most influential men and women you need to know in this dynamic industry.
They’re the ones who call the shots and the range of their power is both wide and deep. Meet 50 hand-picked hospitality professionals – influential people that anyone in the business needs to know.
Culled from extensive research by our editorial team in conjunction with industry consultants, this list brings you 50 names, whose numbers should be in your diary. (In alphabetical order)
41 Shiv Jatia
Chairman and MD of Asian Hotels
Shiv Kumar Jatia has been chairman and managing director of Asian Hotels (Asian Hotels – North) since February. He served as the managing director of North of Asian Hotels and was a promoter of Bell Ceramics and served as its non executive vice chairman. He serves as an executive director of Asian Hotels.
He also served as non executive director of Bell Ceramics until March 30, 2008. An accomplished veteran, Jatia has a rich industry experience of 30 years and brings with him a global perspective to the Indian hospitality industry.
Jatia started his career in the textile and trading industry of the family business in Kathmandu. He forayed into the hospitality sector in 1982 with the opening of the Hyatt Regency Delhi.
A visionary, he bought to India the largest luxury hotel and introduced the concept of internationally branded hotel management by partnering with Global Hyatt. Under his leadership, the first Hyatt hotels in Mumbai and Kolkata were seamlessly launched in early 2000.
He also introduced the concept of premium luxury with the first Four Seasons Hotel in India in Mumbai in 2008.
He is also involved in real estate development and is the chairman of the tourism committee of Punjab in Haryana and the Delhi Chamber of Commerce.
A veteran in the Indian hospitality industry, Jatia has 30 years of experience and brings with him a global perspective, which helped him introduce the Hyatt brand to India. He also brought the Four Seasons Hotel to India.
42 SP Jain
Managing Director of Pride Hotels
P Jain possesses over two decades of expertise in the hospitality industry, particularly in taking over and successfully turning around the fortunes of hotels.
He is the managing director of the Pride Hotel Group as well as president of Western India Hotel and Restaurant Association and vice president of the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations.
The man with the ‘golden touch,’ Jain possesses over two decades of expertise in the hospitality industry particularly in taking over and turning around the fortunes of hotels.
43 Suresh Kumar
President, Fortune Park Hotels
An Advanced Management Qualification (AMQ) degree holder from School of Business – Bond University Australia and a science graduate from Delhi University, Kumar joined ITC Hotels as a management trainee in the year 1978.
It was sheer dedication and strong work ethics that soon earned Kumar the portfolio of general manager in ITC Welcomgroup’s prestigious hotels.
In a career spanning over two decades, Suresh Kumar has held several managerial portfolios in ITC, which in turn have contributed effectively towards the business dynamics of ITC Hotels.
Prior to taking over the mantle of president, Fortune Park Hotels, Kumar had very successfully piloted the Southern Region for ITC as Vice President , Southern Region (Bengaluru) and was positioned in New Delhi for the past year and a half as vice president – ITC Hotels (Operations).
During the course of this journey, Kumar has won a number of accolades for these hotels and was awarded “The Green Hotelier” award by International Hotels and Restaurants Association (IHRA) in 1996.
In a career spanning over two decades, Kumar has held several managerial portfolios in ITC, which in turn have contributed effectively towards the business dynamics of hotel group.
44 Sushil Gupta
Managing Director of Asian Hotels
Asian Hotels (AHL) is a single property hotel situated in New Delhi. The hotel is managed by the world renowned Hyatt Regency. The company is constructing two five-star hotels in Mumbai and Kolkata, which will reduce the risk associated with a single property hotel.
AHL is considered one of the best financially managed companies and has the best track record in the industry. Sushil Gupta has done a diploma in Hotel Administration from American Hotel and Motel Association.
He has been the chief executive of the company right from its inception in 1980. Gupta is also on the Board of Directors of Tourism Finance Corporation of India.
He has also been actively associated with various industry associations such as the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India where he was president for the year 1997-98.
Gupta is also actively associated with various industry associations such as the FHRAI and the Tourism Finance Corporation of India.
45 Uttam Dave
President & CEO at InterGlobe Hotels and Head of Development at Accor Hotels
Uttam Dave is a leading hospitality and tourism industry expert with more than 25 years of development, planning and management experience. Prior to joining InterGlobe, he was the CEO for Pannell Kerr Forster Consultants India.
During his career, he has been associated with leading companies such as Tourism Futures and Choice Hotels India. He was also the founding partner of AK Dave & Associates, India’s first full service tourism and hospitality consulting practice.
The government appointed Dave to the Working Group on Tourism for the 10th Five Year Plan (2002-2007) and he has served on the apex National Tourism Advisory Council.
He is also the author of a document entitled “India’s National Tourism Strategy 2002-2020” undertaken for the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.
Uttam has over 25 years of developing, planning and management experience and works closely with the Ministry of Tourism through his hospitality consulting firm, AK Dave & Associates.
46 Vijay Dewan
MD of Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels
Vijay Dewan is responsible for operations, business strategy formulation, overseeing marketing operations and planning sustainable growth for the hotels.
Dewan’s effective leadership, direction and vision have helped The Park Hotels to achieve greater heights. Dewan started his career with The Oberoi Hotel Delhi in 1984, moved to The Park Hotels in 1991 and was located at Kolkata, where he took over as general manager a year later. He was appointed vice president of The Park Hotels in 1994.
Sixteen years in the industry has given Dewan an in-depth perspective on the needs of the modern day traveller.
He thrives on information and believes in constantly updating his skills, which saw him undergo several professional courses including a general manager’s programme from Cornell University in 1995, a course in Leadership for Change from the London Business School in 1997 and one on Strategic Marketing Management from The Harvard Business School in 2000.
Sixteen years in the industry has given Dewan an in-depth persepctive on the needs of the modern traveller. He is a trained general manager from Cornell University.
47 Vijay Thacker
Director, Horwath HTL India
Vijay Thacker has over 23 years consulting experience in the hotel, tourism and leisure sectors. He has managed feasibility studies, concept planning, valuations, management contracts, strategy plans, bid structures and advice, systems reviews and litigation support for most segments of the hospitality business. His work spans over 45 Indian cities for 18 international projects, including several projects in the Middle East.
More recently, he was involved in the conceptualisation, feasibility and management company work for the Dubai Life Style City project.
He is a practising chartered accountant in India, a director on several companies and has been a speaker at several professional seminars in India and overseas, in relation to the hospitality sector and on accounting, corporate law and corporate finance topics.
His work spans over 45 Indian cities for 18 international projects, including several projects in the Middle East. He is a practising chartered accountant.
48 Vijay Wanchoo
Senior Vice President and GM, The Imperial
Having completed the three year diploma in 1979 from IHMCN, Pusa New Delhi, he joined the specialised two-year Kitchen Training Program, conducted by The Oberoi School of Hotel Management.
Then he launched The Palms and Esmeralda restaurants for The Oberoi New Delhi and simultaneously rose to the position of sous chef. He was then offered the position of assistant food and beverage manager at the Holiday Inn (now The Lalit) at Barakhamba Avenue.
He rose to the position of food and beverage manager over the next seven years. He was awarded the H&FS award of Food & Beverage Manager of the Year, which is an annual feature and is conducted at the national level.
He quit the hotel industry to host a TV show for a year and a half, before joining the Imperial as executive assistant manager.
He proceeded to become a GM with the ITC Welcomgroup after which he joined Fortune Park hotels, as general manager Operations of the 20-hotel chain. He then joined the Lalit Suri Hospitality group and finally, he joined the Imperial in June 2009 as senior VP and GM.
He was awarded the H&FS award of Food and Beverage Manager of the Year, which is an annual feature and is conducted at the national level.
49 Vithal Kamat
Executive Chairman and Managing Director of Kamat Hotels India
Fifty four-year-old Vithal Kamat heads the `112 crore Mumbai-based, hospitality group that has brands such as the Orchid Hotel and Lotus Suites.
The Orchid Hotel, for instance, is a five-star ecotel, consistently rated as one of the best in the world. Lotus Suites, on the other hand, is a four-star budget hotel in Mumbai, which will be extended to tier II and III cities such as Nagpur, Raipur (located in Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh), Amboli and Aronde (both located in the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra).
Orchid itself will be taken to places such as Raipur, even as the group contemplates getting into the luxury heritage segments. None of this would have been possible if Kamat had not taken that direction in the 1980s.
He began by acquiring loss-making properties in places such as Vapi in Gujarat and Khandala in Maharashtra. This gave him the confidence to go for larger acquisitions like the Plaza Hotel in Mumbai.
With Orchid coming on board in 1997, however, there has been no looking back for the group. Kamat Hotels India was publicly listed in 1996 and has just completed a US $18 million foreign currency convertible bond (FCCB) issue.
Kamat has turned loss-making properties into runaway successes. Kamat Hotels was publicly listed in 1996 and has just completed a US $18 million foreign currency convertible bond (FCCB) issue.
50 Vivek Nair
Vice Chairman and MD, Leela Aventure
After graduating from St Xavier’s College Mumbai, Vivek Nair underwent a post graduate programme in Hotel Management from Cornell University’s school of Hotel Administration in Ithaca, New York US and has over 31 years experience in the hospitality industry.
He is also the Honorary Secretary of the Federation of Hotels & Restaurants Association of India, which represents 1800 hotels and 800 restaurants in the country.
He is presently the dynamic vice chairman and managing director of The Leela Palaces, Hotels & Resorts. Vivek Nair has raised the bar of service and quality for the industry.
Nair has over 31 years experience in the hospitality industry and is the honorary secretary of the FHRAI. He graduated from Cornell University New York.
