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Arjun Sharma
Managing Director, Le Passage to India
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e has been called the master mixer of hotel services, and rightly so. Had it not been for this seasoned hotel developer’s efforts, hotel rooms would still be sold as a comfortable place to rest rather than an experience. In fact, as a reflection of Arjun Sharma’s obsession with hospitality world is the fact that he runs his mall – Select Citywalk in Delhi – much like a well-appointed hotel. As one of the largest buyers of hotel rooms in the country –1 million room nights a year – he is not only credited of bringing F&B into the rooms, but also being the pioneer of opening new destinations by openings hotels there first. With vision, business acumen and leadership qualities, he has continuously led the organisation to successfully explore new ideas while building on existing foundations. He is today one of the pillars of consistent development of the tourism industry, not only in India, but also the entire sub-continent. He is especially known for his passion for innovative marketing in promoting Incredible India.
Manju Sharma Director, Jaypee Group
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650 room hotel in Noida is by no measure an ambitious project in hospitality, but for the straight talker Manju Sharma, it is still a project that needs a lot of preparation, pre-planning and hard work. Still considered to be a younger hotelier to many with five properties in her portfolio, Sharma’s strength is her humility and going slow. “With our first hotel and golf course, we wanted people to see green. And we are glad that we have done it,” says the Jaypee scion, whose firm believe in understated luxury has helped her open state of the art hotels in Agra and Mussorie, making them luxury destination. Her new feather in the cap is the Jaypee Golf Course, which has been awarded the most tourism friendly golf course.
Sudhir Sinha
Director, President & COO, Best Western India
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udhir Sinha has over 26 years of experience in hospitality and service industry. Under his stewardship, Best Western has grown the fastest during its presence in India since past 19 years. He has steered the growth of the company from six (out of which only one is operational now) properties in 2008 to 44 properties at this moment. He sees a great opportunity of the mid-market hotel in the tier II and tier III cities in India and has taken keen interest in developing Best Western brands here. Sinha has identified 152 such cities in India and currently following up well over 100 hotels projects for development in these cities. Best Western currently has 44 hotels under operational and development that include 24 operating on on-line hotels, 20 projects under execution stage and another 32 hotels under final negotiation stage. The brand aims to have 100 hotels by 2017 and thereafter add a minimum of 10 hotels every year to its portfolio in India.
September 2013 | Hotelier India
www.hotelierindia.com