The event witnessed participation from about 190 delegates from various walks of industry

The Professional Housekeepers Association (PHA), as a part of its 8th Anniversary celebrations, organised the 5th National Housekeepers Convention on May 27, 2023 at Taj Bangalore. The event witnessed participation from about 190 delegates from various walks of industry, hospitality, facilities, healthcare, academia, sponsor vendors and so on. The theme of the convention was ‘Out of the box Housekeeping – Innovations in Sustainability, Digitalisation and Luxury.

The event had a high green quotient as the convention hall AC temperature were maintained at 26ºC and majority of the delegates had dressed in comfort clothing, mainly cottons. The water pitchers were of glass and there was strict prohibition on the use of plastic bottles. Instead of cut flowers, the delegates’ table centrepieces were adorned with pretty terrariums.    

The session commenced with a welcome note by the master of ceremony and Chief Convenor of Convention Smritee Raghubalan, Managing Editor, PHA. This was followed by the soulful rendition of a prayer by PHA life member Nagamani and an invocation dance by PHA life member Bindu Pravish, who was also the co-host of the convention. 

The auspicious ceremony of lamp lighting was carried out by Jayashree Nagaraj, the Founder President and Chairperson of the Professional Housekeepers Association, Honorary Advisor – Operations, PHA – Asha Premkumar, the Chief Guest Vikram Cotah, the Guest of Honour Gaurav Miglani and the star sponsors’ representatives Varun Handa, Senior Business Development Manager, Karcher and Ashwini Walawalkar, Country Head, TCFM.    

In her welcome speech, Jayashree Nagaraj extended heartfelt welcome to all the distinguished dignitaries and delegates at the convention. The eminent speakers were Vikram Kotah, CEO, GRT Hotels and Resorts; Gaurav Miglani, General Manager, Taj Bangalore; Sam Cherian, Founder, Schevaran Laboratories Pvt. Ltd.; and Dr Josyula Shekar, Director & CEO of Zyvana Integrated Services Pvt. Ltd. Dr Anmol Ahluwalia, the Cluster Manager of Taj, North Goa sent a motivational message via video for the convention delegates. 

The proceedings of the convention continued with the conferring of PHA Par Excellence Awards for outstanding contributions to the housekeeping industry and PHA and the recipients were Meenu Tognatta in the field of hospitality; Subhadra, in the field of facilities management and Grace Gideon in the field of hospitality academics.   

The awards ceremony was followed by an engaging panel discussion on Human and nature balance- a housekeeping perspective, - moderated, by Dr Madhu Chandhok, Director & Founding Partner, PIP 2020 and Honorary Advisor, PHA. The distinguished panelists were Meenu Tognatta, Ex Divisional Housekeeper, ITC Hotels; Niranjan Khatri, Founder iSambhav; Maya Chauhan, Head of Housekeeping, ITC Grand Chola; and Sridhar L, Head –Sustainability, BIAL. 

The Oxford University Press (OUP) launched the 4th edition of its bestselling textbook ‘Hotel Housekeeping Operations and Management in collaboration with PHA at the convention. Dignitaries on stage for the launch were Vikram Cotah, Jayashree Nagraj, Purva Gupta, Senior Editor, Higher Education OUP and the authors G Raghubalan and Smritee Raghubalan. 

PHA also announce its collaboration with Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI) at the convention and for this representatives from WICCI on stage were Priya Vishwanathan, Vice Chair, Diversity & Inclusion and GM ama stays & trails, IHCL and Bhavana Alvares, National Advisor, Diversity & Inclusion. 

Another interesting panel discussion followed on Digitalisation – The way forward to transform Housekeeping - moderated, by Indrani Sanyal, General Manager Housekeeping, Medica Superspeciality Hospital, Kolkata and Coordinator- North Eastern region, PHA. The eminent panelists were Mukut Chakravarti, VP Sales & Marketing, Tamara Leisure Experiences; Gunjan Bisarya, Corporate Housekeeper, ITC Hotels; Amlan Dasgupta, Founder & MD, Chrysalis Mavens Consulting Pvt. Ltd.; and Debayan Sinha Chatterjee, Head of Facilities – V&RO Hospitality.

Sponsors who enlightened the delegates about their products included Karcher, TCFM, Raenco, Diversey, Ecolastic and Buff India.

Tourism and Hospitality Skill Council partnered with PHA and Dr Sunita Badhwar, Vice President – Standards, THSC, presented a brief on the institution and its programmes in Housekeeping. Prizes were distributed to the winners of the pre-event competitions organised by PHA. Ms. Nirupama Patra, VP-L&D, Telangana Chapter, PHA, the organiser, made the announcements.  

After a sumptuous lunch of signature dishes from celebrated restaurants of Taj hotels, there were presentations on best practices by winners of the competition on Innovations in Smart Housekeeping, organised by Indrani Sanyal. Six best practices were presented and prizes given away. 

The delegates visited the attractive and informative stalls put up by the sponsors at the convention and had their queries answered. The delegates networked at the stall of Karcher, TCFM, Raenco, Diversey, Ecolastic, Buff India, Dream Pro, Pure Home Living, Sahiba Stairlifts, Forisca, Lumi Shop decorative lamps, Zero Degree events, Vileda Professional, Enviou, Aerocide Herbal Fragrances, Harmony Silks India Pvt. Ltd. Buds & Blossoms, and Kimirica Hunter International.

PHA members grooved to the PHA anthem presented by PHA Cultural Heritage Partner, RSG, and concluding the convention, Dr Thomas Mathew proposed the vote of thanks. The emcees signed off convention with the National Anthem.