BW Hotelier’s Third Indian Hospitality Summit and Awards were held over two days at the Leela Ambience Gurugram on March 26 and 27, 2018. This year’s Summit focused on how hospitality industry is Dealing with Disruptors.

“TOURISM INDUSTRY can be the biggest propeller for fulfilling Prime Minister’s dream of creating a new India. In the past three years, the government has been able to do what India couldn’t manage to do in 70 years. Last year we crossed 10 million marking of foreign tourist arrivals and we grew in terms of 15.8 percent. Inbound tourism is one of our focus points; we have succeeded in that too. Last year we had 1.8 billion trips by Indian in India itself,” said Min. of Tourism, Shri Alphons Kannanthanam.

He was speaking at the 3rd edition of BW Hotelier Indian Hospitality Awards and Summit 2018 held at the Leela Ambience Gurugram that focused on how hospitality industry is dealing with disruptors. The two jam-packed days featured sessions discussing New Business Channels; Revenue Management Strategies; Domestic Tourism; Emerging Technologies; Airline Traffic Projections; Social Media and Hospitality and other important issues including that of Talent Management.

The Awards evening was one-of-a-kind sit-down dinner held at the Pearl Ballroom of The Leela Ambience Gurugram with people cheering up for the winners of the night. The guest of honour for the evening was Min. of Tourism, Shri Alphons Kannanthanam who felicitated the industry people who have made their exemplary contribution to the Indian Hospitality Industry.

Speaking about the importance of tourism sector he addressed the delegates, “We want to double the numbers of foreign tourist arrivals in three years. Tourism in India must be a transformational experience. We should bring the inner transformation to people visiting India. We should promote our heritage and culture and bring out new ways of marketing Incredible India.” He cited the example of ‘The Yogi of the Racetrack’ which has created a sensation on the digital platform.

The Awards ceremony was graced by the veterans from the hotel and restaurant industry, CEOs, hotel proprietors, chief architects, top managers, hospitality stalwarts, event managers, celebrity chefs and board members from the leading hospitality chains of India. Shri Alphons Kannanthanam appreciated the effort of BW Hotelier for taking this step of recognising the talent and motivates the industry to grow.

One of the very special additions to the summit this year was a session on MICE focussing on the future of MICE in India. Dheeraj Tulsiyani, Regional Sales Manager, Cvent informed about the growth of MICE market in India. Along with him some of the other eminent panellists of the session was: Naveen Rizvi, Regional Director India and Indian Ocean-Pacific World and Executive Director ICE ; Arif Patel, Vice President, Sales, Marketing, Distribution and Loyalty, AccorHotels India; Madhav Sehgal, General Manager, Andaz Delhi; Natasha Yashpal, AVP, Travel and Trade MICE, Lemon Tree Hotels; Rajeev Kohli, Joint Managing Director, Creative Travel; Nathan Sharma, Senior Manager, Cvent and Anirban Sarkar, General Manager, Country Inn and Suites, Gurugram.

The National Winners:

Sameer Jilani, ITC Maratha – Best Hotel Manager of the year

Bandita Patnaik, Taj Land End – Best DoSM of the year

Mir Zafar Ali, Leela Bengaluru – Best Executive Chef of the year

Juna Banerji, ITC Maurya – Best Executive Housekeeper of the year

Vimal Verma, Andaz Delhi – Best F&B manager of the year

Don Michael, ITC Grand Chola – Best Procurement manager of the year

Anil Kumar, Leela Ambience Gurugram – Best Chief Engineer of the year

Varun Balwani, Andaz Delhi – Best front office manager of the year

Dr Mamtha, ITC Grand Chola – Best Spa Manager of the year

Nidhi Verma, Leela Ambience – Best Corp Com  Manager of the year

Srinivasa Rao, Pullman & Novotel – Best HR Manager of the year

Edwin D’Souza, Sofitel BKC – Best IT Manager of the year

Nitin Sodhi, Ginger Ahmedabad – GM of the year (Budget and Economy)

Bipendra Gupta, Lemon Tree Hotel Whitefield, Bengaluru – GM of the year (Midscale)

Faiz Alam Ansari, Aloft, Bengaluru – GM of the year (Upscale)

Dietmar Kielnhofer, JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar – GM of the year (Upper Upscale)

Somnath Mukherjee, Taj West End Bengaluru – GM of the year

Rajesh Namby, Leela Palace, Udaipur – Jury Award for Outstanding Performance