Founder and Managing Director of Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts, Salil Panigrahi, talks about his plans to strengthen the tourism ties between India and the Maldives

How did a career in hospitality happen to a successful CA and how did you get to the Maldives?

The plan was always to be entrepreneurial. Before being a CA and charting a career. I was always bubbling with business ideas and was always keen to start working for myself. Being good with math and numbers and always knowing that finance is core to any business venture, I chose to do CA. My love for food, cooking and eating, tasting different dishes cooked in different styles, was another love. When the opportunity presented for working in a hotel after my CA, I jumped on it immediately. What started as a love for food grew naturally into a love for hospitality.

Throw light on your Maldivian stint and the entrepreneurial journey that followed and also on the trials and tribulations during this journey.

I came here working as finance director for another group but the Maldives simply grew on me. I made friends easily and loved the simplicity of the people here. Over time, I found friends and we did business together, creating wonderful hotels and memories. I always had the ambition to create new concepts in hospitality and I found partners and investors willing to back me. We grew over the last 18 years with many learnings. I won’t call them trials. We went through tsunami, the financial market collapse of 2008 and now the pandemic. Each event has been a learning but it has not stopped us or our spirits.

Ozen Reserve Bolifushi - Ocean Pool Suite with Slide - Master Bedroom

Your thought process, vision and strengths that have cracked the code to success.

The code to success I have followed has been the same throughout my life and is based on the principles taught by my parents. Working hard, believing in myself, treating everyone with dignity and creating an environment for growth. I have commonly said, ‘Don’t chase money, create a way for money to flow.’

How do you see Pravasi Bharatiya Samman for your contribution to the tourism sector in the Maldives and what are the future plans? 

This award has been the highlight of my life. To be even considered for it would have been enough but to be awarded has made me happy beyond belief. I have to thank the Maldives for without the country giving me this opportunity and I have to say that it has been a love affair of a lifetime. We have always looked at taking our brands to India and beyond but a confluence of events finally pushed me to explore this actively.

Vary by Atmosphere - Villas - Water Will with Pool Cross Section

It is heartening to learn about the appointment of senior Indian hotelier Souvagya Mohapatra as the Group’s Managing Director for India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan. Share with us your vision and plans with him at the helm of the business you’ve carved under his charge.

Souvagya is an old friend, someone I know for a very long time and have great admiration for his abilities. It has been great to have teamed up with him for this venture. My vision for India is to create new concepts in the market and present our brands as being the go-to brands in hospitality. We have, of course, many existing opportunities in the pipeline including Sri Lanka which will create a lovely collection of resorts in South Asia. Maldives and India have a close relationship and you can be a catalyst in strengthening this bond and build the bridge of tourism to introduce the island nation to Indians who have yet not had a taste of Maldivian hospitality…

Strangely enough, it has been the pandemic that has created a renewed interest in the Maldives within India, with a great publicity. We have been delighted to witness this resurgent interest. It is to bear in mind that India has been consistently within the top six source markets for Maldives and was growing quite well even prior to the pandemic. I believe we will see that growth even further going forward. 

As a brand, we have been active in India and increasing our sales teams as well as our marketing efforts. The leaders of Maldives have truly supported the process by enabling and facilitating the process and we expect that India will become a more significant travel market for Maldives resorts.

This article was published in BW hotelier issue dated '' with cover story titled 'RESPONSIBLE HOTELIERING ISSUE VOL 7, ISSUE 3'