Navjit Ahluwalia is likely to take up a very senior position at the India office of Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Navjit Ahluwalia, the man responsible for giving global hospitality chain Marriott International a strong foothold in the Indian hospitality market, has quit the hotel company as its senior vice president - hotel development (Asia Pacific).
Queries emailed to the India spokesperson of Marriott International remained unanswered till the time of going to print.
When contacted, Ahluwalia confirmed his resignation from Marriott International. However, he did not share any details about his next move.
In an email to his hospitality industry network, Ahluwalia wrote that in 2004, Marriott had offered him the opportunity to represent the company in India and grow its brands and distribution here.
"There were three Marriott branded hotels in India at that time. The last 14 years have been incredible - from opening the first Marriott office in India in a business centre as a one-man team to developing the various Marriott brands across South Asia. As of early this year, Marriott will have over 100 open hotels in India and over 80 more under development slated for opening in the next few years," Ahluwalia wrote in the email, a copy of which is with DNA Money.
While citing Marriott as a comfortable family, Ahluwalia said, "I also realise that greatest growth and learning takes place outside one's comfort zone - if one has the courage to make big changes and take up challenges. I have therefore decided to embark on the next phase of my career that will take me outside Marriott."
While details about his new assignment is not known yet, industry sources said Ahluwalia is likely to take up a very senior position at the India office of Hilton Hotels & Resorts. In fact, industry sources also said that Hilton's India team, which was scaled down significantly in 2015 after Rajesh Punjabi, vice-president of development for Hilton Worldwide's Indian operations quit the organisation, will be significantly revamped.
"We are close to confirming our new leadership in India and will make an announcement in due course," said a Hilton spokesperson.
However, sources said that the hotel company will be strengthening its management bandwidth by bringing in new hospitality professionals to effectively run and manage India operations. This is true especially after Hilton got on board a new executive to head its Asia Pacific operations.
In September 2017, Hilton had announced new leadership in the Asia Pacific region getting on board a former InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) veteran Alan Watts as its executive vice-president and president, Asia Pacific. Watts took over from Martin Rinck, who had long planned to relocate to join his family in Canada and pursue other potential opportunities at Hilton.
In his new role, effective January 1, 2018, Watts is overseeing the operations of more than 200 Hilton properties across the region, as well as the company's pipeline of more than 375 hotels. Watts is reporting to Hilton's president and chief executive officer, Christopher J Nassetta and serve as a member of the executive committee, Hilton had said in a media statement last year.
HANGING UP BOOTS
- Ahluwalia is likely to take up a very senior position at the India office of Hilton Hotels & Resorts
- Hilton's India team, which was scaled down significantly in 2015, will be significantly revamped, sources said
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