The growth mentality

With almost four decades of experience in the hospitality industry, Puneet Chhatwal, managing director and CEO at Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), has always had a fascination with hotels – with some of his earliest memories being at the Machan at Taj Mansingh enjoying a Kona coffee. “My interest eventually led me to pursue a career in hospitality. I studied hotel management and then kick-started my career with the Ashok Group of hotels,” says Chhatwal.

Chhatwal was then “blessed with the opportunity” to study the Euro-American format of hospitality, giving him the best of both of worlds – literally. Having worked across the globe, Chhatwal has built up his repertoire with the emotional intelligence of the East and the processes and quality of the West. Now at IHCL, it is safe to say that this experience has shaped Chhatwal’s decisions and leadership skills.

“I believe that any successful leader must embrace change and think like an entrepreneur. This approach always works because every crisis is an opportunity in disguise. This is universal and applies to all industries, not just hospitality,” explains Chhatwal. “I believe that success is not a solitary achievement – success is only possible when driven by a united vision. This includes giving people an opportunity to grow, because when people grow, they automatically help me grow.”

Chhatwal is also responsible for IHCL’s iconic hospitality brand Taj, named the World’s Strongest Brand in 2022 for the second year running. With a rich legacy of more than a century, Taj has also been rated as India’s Strongest Brand across all categories for a second time since 2020. For Chhatwal, this not only confirms Taj as the “most acclaimed benchmark of excellence” in the industry, but also demonstrates the steadfast trust of the hotel groups’ stakeholders. Epitomising world-class luxury through the hotel’s philosophy of “Tajness”, the brand is an undisputed leader in Indian hospitality.

“Offering a curation of authentic living palaces, landmark hotels, resorts, [and] safaris,” adds Chhatwal, “Taj is world-renowned for its warm and intuitive service excellence, brought alive by the indomitable spirit of our employees, who embody the legacy of the brand while bringing alive the essence of Tajness.”

World domination

In May 2022, IHCL announced its launch of a new strategy called Ahvaan 2025, of which Taj plans to grow 100 hotels across the globe. It represents the hotel groups’ long-term three-pronged strategy for profitable growth, with aims to re-engineer its margins, reimagine its brandscape and re-structure its portfolio.

IHCL is intent on building a portfolio of 300 hotels, according to Chhatwal, and “clock 33% EBITDA margin, with 35% EBITDA share contribution from new businesses and management fees by 2025–26”. Part of the strategy will focus on re-engineering margins with an emphasis on sustained revenue growth, cost optimisation and operational excellence. The reimagination of its brandscape will see the growth of the groups different branded offerings, from the Ginger brand to 125 hotels, and ‘amã Stays & Trails’ to a portfolio of 300 and Qmin, which will expand to more than 25 cities and 100 outlets. IHCL’s portfolio restructuring also hopes to achieve a 50:50 mix between its owned, leased and managed hotels and to stimulate growth through strategic partnerships, monetisation, and simplifications. This is slated to scale Vivanta and SeleQtions to a portfolio of 75 hotels.

Over the next few years, the hotel group is expected to continue its expansion and strengthen its presence across the Indian sub-continent and other opportunities in key global markets across the UK, US, and Europe. “IHCL is the only Indian hospitality company with marquee hotels in key global destinations, such as London and New York, in addition to Sri Lanka, Dubai, Maldives and South Africa, among others,” says Chhatwal. “We will continue to have a strong focus on markets such as Dubai – where IHCL has recently opened Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, The Palm (the third Taj branded hotel in the city) and has another Taj hotel at Deira Creek in the pipeline.”

An open invitation

On top of the groups plans for growth and expansion, Chhatwal is keen to point out the company’s inclusive nature. “IHCL has always been known for championing the cause of women,” says Chhatwal. One of these causes takes the form of ‘She Remains the Taj’, which recognises the influence of women as both professionals and consumers, and reiterates IHCL’s commitment towards enhancing its participation within and outside the organisation. “‘She Remains the Taj’ continues from one of our very popular campaigns – ‘She is the Taj’ – and it signifies that the essence of Taj as a brand, which epitomises grace and excellence. It remains untouched while the brand continues to evolve and offer equal opportunities for all,” Chhatwal explains. “It is a holistic framework of women-centric initiatives for all stakeholders, including guests, employees, partners and the community.”

The cause will encompass a number of initiatives for customers, employees, and partners:

• Customers: Based on extensive research, it will include creating and elevating customer-centric experiences for women travellers such as heightened levels of privacy, security, bespoke amenities and stay offerings.
• Employees: The company will undertake enabling policies to increase workforce participation to 25% by 2025, including 25% of leadership roles at upcoming IHCL hotels will be women.
• Partners: Keeping community at the core, IHCL will continue to extend economic opportunities to the larger eco-system and continue to support women-led businesses and partners.

Strong foundations

With community and corporate responsibility at the heart of IHCL’s business, another cause close to both the group and Chhatwal’s heart is Paathya, the six-pillared ESG+ framework that will drive the groups’ sustainability and social impact measures. “Today, it has become even more important to chart a future that is more sustainable and inclusive; and we believe this is the only way to drive India’s journey to being among the top travel and tourism economies,” says Chhatwal. “Derived from the Sanskrit term, ????, inferring a path, Paathya encapsulates initiatives to lead positive change with IHCL’s core values of trust, awareness and joy.”

The six pillars of Paathya will focus on environmental stewardship, social responsibility, excellence in governance, preserving heritage, value chain transformation and sustainable growth. And with travellers increasingly prioritising hotel groups and brands that encapsulate world-class luxury and responsible business practices, IHCL is “poised to pave the future of hospitality”.

Under Paathya, the hotel group has defined several short and long-term goals to drive positive change for the environment. These include eliminating single-use plastic, reusing 100% of wastewater and that all IHCL’s hotels are certified to a global sustainability standard. Chhatwal also expands on how the group is working to reduce its carbon footprint: “IHCL has partnered with Tata Power to provide EV charging stations across hotels in key locations. The company has also continued to leverage the partnership to utilise renewable energy as a green energy source across hotels.”

Adapt and conquer

Chhatwal has faced his fair share of challenges during his expansive hospitality career, but not even he could predict the crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic – something that impacted all businesses across the globe, including the hospitality industry. “In the face of the many pandemic-related challenges, we have innovated and evolved to meet changing market requirements,” says Chhatwal.

India as a whole is still recovering from the impact of the pandemic, especially its tourism and hospitality sector, where hotels have had to endure restrictions and lockdowns across the globe. Over the past two years, IHCL has demonstrated remarkable resilience throughout the pandemic to achieve 50 new signings and opened 27 new hotels, with an industry leading footprint in India of over 100 locations across the country. India shows great potential for growth in its travel and tourism industry, as one of the key drivers among the service sectors. IHCL and Chhatwal are certainly determined to meet this as the group continues to innovate in the face of any challenge.

“We will continue on our trajectory towards profitable responsible growth led by our Ahvaan 2025 strategy,” Chhatwal adds. “The results of the first quarter of the current fiscal financial year are corroboration of the same, as IHCL has delivered the best Q1 performance in the company’s history.” As far IHCL and Chhatwal are concerned, the future continues to hold great opportunity for success. “The timing is right now.”