Minor Hotels Appoints Puneet Dhawan as Head of Asia

Global hotel owner and operator Minor Hotels has appointed Puneet Dhawan as Head of Asia as the group plots its growth in Asia and India. From July, Dhawan will be responsible for the performance of all Minor Hotels properties in Asia, working in close collaboration with the Minor Hotels senior leadership team and will report to Minor Hotels CEO Dillip Rajakarier.

Dhawan, a seasoned professional with a 30-year hospitality career spanning Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, brings a wealth of experience to his new role. His most recent role as Senior Vice President of Operations – India & South Asia at Accor saw him lead the group’s business development, owner management, hotel operations and commercial team, driving Accor’s growth in the region. Notably, he oversaw the opening of the first Raffles hotel in India. His 25-year tenure at Accor also included time as the group’s Vice President of Operations, Middle East, and several General Manager roles. Dhawan’s journey in the hospitality industry began with the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, where he held positions at its properties in the Philippines and Hong Kong.

Dhawan holds a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He will be based in the group’s Bangkok Corporate Office when he joins Minor Hotels in July.

Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of Minor Hotels and Group CEO of Minor International, commented, “We are excited to welcome Puneet to the Minor Hotels family. His operational experience and empowering leadership will be invaluable as we work to achieve our growth ambitions in Asia and India in the coming years.”

In January, Minor Hotels unveiled its target to add more than 200 new openings to its global portfolio, with approximately half in Asia, by the end of 2026. More recently, the hotel group announced its plan to 50 new openings in India within the next ten years, including the debut of its luxury Anantara brand later this year in Jaipur.

FHRAI Announces New Leadership; Pradeep Shetty Elected As Its New President

New Delhi, September: The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), India’s apex body and voice of the hospitality industry, held its 67th Annual General Meeting on 28th Sept 2023 in the capital. During the AGM, the members of the FHRAI unanimously elected Mr Pradeep Shetty – Director, Maharaja Hotels, Mumbai as its President and he will take charge of the office from 1st January 2024. Prior to this, Mr Shetty held the position of Vice President and has been an actively engaged member of the Association for more than a decade. Mr Shetty presently also serves as the President of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI).

With his knowledge in corporate law, along with his deep understanding about the legal and regulatory ecosystem for the tourism and hospitality business, Mr. Shetty has been instrumental in FHRAI’s legal interventions, for almost a decade. The MRP judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, CCI’s order against the anti-competitive practices of MakeMyTrip and OYO, the famous Cable TV tariff relief against Broadcasters and the Hon’ble Delhi High Court order staying the CCPA guidelines against levying of service charge are some significant achievements of FHRAI which hold strong imprints of Mr. Shetty’s commitment to fight for the benefit of the hospitality industry.

“In the role of President at FHRAI, I am committed to addressing several pressing priorities with a sense of urgency. We intend to actively engage with the Government for creating a more conducive regulatory framework for the hospitality sector and the long pending request of the sector for granting infrastructure status is top of our agenda. This can be a game changer by facilitating long-term loans at competitive interest rates to accelerate growth in the sector. More stimulus packages and incentives are required from the government to equip the sector to achieve the ambitious target of welcoming 100 million international tourists by 2047, which include a favourable GST regime and ease of Doing Business measures in hospitality,” says Mr Pradeep Shetty.

Among other important challenges of the industry, Mr Shetty has been pursuing concerns over music copyright matters, service charges matters and anti -competitive activities by big tech companies, which are adversely affecting the members of the Federation. 

“I am deeply honoured to take on this role and lead FHRAI, an organization that has played a pivotal role in shaping the hospitality landscape of our country. I thank all the regional associations and Executive Committee members for reposing faith in me. We are committed to advancing the interests of our members and the entire industry. Together, we will strive for excellence, nurture innovation and create a thriving environment for hospitality in India. FHRAI will embark on proactive policy advocacy in the space of online travel, GST rationalization for Restaurants and creation of an energetic environment for the growth of tourism in India through favourable fiscal policies and ease of doing business” concludes Mr Shetty.

The Executive Committee also elected the new ‘Office Bearers’ of FHRAI, who supervise the routine affairs at the Federation. Mr. Surendra Kumar Jaiswal, Mr. K Nagaraju and Mr. T S Walia were elected as the Vice Presidents from Hotel & Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI), The South India Hotels & Restaurants Association (SIHRA) and Hotel & Restaurant Association of Eastern India (HRAEI), respectively. Mr DVS Somaraju has been elected as Hony. Treasurer and Mr. Nirav Gandhi as the Hony. Secretary, while Mr. Sudesh Kumar Poddar and Mr. Amarvir Singh will serve as Jt. Hony. Secretaries of the Federation.