Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) on Sunday outrightly rejected that the recent cross border tension between India and Pakistan will have long lasting impact on the tourism and hospitality industry in the country. Chhatwal, who was here in the city to attend the 9th annual convocation of IIM Nagpur, said, “Incidents like this will come and go. On the other hand, organisations are built to last and hence the job of any senior business leader is to navigate the organisation through such a crisis rather than doling out rhetoric.” Chhatwal said giving undue attention to such incidents will make terrorists feel successful. Further, he said that every crisis is an opportunity.

 

Highlighting that IHCL has achieved growth in the last 12 consecutive quarters, Chhatwal said the company will continue it even in the next quarter. “The recent episode has made some people postpone their events. They have not cancelled it and we are sure that those events will happen in the coming days,” explained. Chhatwal also said that the aviation, hospitality and tourism sectors should work together to bring back business to Jammu and Kashmir and adjoining states. The company, having good presence in Rajasthan wherein authorities have closed most of the airports, has seen cancellations of functions and events. When asked why the company, which has opened more that 40 new hotels in the country in the last two years, is not so aggressively expanding its base in foreign countries, he said that as a matter of policy, the company is bullish on Indian markets.

 

“The country is witnessing rapid growth. New airports are coming up and infrastructure is getting better and better. It has created huge opportunities for businesses and thus we feel that it makes sense in investing here,” he added. Having said this, Chhatwal pointed out that IHCL is all set to open a new hotel in Frankfurt under the Taj brand. “Besides, we have already opened two more hotels in Dubai. Apart from that, we are opening two properties in Bahrain - one resort and one business hotel.

 

Similarly, construction of one property is in Mecca and one in Riyadh is going on. We are also opening two hotels in Bhutan,” he elaborated. Commenting on the company’s expansion plan in the domestic markets, Chhatwal said the new resort in Tadoba will be open for the guests within the next 5-6 months. It will be a 40-room facility. In addition, the company will soon open two more hotels in the city.