Hospitality Day Awards Celebration At Mumbai

The Mumbai chapter of IHC-IIHM International Hospitality Day celebrations was held at Mumbai. Celebrated hospitality personalities were present at the occasion.

The Mumbai chapter of the award ceremony was indeed special as there were a number of special categories introduced specially for this city’s glittering and glamorous hospitality fraternity. “It’s a special feeling to be able to celebrate IHC-IIHM Hospitality Day at Mumbai, the city of grandeur and glamour. We are honoured to be able to felicitate some of the iconic hospitality personalities of the city on this occasion,” said Dr Suborno Bose, Founder and Chairman IIHM and Chairman IHC.

Prof David Foskett OBE, the legendary hospitality educator and author, praised the Indian Hospitality industry and said, “Today, we celebrate success. We celebrate the Champions of our industry, who work so hard to promote this industry and to create employment and hope for young people.”

Celebrity Chef Ranveer Brar, congratulated IHC and IIHM for this endeavour by saying that, “IIHM has become an organization that selectively decides what Hospitality is going to look like in the next five years. I see IIHM becoming a core institution in leading the hospitality conversation in the country.”

Padmashri Chef Sanjeev Kapoor and Nakul Anand, Chairman, IIHM Young Chef Olympiad Global Advisory Council, in a joint statement added the great news that IIHM Young Chef Olympiad, India Qualifiers are opening their doors to the all the Indian students of Hotel Management thereby making it a bigger than ever before. The winner of the Qualifiers will represent India at the International Young Chef Olympiad, the biggest culinary olympiad for culinary students.

The awards list is exhaustive but each person is worth mentioning. They were as follows:

The IHC London and IIHM Lifetime Achievement Award 2024 went to:
Chef Anton Mosimann, Swiss chef and former Maitre de Chef at The Dorchester, London.
Danny Pecorelli, MD of The Exclusive Collection
Patu Keswani, MD, Lemon Tree Hotels
Ranju Alex, Area Vice President, South Asia, Marriott International
Anuraag Bhatnagar, CEO, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts
Sanjay Sethi, MD and CEO, Chalet Hotels.

Both Bhatnagar and Sethi were bullish about the current trends of the Hospitality industry.

Anuraag Bhatnagar during his acceptance speech said, “Thank you so much for acknowledging the achievement and the learnings so far. The next couple of decades are the best time in Hospitality Business. It can only be fuelled by the passionate aspiring youngsters who want to make Hospitality a part of their lives and we owe it to them to ensure that we pave the way for their success.”

Sanjay Sethi, thanked IHC and IIHM and said, “The Hospitality industry is now break form a stride into a run. The visible future for the industry, especially for the young people is very bright.”

The next category of awards was the IHC London and IIHM Inspirational Hospitality Leaders of 2024. The awardees were:

Nikhil Sharma, MD and Senior VP, South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group
Jaideep Dang, MD, Hotels and Hospitality Group, JLL
Jatin Khanna, CEO, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts
Chef Rahul Akerkar, Creative and Culinary Director Aditya Birla New Age Hospitality
Deep Kalra, Chairman, MakeMy Trip
Rohit Khattar, Founder Chairman ,Old World Hospitality

Many hoteliers were acknowledged for their exceptional contribution to the hospitality industry. They were presented the IHC London and IIHM Outstanding Achievement and Contribution to the Hospitality Industry 2024:

Manish Dayya, GM, Sofitel Mumbai BKC
Harkaran Singh-GM, Aurika Mumbai SkyCity
Sunil Narang-GM, Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai
Puneet Narula-Business Head, Jio World Convention Center, Mumbai, RIL
Varun Chhibber, GM, St Regis Mumbai
Dietmar Kielnhofer, Area Vice President and General Manager Grand Hyatt Mumbai Hotel and Residences
Sameer Sud, GM, Leela Mumbai.
Bhagwan Balani, GM, ITC Maratha, Mumbai
Nikita Ramchandani, Multi-Property VP Marriott International, Mumbai Market
Chandrashekhar S Jaiswal, GM, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation
Mehrnavaz Avari – Area Director, Taj UK
Rajiv Kapoor – GM, Fairmont Mumbai
Sumeet Suri – GM, The Westin Mumbai Garden City
Vikas Singh – Executive Chef, The Westin Mumbai Garden City
Subhabrata Roy – General Manager, Courtyard by Marriott Mumbai
Ajeesh Gopalan, Station Manager, Air India Express
Afzal Khan, GM, President – IHCL SeleQtions, Mumbai
Kuncheria Thomas, Director – Touracle, Hon Secretary, Skal Asia
Sagar Dighe, Director & CEO, SATS Food Solutions India Pvt. Ltd

Women achievers have a special place in the IHD awards list and Mumbai was not behind. The IHC London and IIHM Women Achievers in Hospitality 2024 went to:

Krishani Nitan Chhatwal, Director/Board Member, Shrem Infrastructure Pvt Ltd
Sonakshi Yajurvedi, Senior Area PR Manager, Radisson Hotel Group – South Asia
Reema Singh, Director Communications- India Hilton
Divya Agha, GM, Marketing Fortune Park Hotels Ltd
Rakhee Lalvani, Founder, Rla And Consultant, IHCL For Diversity and Inclusion
Reema Diwan, VP – Design and Technical Services, India and South Asia, Accor Hotels
⁠Durba Datta, Multi-Property Director of Housekeeping at The Westin Powai Lake and Marriott Executive Apartments
Manisha Bhasin, Corporate Chef, ITC Ltd – Hotels Division
Gunjan Bisarya, Head – Housekeeper, ITC Ltd – Hotels Division

Some of the other special categories included IHC London and IIHM Outstanding Hospitality Influencer Award 2024 that went to Divia Thani, Editor, Condé Nast Traveller India and Kalyan Karmakar- Food Blogger and Influencer

New talent and hard working individuals were appreciated by the IHC London and IIHM Rising Star of 2024. They were:

Siddhant Santosh Dhuwali, Owner & Founder Di Mora Pune, Baglami Bombay, La Cena Thane
Rickey Bhardwaj, Junior Sous Chef, JW Marriott Juhu, Mumbai
Aditya Bhagat, Assistant Relationship Manager, National Accounts-Sales and Marketing, IHCL
Digvijay Singh, Holistic Fitness and Wellness coach

The IHC London and IIHM Hospitality for a Cause 2024 award went to the Saksham Project to support SOS Children’s Villages of India, EIH Ltd and EIH Associated Hotels Ltd. A special award IHC London and IIHM Outstanding Contribution to the development of Tourism 2024 Award went to Jayashree Bhoj, IAS, Secretary (Tourism), Government of Maharashtra, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Department.

Finally, the IHC London and IIHM International Hospitality Day Special Jury Award went to Shafquat Ali, Publisher, Hospitality Horizon magazine & Curator, Food Food TV Awards and Bibhor Srivastava, MD, Events, ITP Media India.

The IHC-IIHM Honours List recognized the organizations from Mumbai who have excelled at the Art of hospitality and made guest have treasured experiences.

The event also boasted of the Best personalities awards which recognized the members of Hospitality community, who have personified hospitality as an attitude and not just a profession.

The International Hospitality Day by IHC and IIHM celebrates Hospitality as character and inspires the young members of this extremely dynamic industry to embark on a journey of service and hospitality excellence.

About IIHM

IIHM (International Institute of Hotel Management) is one of the largest chain of premier hospitality and hotel management schools across India that started its journey in 1994 at Kolkata. IIHM is a part of Indismart Group, the conglomerate that operates the Indismart Hotels. IIHM campuses are located across eleven National and International cities with the associate institute IAM-IHM located in Kolkata, and Guwahati.