Hail Hilton

Hilton Hotels & Resorts wants to shed its challenger position in India and adopt a more dominant stance

- Vinita Bhatia

It is always enticing to watch when the stakes in any business sphere are raised higher; when existing players adopt a more aggressive position and start challenging traditional status quo of established brands. That is what Hilton Hotels & Resorts has been doing in India for the past few months, albeit subtly.

It began with the appointment of Alan Watts as executive VP and president, Asia Pacific in September 2017. He was assigned with the task of overseeing the company's pipeline of over 415 hotels, as well as the operations of more than 225 Hilton properties across the region. Reporting to the company’s president and CEO, Christopher Nassetta, he is also a member of the executive committee.

This was followed by the announcement that Navjit Ahluwalia has joined Hilton as senior VP and country head, India. At the same time, Jatin Khanna, a Marriott International veteran who oversaw the company’s operations in Bangalore region and was the general manager for JW Marriott in Pune, came on board as VP and head of operations, India. Ahluwalia will oversee Hilton’s 33 hotels trading and under development, including the recently opened Conrad Bengaluru, while leading the company’s growth strategy in the country.

Additionally, last year, Hilton registered a double digit RevPAR growth in India, which was its strongest in the past five years, and is forecasting double digit RevPAR growth again this year. Yet, from an organisational perspective, Watts is bemused that the company finds itself in a challenger position in the country.