Q&A WITH Arjun Sharma CHAIRMAN, SELECT GROUP

For Delhi folks of a certain vintage, the white and blue SITA World Travel buses were an everyday sight.

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They were part of north India's most iconic travel agency, helmed by the legendary Inder Sharma, till it was acquired by Kuoni. A shift in direction by the group saw it veer towards hotels and malls, primarily led by son Arjun Sharma.

The 1990s saw the opening of the first hotels of the newly branded Select Group, followed by Select Citywalk, widely acknowledged as the city's most successful mall. A partnership with Nexus saw the Nexus Select Trust transforming into India's first publicly listed retail (REIT) with a portfolio of 17 malls across the country. And set to rise rapidly. Meanwhile, the indefatigable leader has also entered the organic farming space with Vardan Agrotech and is exploring the healthcare sector. He shares how the journey into hospitality proved transformative, not just for the group, but for the entire city.

How did the journey of Heritage Village Manesar begin?

My father used to own a travel business called Sita World Travel. I joined as a young management trainee in 1984. Sita was a quintessential travel company, offering inbound tourism, outbound and domestic travel, cargo, and related services. But inbound tourism was its bread and butter. While we were among the top inbound businesses in the country, we didn't have our own hard product. We were dependent on other service providers such as the Taj, Oberoi, Clarks, and so on for the 'Golden Triangle'—Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. In the mid-80s, it was mainly Indian homegrown chains for whom inbound business was a crucial part of their model.