A ROARING SUCCESS

A NAME LARGELY ASSOCIATED WITH SUCCESS AND INNOVATION, JOHN SPENCE IS THE MAN BEHIND KARMA GROUP WHICH HAS CHANGED THE FACE OF LUXURY AND HOSPITALITY AROUND THE WORLD.

- Parineeta Sethi

Born and brought up in a family working in the aviation industry, John Spence has an immense love for travel. What started like a bunch of pi-rate shipwrecks on the beaches of Goa in 1993, with high entrepreneurial spirits, has now turned into 32 resorts across 10 countries…..and counting! All the way from Maldives with his wine via Zoom, we get in a candid conversation on his success mantra, achievements, and the story behind his brainchild- Karma Group.

What is the story behind the name ‘Karma’?

The basic philosophy of Karma, which in the West we believe in, is very much immortalised by John Lennon: You only get the love that you give and the positive rebound of the universe. The name came to me while being on the beach with my wife and wine to help stimulate the mind. And we thought the word ‘Karma’ resonated with trying to give good out to the universe and getting good back. It was a good name for what we were trying to do, which was developing Asia because Asia is our home and our Heartland, but with an eye on the international market. There was no sort of deep thinking. It ties in with my philosophy very much, which is trying to give good things and hopefully getting good things back in return..