Feeds:
Posts

Archive for December, 2019

 

(Sharing the description under this TEDx Youtube video)

Humanity matters more than any material luxuries or perks that you provide your guests. Because we are people first, hoteliers second. If you can connect with your guests, you will always win.

A hotel is just a building. It can’t run itself. That’s what Bashar Wali does. For more than 20 years, Wali has been driving innovation in all facets of the hospitality industry at companies like Wyndham International, Starwood and Grand Heritage Hotels. As President of Provenance Hotels, he has crafted an assertive growth plan and developed strategic partnerships that have led to marquee collaborations with James Beard Award-winning chefs and alliances with preeminent developers like Woodbine Development Corporation, Bolour and Associates, GB Lodging and Thayer Lodging to expand the company’s national presence and grow its portfolio of owned and managed hotels.

Wali artfully balances this active focus on growth with maximizing the financial performance and market prominence of Provenance Hotels’ award-winning lifestyle properties in the Western United States. He is widely recognized for developing playful guest amenities like the company’s industry-leading spiritual menu and for inspiring the company’s partnerships with companies like Sub Pop Records and Salt & Straw. Based on the philosophy that it is personality, passion, sense of humor and sense of drama that differentiates Provenance Hotels from its competitors, Wali has perfected an approach to the art of hospitality that is as successful at creating memorable guest experiences as it is at putting heads in beds.

Bashar Wali graduated from Johnson & Wales University with a B.S. in Hotel Restaurant Institutional Management. Officially he resides with his family in Portland, Ore. but can often be found jetting to new markets and kicking the tires on potential Provenance Hotels.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Read Full Post »

AIRDA book recommendation #301219

 

Read Full Post »

Shared from our Twitter feed

Read Full Post »

Dr Sheelwant Patel has been an insurance man, a forester, an environmentalist, and a researcher. He has sold insurance for five years and been forester for thirty-three. Dr Patel has climbed hills, stalked killer elephants in jungles, and stayed over at many a haunted house in the Himalayas.

A docudrama he wrote has won him a national award for the best documentary. He lives in Mumbai with his wife and two amazing children with equally fulfilling professions. (One is an animator, and the other is a filmmaker.)

As Chief Conservator of Forests in Bengal, I was looking after the forests of northern West Bengal that are prime elephant habitats. This region contains five sanctuaries, three national parks, and has 14 elephant corridors that are notorious for being the terrain of the most intense human-elephant conflicts in South East Asia. I must add here that Jaldapara and Gorumara in the region are famous for rhinos.

We did organize safaris – in vehicles, in bullock carts, and on elephant back – but jungle treks being unsafe for tourists, we forbid them – especially as the visibility is no more than 10-15 meters in these dense evergreen forests.

More on this story at this link >
Message of the Month / December 2019

Read Full Post »

How would you describe “Kodagu” as a travel destination in South India?

How do I describe Kodagu? Ours is such a beautiful experience that I am sometimes at a loss for words. Famous people have referred to it as the Scotland of India – some have even gone to the extent of calling it the Kashmir of Karnataka. I would love to call it “Heaven on Earth” – because Kodagu presents an unmatched panorama of beauty and everything that goes with that.

Believe me, in this fast changing world there still is an old-world charm about Kodagu – expressed so beautifully through its dense forests, majestically flowing rivers and spirited waterfalls. Another key visual experience is the wide expanse of lush green plantation cover.

No story on Kodagu is complete without one drink that says good morning to you, every day – Coorg Coffee. Kodagu is a world famous hill station, largely growing coffee and spices – known the world over for quality and yield.

More on this story at this link >
Q&A Interview / December 2019

Read Full Post »