HOTELIER ATUL Bhalla, who joined ITC Sonar, Kolkata in 2013 has now been elevated as the Area Manager East ITC Hotels, in this capacity; he would oversee both the Kolkata properties namely ITC Sonar and ITC Royal Bengal. Additionally as the new upcoming ITC property at Bhubaneshawar becomes operative, the same will be under his leadership.
Bhalla’s journey with ITC Hotels began more than two decades back at ITC Kakatiya, Hyderabad in 1998 and since then he has also held senior management positions at several ITC Hotels in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai setting definite and impeccable examples for his successors. Prior to ITC Hotels he had garnered management expertise through international exposure at several leading hotel chains.
An integral part of the pre-opening team as the Hotel Manager of ITC Grand Chola, Chennai, Bhalla was one of the leaders for positioning and launching of the 600 room ultra-luxury destination hotel with ten food and beverage offerings, a large convention center, meeting rooms, spa and long stay residences. Thus, developing strategy amidst stiff competition and leading the way for one of the largest hotels in India and the world’s largest LEED platinum certified hotel, which has been the talk of the industry. High quality and precision driven, Bhalla's contemporary management style combined with deft operational skills came to be much appreciated.
He brings with him management expertise garnered through exposure at several leading hotel chains. Further to this, he headed ITC Windsor, Bengaluru as the General Manager in 2011, and was the Hotel Manager of ITC’s flagship hotel ITC Maurya, New Delhi in 2008.