BW HOTELIER back with its blockbuster, IHA-2022

The stage is set. The jury has delivered its verdict after a prolonged process of about two months, going through each submission painstakingly. And now, the countdown has begun.

Looking back, it was the summer of 2014, eight momentous years ago, going on nine, that we got working on what was to be the BW HOTELIER, the hospitality vertical of BW BusinessWorld. Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, BW BusinessWorld and Bhuvanesh Khanna, CEO, BW Communities. They had an idea… an idea to start BW’s B2B ops and start it with the hospitality domain. The idea done, plans in place and it was soon D-day on January 12, 2015 and that dream, the BW HOTELIER, was born at The Leela Palace New Delhi and we have never looked back since. 

Off the blocks with just our print issue, a bimonthly, we soon went online. One thing led to another and soon we began testing the waters with one-day events and six of them annually. And soon the idea of the BW HOTELIER Indian Hospitality Summit and Awards, the IHA, was born and how.

Today, the BW HOTELIER Indian Hospitality Summit and Awards, the IHA, hasn’t just tapped in to the imagination of the Indian hospitality, travel, tourism and F&B industry, it dominates all its verticals of presence. 

Our credo being, the sun never sets at the BW HOTELIER. Whatever we do, we do with loads of passion, ideation and set the pace with innovation hitherto foreign to an industry media set used to an easy going pace sans innovation. Today, we rule with our print, online, social media, videos, web-shows, events and awards.

The hand of God has always been at the back of all we have done and little wonder we have senior industry giants supporting us through all we have attempted and accomplished… take for instance our jury. Who wouldn’t give their right arm over left to be with these stalwarts.  With KB Kachru serving as National Jury Chair, the jury comprises Rajiv Kaul, Dilip Puri, Diwan Gautam Anand, Rattan Keswani, Mandeep Lamba, Suresh Kumar, Veer Vijay Singh, Farhat Jamal, Shirin Batliwala, Deepa Misra Harris, Jaideep Dang, Rahul Pundit, Yateendra Sinh, Sandip Mukherjee and Kamal Kant Pant. 

The BW HOTELIER has become an institution in its own right today, setting a scorching pace and we aren’t done yet. Watch out for more. The action has just begun after a near three-year hiatus.The flagship BW HOTELIER Indian Hospitality Summit and Awards, the IHA, as an event is classy, massive with its planning and executed after months of preparation. And don’t forget we are just eight yet.

Be it the keynote addresses, CXO duels (new addition this year) or panel sessions, the event dovetails with awards, the IHA, presented to the very best and the brightest of the Indian hospitality industry. 

A much-awaited and anticipated event in the industry, the BW HOTELIER Indian Hospitality Summit and Awards, the IHA, has been running strong since its first edition in 2016, the sole exception being 2021 when we deemed it appropriate to forego the event in the wake of the devastating second wave of Covid19. It was a difficult decision to make, given the massive success of the record breaking IHA-2020, held virtually over five long days from August 31 to September 4, 2021. Tough decisions have to be made and we are happy we took the right call. 

The IHA-2022 is back, our sixth edition, and is all set to deliver on the exacting standards that had been set over the years and especially with the five-day virtual IHA-2020. Before delving further into the upcoming blockbuster, here’s a look at the year that made IHA the biggest hospitality event of India. When opportunities beckon, the winners take them all… BWH did.

At a time when everyone was locked in at home and the hospitality industry was virtually at a standstill, a one-off leadership show on May 22, 2020, jointly anchored by Vir Sanghvi and Bhuvanesh Khanna with the industry’s top honchos on session: Nakul Anand, KB Kachru, Patu Keswani, Neeraj Govil, Sunjae Sharma, Vikram Oberoi, Priya Paul and Dr Jyotsna Suri, truly set the pace and gave us confidence that we could do it. One thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. The idea of a virtual IHA germinated. We haven’t put a wrong foot since and have never looked back.

“We really came of age in 2020 when the first wave hit us. Everyone was at home but nobody was used to a virtual life. Suddenly Zoom was born and then it was the go to platform. The entire generation came of age and we got used to remote working. While businesses shut down and people were sitting at home, we really came out on our own and what began as a trial on May 22, 2020, led to bigger things. And the bigger things were the IHA-2020 going virtual,” says Bhuvanesh Khanna. 

The five-day IHA-2020 began with Amitabh Kant’s address and consisted of nine keynotes, 18 panel sessions, over 150 speakers and more than 100 awards distributed on the fifth night of the event in the presence of then Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel. Four regional juries and the national jury adjudged the participants and decided on the award winners. The event saw massive numbers that would be very difficult to replicate in the industry. “We changed the paradigm of hospitality B2B media and are happy to be there. These numbers encouraged us to do a lot of other things, such as our top of the pyramid BWH Dialogues series, the GM Show Series and loads more to come,” reminisces Khanna. 

IHA-2022: A Story of Resilience

The hospitality industry has seen very trying times, but it has persevered and is now on the path to quick recovery. In view of this unwavering spirit, IHA-2022, with the support of Ministry of Tourism’s Incredible India, is celebrating the industry with the theme, A Story of Resilience. The two-day event is set to be held on Monday, October 31, and Tuesday, November 1, 2022, at the Taj Palace New Delhi, and the summit will see it all – keynote addresses, CXO duels between industry giants and panel sessions that will discuss the trajectory of everything hospitality. 

While Union Minister of Tourism G Kishan Reddy has been invited to grace the event as the Chief Guest, Arvind Singh, IAS, Secretary (Tourism), Government of India, is set to honour us with his attendance. A man who has donned many hats in the past, from being in the Indian Embassy in Japan to heading the Airport Authority of India, the highly accomplished bureaucrat is set to address all the hospitality, travel, tourism and F&B folks who will be in attendance. 

The jury for IHA-2022 is made up of four regional juries – North, West, South and East, headed by Suresh Kumar, Farhat Jamal, Veer Vijay Singh and Sandip Mukherjee respectively. Each of the regional jury heads are part of the 16-member National Jury chaired by the doyen of the industry KB Kachru. 

The jury has been painstakingly and carefully chosen from experienced industry veterans, none of whom are serving hoteliers anymore. The entire process has been carried out transparently, in collaboration with IHA-2022 Knowledge Partner, ISH, led by another industry veteran – Dilip Puri. This time, we have also taken the GM awards to a regional level across all levels from Luxury downwards. 

IHA-2022, though in works for months now, is only reaching this massive scale with the support of partners who have shown faith. Daikin India, headed by its Chairman and MD, Kanwal Jeet Jawa, is the Presenting Partner for the event while Taj Palace New Delhi is the most gracious Hosting Partner. Radisson Hotel Group, Chalet Hotels, ITC Hotels, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Royal Orchid Hotels, Harman Professional Solutions, Lucaris, FPG, Beanly, RMS, Eleven Inc, Joy Travels and Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board are among the partners of the event, while among the supporters of IHA 2022 are HPMF, AWESOME, HOTREMAI, IPHA, IWH, MEPA, GHTP, IFCA, Indian Culinary Forum, Les Clefs d’Or and NRAI.