Industry Insiders Claim Ratnesh Verma Leaving Hyatt

By BW Hotelier AFTER Rakesh Sarna, it seems that Ratnesh Verma, Senior Vice President, Real Estate and Development for Asia Pacific excluding China, Taiwan and Mongolia, at Hyatt is on the move. Industry sources, who wished to remain anonymous, have told BW Hotelier that Verma is moving to a senior position with Whitbread hotels based out of Dubai, UAE. After graduating from Delhi University, Verma completed his chartered accountancy and company secretariat degree. He joined Hyatt Regency New Delhi as assistant director of finance. In 2003, Verma took over as Area Vice President Operations South Asia and became Senior Vice President, Real Estate and Development for Asia Pacific in 2008. The UK-based Whitbread group, owns the Premier Inn chain of hotels, in the mid to budget segment of the trade, as well as Costa and is looking to expand in Asia aggressively. When contacted by BW Hotelier, Verma refused to make any comments on whether he was actually moving or the veracity of our source. We did not get any response from Whitbread UAE either.