Top winners emerge as IHA 2020 concludes the National Jury of its fifth edition

The eagerly awaited Indian Hospitality Awards epitomize a benchmark of quality in the hospitality industry and felicitate the best of the best each year. As the 5th edition of BW HOTELIER’S Indian Hospitality Awards and Summit, 2020 gets underway, the National Jury met on August 24, to decide on the winners, valorising the exemplary creativity, innovation, and leadership in the field of hospitality.

The coveted panel comprising the national jury of IHA 2020 included the top names and veterans from the industry encompassing varied experiences and fields. From distinguished senior hoteliers, marketing executives to those running the most celebrated hospitality management schools in the country, the national jury was an amalgamation of experts from the hospitality industry. 

The National Jury headed by KB Kachru, Chairman Emeritus and Principal Advisor - South Asia Radisson Hotel Group Radisson included, Rajiv Kaul, Advisor, Leela Palaces, Hotels & Resorts; Anil Bhandari, Chairman, AB Smart Concepts; Dilip Puri, Founder & CEO, Indian School of Hospitality; Suresh Kumar, Founder, KUE Management Services and Founder & Mentor, ROSAKUE Hospitality Rosakue Hospitality; Mandeep Lamba, President (South Asia), HVS Anarock; Veer Vijay Singh, CEO & MD, Trance Hotels; Diwan Gautam Anand, Founding Trustee, Cuisine India Foundation;  Farhat Jamal, Group Advisor - Hospitality, Hiranandani Group; Yateendra Sinh, Principal, YS and Associates Sàrl, Switzerland; Sandip Mukherjee, Director, Hospitality - Techno India Group and Sister Nivedita University, Kolkata and Jaideep Dang, Managing Director, Hotels & Hospitality Group (India), JLL. 

The jury, this time convened the session through a virtual route. Given the theme of IHA 2020 being ‘Reimagining Indian Hospitality’, the distinguished panel started the discourse of shortlisting the candidates and narrowing down upon the winners keeping in mind the unprecedented crisis the world has been hit with. 

Addressing the theme and the panel of jurors, Jury chair, KB Kachru said, “Everybody in the industry is looking forward to the IHA Awards and Summit 2020. The topic chosen this year is tremendous and apt, keeping in line with the need to reimagine. Unless we do not reimagine, repackage, and reinvent, then how could we reassure our guests.”

BW HOTELIER’S IHA 2020, saw nominations and participation from across the country with some very impressive answers. This made the selection process contemplative and trying for the jury members, who had passionate debates and rounds of discussions, to come to a unanimous decision. 

Speaking of their individual experiences of participating as a juror for IHA 2020, and appreciating BW HOTELIER’s efforts, Mandeep Lamba said, “I had taken the call last year to never again participate in any juries as I believe those are very cumbersome. But the amount of effort made by BW HOTELIER just made the entire process so simplified, detailed, and structured that it was easy this time around. What impressed me, even more, was the minute detailing and articulation put forth in everything. I must say that it was a truly enriching and learning experience.”

Speaking on the same line and commending BW HOTELIER team, Rajiv Kaul said, “It is important to have a platform to showcase talent and celebrate excellence. BW HOTELIER is shining brighter than ever in this competitive landscape and I appreciate the concerted effort of the team, which brings more gravitas and strength during such testing times. I think we are all satisfied to have reached a common consensus and have tried to be fair and transparent,”

Dilip Puri, Founder & CEO, Indian School of Hospitality said, “I want to acknowledge and thank BW HOTELIER for the opportunity to partner up for the summit and awards. It was an amazing experience. What is even more great is the fact that it is the first virtual award for the hospitality industry. It will set a new precedent for the times to come. BW HOTELIER is doing a great job of identifying and recognising the talent in our industry.”

He further stated, “The jurors time and again reiterated that they have ensured that evaluation was based entirely on merit and quality of the nomination. Bias and lobbying has been kept far aside to ensure that only the truly deserving nominations are selected as winners based on empirical evidence. While there is no denying that the ongoing health pandemic has halted and hit the world alike, there is no denying that the effect of it has been the most massive and long lasting for hospitality. Keeping in line with the ongoing crisis, the jurors also appreciated the thought put by the BW HOTELIER team for coming up with the most appropriate and needful topic.” 

Mandeep Lamba stated, “I don’t think there has ever been a time where we need to reimagine Indian hospitality as we need it today. I feel there is no better stage and better time to have this urgently needful discussion and come up with renewed solutions.” 

Speaking on similar lines, Jaideep Dang said, “It is a topical theme considering the point of inflection the Indian hospitality industry is standing at. It is the time to think, rethink, unlearn and learn again in the new scenario the pandemic has put us into.” 

Not only did all the jurors appreciate BW HOTELIER for organising an event during such challenging times but also recognised their journey and commitment towards the hospitality industry and they also appreciated the thoughtful theme for IHA 2020

BW HOTELIER’s 5th Indian Hospitality Awards will air live on BWHOTELIER.COM, across BW HOTELIER social media platforms: FACEBOOK and TWITTER.

Be there for India’s biggest hospitality summit, 5 days, 9 Keynote sessions, 18 panel sessions, 100+ speakers, 5 Juries: 4 Regional and 1 National and 100+ Hospitality Award.

Register for IHA 2020 here: https://iha.virtex.in/