2015

HVS.com HVS | 6th Floor, Building 8-C, DLF Cyber City, Phase – II, Gurgaon 122 002, INDIA

INVESTING IN LEISURE:EXPLORING THE UNTAPPED POTENTIAL

Achin KhannaManaging Director

Rishabh Thapar Associate

INVESTING IN LEISURE: EXPLORING THE UNTAPPED POTENTIAL | PAGE 2

Introduction

The article evaluates the past performance and potential that leisure destinations hold for hotel development and why hotel investors must more actively look at leisure destinations across India.

Travel and Tourism in India Where are the spends?

Indiaiswellonitswaytobethethird-largesteconomyintheworldafterChinaandtheUSAandthedirectcontributionofTravel&Tourismtothecountry'sGDPisforecasttogrowby7.2%perannumfrom̀ 2,478.2billion(2.2%ofGDPin2014)to`5,339.2billion(2.5%ofGDP)by2025¹.AccordingtotheWorld Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), leisure travelspends(inboundanddomestic)generated83.5%ofdirectTravel & Tourism GDP in 2014 compared to 16.5% frombusiness travel spends. During the same period, domestictravelspendinggenerated81.4%ofdirectTravel&Tourism

GDP comparedto only 18.6%f o r v i s i t o re xpo r t s ( i . e .foreign visitorspends/interna-tional tourismreceipts)².

Going forward, both leisure as well as domestic travel spending is forecast to increase by more than 7% annually over t h e n ex t d e ca d e h i g h l i g ht i n g t h e importance of the leisure segment and domestic tourism in the country, and pointing out to the wealth of opportunity to invest in leisure tourism.

FIGURE 1: TRAVEL AND TOURISM CONTRIBUTION TO GDP IN 2015

YearFTAs

(Numbers)

Business&

Professional

Leisure, Holiday

& Recreation

Visiting Friends

& RelativesOthers

2010 57,75,692

18.6 24.0 27.5 29.9

2011 63,09,222

22.5 26.0 24.9 26.5

2012 65,77,745

22.5 27.1 27.2 23.2

2013 69,67,601

20.9 30.3 25.9 22.9

Source: India Tourism Statistics 2013

Organized Hotel Sector – Business Vs Leisure Where are the rooms?

Asper the2014Hotels in IndiaTrendsandOpportunitiesReport,therearemorethan100,000roomsintheorganisedhotelmarketinthecountry.Ofthis,approximately80%oftheroomscompriseof hotelslocatedinbusinessdestinationswhile leisure destinations only account for 20% of theinventory.Thisisevenmoresurprisinginlightofthefactthat46%ofthedestinationsinthecountryhaveleisureastheirprimarydemanddriver.

FIGURE 2: FTAS IN INDIA ACCORDING TO PURPOSE OF VISIT

AspertheIndiaTourismStatistics2013, morethan56%ofthe ForeignTouristArrivals(FTAs) in India visited thecountry for leisure andrecreation (30.3%) andvisitingfriendsandrelatives(25.9%)while the businessand professional segmentcomprised20.9%ofthetotalFTAsin2013.

FIGURE 3: BUSINESS AND LEISURE DESTINATIONS IN INDIA

1 WTTC's Travel and Tourism Economic Impact 20152 Includes direct and indirect spending. Direct (32.4%) including services that deal directly with tourists such as airlines, hotels, travel agents and so on. Indirect (57.6%) including investment in new aircrafts or construction of hotels, tourism marketing, domestic purchases of goods and services by the sectors dealing directly with tourists - including, for example, purchases of food and cleaning services by hotels.

54% of the destinations in the country primarily cater to business

demand, where as 46% are geared towards leisure

Leisure Spending

83%

Business Spending

17%

Leisure Spending Business Spending

The share of leisure visitation has increased both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of total FTAs over the last three years, pointing out to the rising demand from the inbound leisure segment.

Operating hotels in leisure destinations, have been lesslucrative for multiple reasons in the past. Some of thesereasons include seasonality, inaccessibility, lack of qualitymanpowerandhighfixed/operatingcosts.Asaresult,today,amongst the proposed branded supply of 45,000 roomsunderactivedevelopment(beingtrackedbyHVS)only18%areinleisuredestinations.

Leisure 20%

Business80%

Leisure Business

Furthermore, analysing the performance of the top 20properties in the country by key performance indicators,whileperformanceintermsofhighestoccupancyfeaturesamaximumnumberofbusinesshotels,it'stheleisurehotelsthatdominatethelistforbothARRandRevPAR.Thetop20hotels by occupancy in India (average 87%) feature 16business hotels and 4 leisurehotels, however, the top 20hotels in the country by ARR(average `21,622) feature 19leisure hotels and only 1businesshotel.

Lookingcloselyatsomeofthetrendsinleisuretourismthefollowingsectionhighlights thegrowthofvariousmarketsandtheopportunitiesinleisuretourismdestinations

Trends in Leisure Travel – Market Insights and Growth Opportunities

Backwaters and Beaches

FIGURE 4: PROPOSED BRANDED HOTEL SUPPLY IN INDIA – BUSINESS VS LEISURE DESTINATIONS

It, therefore, becomes both interesting and important tounderstand if leisure destinations are infact less lucrativethanbusinessdestinationsfromahotelinvestmentpointofview.

Performance of Leisure DestinationsThelong-termCAGRformajorhotelmarketsinthecountrydemonstrateshighgrowthinleisuredestinations.Thereareonlythreeleisuredestinationsamongthemajorelevenhotelmarketsinthecountry;however,theyear-on-yeargrowthinRevPAR in these destinations (Agra 9.3%, Goa 7.1% andJaipur 6.7%) has been the highest as compared to anybusinessdestinationinthecountryforaperiodof19years!

FIGURE 5: MAJOR HOTEL MARKETS IN INDIA – 19-YEAR CAGR

Source: Hotels in India Trends & Opportunities 2014

The top 20 hotels in India by RevPAR (average `17,487) feature 16 leisure hotels and only 4 business hotels.

City 2013/14 Occ

19 Year CAGR

2013/14 ARR

19 Year CAGR

2013/14 RevPAR

19 Year CAGR

Agra 60.6% 1.3% 6,254 7.9% 3,787 9.3%

Ahmedabad 54.2% -0.2% 3,614 3.0% 1,959 2.8%

Bengaluru 58.7% -1.1% 5,427 4.9% 3,186 3.8%

Chennai 55.5% -2.3% 4,942 3.2% 2,741 0.9%

Delhi 63.1% -0.7% 6,943 4.7% 4,379 3.9%

Goa 70.2% 0.7% 6,808 6.4% 4,778 7.1%

Hyderabad 53.0% -0.5% 4,437 6.2% 2,353 5.7%

Jaipur 54.7% 0.3% 4,626 6.4% 2,529 6.7%

Kolkata 72.0% 0.7% 5,639 3.4% 4,058 4.1%

Mumbai 66.9% -1.1% 7,105 1.8% 4,754 0.7%

Pune 58.3% -1.8% 3,837 3.6% 2,239 1.8%

Kerala,overthepastdecade,hasemergedasoneofthemostsoughtafterdestinations inthecountryandhotelmarketsacrossthisstatehaverecordedcontinuousgrowthespeciallyinKovalamandKumarakom(RevPARgrowthof6%inthelastthreeyears).GoacontinuestobeoneofthestrongesthotelmarketsinthecountrywithaRevPARgrowthof7%overthelastfiveyears.ThoughtherehasbeenadeclineintheinboundmovementfromRussia(oneofthebiggestsourcemarketsforGoa)overthepastyear,thelossinbusinessisexpectedtobesubstituted by the rising domestic tourism in the short tomediumterm.

While Goa and Kerala provide excellent opportunities forhotelinvestmentsthereisstillavastcoastlineinIndiathathasnotbeendevelopedfromatourismperspective.Beachdestinations along the east and the west coast especiallywithinadrivingdistancefrommajorcitiessuchasBengaluruandChennaiholdpotentialforthedevelopmentofweekendresortdestinations.

Islands of India present an enormous opportunity fortourism,whichhavethusfarnotbeentappedinto.Themajor

INVESTING IN LEISURE: EXPLORING THE UNTAPPED POTENTIAL | PAGE 3

INVESTING IN LEISURE: EXPLORING THE UNTAPPED POTENTIAL | PAGE 4

hurdles for development in these locations are related toinfrastructure and environmental clearances. The centralgovernment's recent approval of the Sagarmala project,whichenvisagesport-leddevelopmentin12majorportsaswellas1,208islandsmaydirectlyorindirectlyhelpimproveinfrastructure along the coastal zones in the country andcreateopportunityforgrowthoftourismintheselocations.

Wild life Destinations

Inrecentyears,animpetusfortourisminwildlifeandgamereserve destinations has come with efforts towardsconservation of the natural habitats and establishment ofqualityresorts.ResortsrecordingsomeofthehighestARRsinthecountryarenotalongthe'GoldenTriangle',Himalayas,

The Himalayan Retreat

TheShivalikandLowerHimalayanRangesfeatureanumberofestablishedhillstations.Someofthemorepopularleisuredestinations include Srinagar, Gulmarg, Leh, Manali,Dharamshala,Shimla,Mussoorie,andNainitalamongothers.

Shimlaknownas theQueenof theHills isoneof themostfrequenteddestinationsbydomestictourists.Shimlawasthesummer capital of British India and over the decades hasgrownfromaseasonalmarketwithhighoccupancies(inthepeak summer months), to one with high weekendoccupancies throughout the year. With tourist arrivalsgrowingatover9%overthepastdecade,hotels inShimlanowexperienceyearroundoccupanciesashighas65%.Anemergingrecenttrendacrossmanypopularhilldestinationsis the emergence of smaller sparsely populated leisuredestinationsintheirneighbourhood.IncaseofShimla,theerstwhilesightseeingspotsarounditincludingKasauli,Chail,Naldehra, Kufri, Narkanda and Mashobra have becomealternateholidaydestinationsintheirownright.Thoughthisgrowthhadnottranslatedintobrandedhotelsupply,therehaslatelybeenanincreasedlevelofinterestamongstsomeprominentdomesticbrands. IHCL (Taj), ITC's Fortune andGoldenTuliphaveassetsunderdevelopmentaddingtotheiconicOberoipropertiesintheShimlahills.

orbeachesofGoa/Keralabutinthesewildlifedestinations.WhileRanthamboreinRajasthan,KanhainMadhyaPradesh,andCorbettinUttarakhand(leisureandMICEdestination)are better known reserves today, there are the likes ofKaziranga(Assam),Gir(Gujarat),Sunderbans(WestBengal)andmanyotherswhere the touristexperienceandqualityresorts need to be developed. There are a number ofwildlife/birdsanctuariesandnationalparks,whichcanbeturned into established tourist destinations. The primarychallenge with these destinations currently is the lack ofsupport infrastructure and quality accommodation thatfacilitates tourism, poor accessibility, and inadequatemarketing.

MICE is an important segment which can boost shoulder and off season occupancies in leisure destinations, especially if managed by a reputed hotel operator; case in point the recently opened JW Marriott in Mussoorie.

Thestategovernment'splanstodeveloptheinfrastructureand accessibility are further likely to augment tourismespeciallytheMeetings,Incentives,ConferencesandEvents(MICE)segment.

Similarly,anumberofotherHimalayandestinationscanbed e v e l o p e d i n t oorganised year roundleisure hotel marketsand quality brandedproducts stand to gainimmensely from thefirst mover advantagein a number of thesedestinations.Theunderconstruction Vivanta by Taj in Rishikesh and the recentlyannouncedITC'sWelcomHeritagebrandinLehareagreatexamples of hotel chains investing resources into leisuredestinations.

INVESTING IN LEISURE: EXPLORING THE UNTAPPED POTENTIAL | PAGE 5

Heritage Tourism

Forts,havelisandpalacehotelsaregreatwaysofpreserving,showcasingandsustainingtherichheritageofthecountry.Rajasthan,overtheyears,hasestablisheditselfasoneoftheleadingstatesdisplayingitsroyalheritagethroughitspalacehotels. Destinations such as Sawai Madhopur, Neemrana,Gwalior, Agra, Khajuraho, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur andJaisalmer boast of products designed in keeping with theheritage of the city/regions and are a great attraction toforeign aswell as domestic tourists. Similarly, there are anumber of other such heritage destinations that may bedeveloped,examplesincludeAjantaandElloraCaves,CholaTemples,Champaner,Konark,Ajmerandsoon.

potential and drafted frameworks to develop the tourismpotentialintheregion,littlehasactuallybeendonetowardsit.Lackofmarketing,infrastructure/transportfacilities,andsecurity are the main hurdles in the development of theregion.

Historicallydubbedas'thesevensisters'(statesofArunachalPradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagalandand Tripura) and Sikkim added as the eighth state to theNorthEastCouncil,theregionoffersgreatexperiencessuchastheteagardensofAssamandSikkim,MajuliRiverIslandinBrahmaputra, wildlife safaris in Kaziranga, TawangMonastery,SelaandShungasterLakesinArunachalPradesh,NohkalikaiFallsinMeghalaya,NeerMahal(waterpalace)inTripura,MountKanchenjungaontheborderofSikkimandNepal, amongstmanyothers.And,yet,theregionremainsunexploredwithlimitedtouristvisitationandlackofqualitybrandedhotelaccommodation.

Religious/Spiritual Tourism

Religious tourism is one of the largest segments withindomestictourismandholdsgreatpotentialforbudgettomidmarkethotels.DestinationssuchasVaranasi,Shirdi,Tirupati,Haridwar,Rishikesh,Dharamshala,Mathura andBodhgayahavealargenumberofunorganisedguesthousesandbudgethotelsbutvery limitedbrandedorganisedsupply.Someofthese locationswould be better served by hotel investorsand/or hotel brands acquiring and converting an existingbudget/mid market property whereas others can bedevelopedintoresortdestinationswithupscaleproducts.

Resort Destinations

LuxuryresortsinRajasthansuchasTheOberoiUdaivilas,TajLake Palace inUdaipur, TheOberoi Rajvilas andRambaghPalaceinJaipurfeatureamongstthebestresortsintheworld(with an ARR ranging between US$ 400-450) and aredest inat ions intheir own right.The Oberoi's vilasproperties are agrand example ofc reat ing resor tdestinationswitharichIndianflavour.ITC'sGrandBharatin Gurgaon is them o s t r e c e n tadditiontothe listof growing resortdestinationsinthecountry.

The Untapped Northeast

There is little doubt about the fact that the NortheasternstatesinIndiaprovideagreatopportunityfordevelopmentandgrowthof tourism in thecountry.Theregion'suniquetopography provides a harmonious mix of hill ranges,picturesque lakes, forest covers, national parks, mountainpeaks,passesandvariedfaunaandflora.Whilethestateandcentral governments in the past have recognised the

A n i m p o r t a n t t r e n d i n c a s e o f luxury/upscale leisure hotels is that q u a l i t y h o t e l p r o d u c t s a n d brand/operators tend to induce demand by themselves which maybe as high as 40-50%. Examples of successful upscale and upper upscale hotels that have opened in recent years inducing demand into the market include Vivanta by Taj – Madikeri, Coorg, Khyber Himalayan Resort & Spa, Gulmarg, Hilton Shillim Estate Retreat & Spa, Lonavala, Vivanta by Taj - Bekal, Kerala and the JW Marriott, Mussoorie.

INVESTING IN LEISURE: EXPLORING THE UNTAPPED POTENTIAL | PAGE 6

StatueofBuddhaatShravasti

In 2013, Indiawas ranked 42nd in the list of FTAs (6.97million;FranceasNo.1with84.7millionFTAs).Interestingly,itisranked16thintourismreceipts(withanestimatedUS$18.44billion;USAbeingNo.1withUS$173.1billion).Thesefactspointout to thepotential that the travelandtourismindustry holds in one of the largest and fastest growingeconomiesintheworld.

India a t tracts a smal lpercentage of the world'si n t e rna t i ona l t ou r i s tv i s i t a t i o n a n d i t i simpor tan t to deve lopd e s t i n a t i o n s , c r e a t einfrastructure,accessibility,and marketing campaignstoattracttourists/increasethe length of stay. To thate f fec t , the incumbentgovernment has made

several announcements and developed plans for thepromotionoftourisminthecountry.

Pro Tourism Government

Thetourisminitiativesannouncedbythecentralgovernmentafter coming to power include developing tourisminfrastructure, Clean Ganga campaign, investment into 5tourism circuits, focus on railways to increase domestictourism,inlandwaterwaysfortransportandtourism,andthe'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' campaign (India's biggestcleanlinessinitiative).

The success of government of India's e-Tourist Visa (eTV)extensioncanbegaugedfromtheincreaseintheeTVsissuedin the first sixmonths of 2015, which recorded a tenfoldincrease(1,26,214comparedto11,953arrivalsduringthesame period in 2014) as the facility was extended to 76countriesfromtheearlier12countries(tillNovember2014).Thisisapositiveindicatorandpromisestobringanincreasedtourist inflow especially with the facility proposed to beextendedto180countriesbytheendoftheyear.

MICE boosting occupancy during shoulder and off seasons

MICE is one of the fastest growing segments across thecountry.CitiessuchasJaipurhaveseenMICEemergeasan

India's share among the world's international tourism receipts has improved from 0.97% (rank 26) in 2004 to 1.54% (rank 16) in 2 0 1 3 , h o w e v e r, t ra v e l & tourism's total contribution to GDP in India was only 6.7% in 2014 (Rank 130) as compared to the world average of 9.8% (and Asia Pacific average of 9.2%).

Potential Inbound Tourism

Theinboundandoutboundcomparison(Figure6)isaclearindicator of the country's relatively slow growth in theinboundtravelsegmentwhencomparedtothegrowththecountry'soutboundtourism.

FIGURE 6: TOURISM IN INDIA: INBOUND AND OUTBOUND

6.97

16.62

0

5

10

15

20

25

Pas

sen

gers

(in

Mill

ion

s)

(Year)

Outbound

Inbound

S p i r i t u a l t o u r i sm , wh i c h c o n c e r n s w i t h s e l fawareness/spiritual learning, is another segment that isgrowing in India attracting both domestic and inboundtourism. The growing interest in the Buddhist Circuit andPrimeMinisterNarendraModi'splansofdevelopingworld-class amenities on the Sarnath-Gaya-Varanasi BuddhistCircuit,presentsauniqueopportunitytodevelopa touristcircuit, which has historical and spiritual significance andincorporates interests of international groups includingpilgrims, historians, explorers, and spiritual/leisuretravellersalike.

More reasons to invest in leisure destinations

The rising middle class and growing Indian traveller

Oneof thebiggestdevelopments for the Indianhospitalityindustryinrecentyearshasbeentheincreaseindomestictourism.Furthermore,thesizeofoutboundmarket(Indiannationalstravellingabroad)hasalsogrownby11.6%CAGR

(2004 to 2013) reflectingthe growing spendingcapacityandpropensitytot r ave l b y t h e I n d i a nt r a v e l l e r . F i g u r e 6highlightsthegapbetweentheinboundandoutboundt rave l in the country

exphasising the need to focus on tourism and developingleisuredestinationsinthecountry.

The burgeoning middle class and increasing purchasing power has lead to a growth of 13.5% CAGR in domestic tourist visits to all states and union territories from 2004 to 2013.

INVESTING IN LEISURE: EXPLORING THE UNTAPPED POTENTIAL | PAGE 7

Onthefinancialperformance,amongthesevenmajorcities,Goahadthehighestnetincome(asapercentageoftopline)recordedat34.9%forthe5starand5stardeluxecategoriesand30.6%forthefourstarandthreestarcategories³.Amongthe13smalleremergingcities,threeofthehighestfournetincomes were again recorded by leisure destinations –Udaipur, Jaipur and Agra (Gurgaon being the businessdestination).

Conclusion

India, even with its vast and varied landscape andexperiencesattractsaminuscule0.64%oftheworldtourismtraffic. However, the landscape is changing in favour oftourismandincreasedleisurespendswiththeemergenceofnewleisuretrends,influxoflowcostairlines,initiativessuchas the proposed extension of the e-Tourist Visa to 180countries, focus on railways to increase tourism,development of pilgrimage and tourist circuits, campaignssuch as the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and investment intotourisminfrastructure.

From a hotel investor’s perspective, considering thedevelopment cost for a business and leisure hotel is notdrasticallydifferentinIndia,thehigherRevPARscombinedwiththeincrementalleisurespendingonfoodandbeverage,spas,travelandtoursmayinfactyieldbetterreturnsinthemediumtolongrun.

In conclusion, the favouringmacro environment, need forqual i ty branded accommodat ion and improvingperformance of leisure hotels merits the opportunity forinvestmentinhotelsacrossleisuredestinationsinIndia.

important business segment for hotels. The availability oflarge-scale meeting facilities combined with a large roominventory has led to an increased number of residentialevents in hotels. Weddings and conferences are a veryproductivesegmentforleisuredestinationsduringshoulderandoffseasons,therebyenablingthemtomitigatethevastdisparities thatused toexistbetweenpeakandoff seasonoccupancies.Asaresult,manyupscalehotelsincitiessuchasUdaipur and Jaipur position themselves as 'WeddingDestinations' to cater to the big fat Indian wedding. Thegrowth in the MICE segment is likely to continue goingforwardandleisuredestinationswithgoodaccessibilityarelikelytobenefitimmenselyfromthissegment.

Weekend Travel/Staycations

With the increasing urban population and risingweekendcultureinthecountry,alargepartoftheworkingpopulationtodayindulgesinquickgetawaysoverweekendstonearbyd e s t i n a t i on s . E xamp l e s i n c l ude Lonava l a a ndMahabaleshwarforMumbaiandPune;Neemrana,Damdama,andSohnaforDelhi-NCR;CoorgandMysoreforBengaluru;andEastCoastRoad(ECR),MahabalipuramandPuducherryfor Chennai. Some of these are in fact single resortdestinations as in the case ofNeemrana (Neemrana Fort),Sohna (Westin) and Damdama (Gateway by Taj). Today,travellers look for unique experiences beyond traditionalholidaydestinationsmakingsmalloffbeatdestinationsandboutiqueresortswithgoodaccessibilityalsoviable.

The Math

In2013/14,theorganisedhotelm a r k e t i n t h e l e i s u r edestinations (67 destinations,approximately 20,000 rooms)recorded an occupancy of56.8% as compared to thebu s i n e s s d e s t i n a t i on srecording 59.4% (resulting inanAllIndiaaverageof58.9%).ThegapbetweenaverageoccupancyofleisuredestinationsandtheallIndiaaveragehasbeenreducingoverthelastthreeyears.

3 FHRAI Indian Hotel Industry Survey 2013-2014

FIGURE 7: PERFORMANCE OF HOTELS IN LEISURE DESTINATIONS

Leisure Hotels RevPAR All India Average RevPAR

3,197

3,282

3,386

3,577

3,3373,258

3,000

3,100

3,200

3,300

3,400

3,500

3,600

3,700

2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

T h e A R R f o r l e i s u r e destinations is much higher as compared to the All-India average as well as the average of hotels in business destinations resulting in a higher RevPAR.

HVS.com HVS | 6th Floor, Building 8-C, DLF Cyber City, Phase – II, Gurgaon 122 002, INDIA

About HVSHVS, the world's leading consulting and services organization focused on the hotel,

mixed-use, shared ownership, gaming, and leisure industries, celebrates its 35th

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Services offered are:

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Ach i n Khanna i s t h eM a n a g i n g D i r e c t o r o fConsulting&ValuationatHVSSouthAsia.HeisaMemberofthe Royal Inst i tut ion ofCharteredSurveyors(MRICS).Over the past seven years at

HVS,Achinhasdirected a largenumberofa s s i gnments , per formed economicfeasibilityanalysesandlargescaleportfoliovaluations,successfullyconductedoperatorsearches and management contractnegotiations.Hehasextensiveexperienceinconducting hotel valuations, both in Indiaand internationally. Prior to joining HVS,Achin spent ten years in the United Statesworking across various roles in hoteloperations,revenuemanagement,franchiserelations andbusinessdevelopment.Achinholds a Bachelor of Science in HospitalityManagement from Widener University,Chester,PAandaMBAfromTheUniversityofPhoenix,Arizona,USA.

About the Authors

R i shabh Thapa r i s a nAssociate – Consulting andValuationwithHVS'NewDelhioffice and has worked onmultiple feasibility studies,valuationsandmarketstudiesin India, Bangladesh and

Nepal.PriortohistenureatHVS,RishabhhasworkedinhoteloperationswiththeIndianHotels Company Limited (IHCL) beforemoving to a development role with hisfamily's hotel business. Rishabh graduatedfromtheTajManagementTrainingProgramin 2008 and holds a BA (Hons) in HotelManagement from the Institute of HotelManagement Aurangabad (University ofHudddersfield,UK).

For further information please contactakhanna@hvs.com rthapar@hvs.comor

Editing support was provided byAvantika VijaySingh.AllphotographyinthisarticleiscopywrittentoShamsherSinghMannandRishabhThapar.