New Delhi, April 24, 2019: The India operations of NYSE-listed global hospitality major, Hilton, has picked up another senior executive, Dhruv Hoon, from its main competitor Marriott International’s India office. According to multiple industry sources, the vice-president for Marriott’s hotel development in the Asia Pacific, Hoon is set to assume a similar role at Hilton’s India office.
“Hilton is working on building its India portfolio and has now got him (Hoon) to head its development and related activities in this region. He has been with Marriott for long now and will join Hilton very soon,” said a hotel industry source.
This move comes a little over a year after Hilton brought on board Navjit Ahluwalia as its senior vice president and country head – India. In his tenure of over 13 years, Ahluwalia was the man responsible for giving Marriott a strong foothold in the Indian hospitality market according to the reports published in dnaindia.com.
Globally Hilton operates 17 brands across 5,685 hotels in 113 countries. However, its hotel portfolio in India comprises just 19 properties across Hilton, Conrad, DoubleTree by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn hotels.
With the intention of beefing up its India portfolio, Hilton has been sprucing up its India team post-Ahluwalia’s appointment last year. Hilton’s focus on building the India team increased after September 2017, when the hotel chain announced new leadership in the Asia Pacific region. The company got on board a former InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) veteran Alan Watts as its executive vice president and regional president, Asia Pacific (APAC) for Hilton based in.
