Mr. Rakesh Sarna, will join Indian Hotels Company Limited as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer on 1st September, 2014. Mr. Sarna will take over from Mr. Raymond Bickson, who will step down after 11 years as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company. In this role, Mr. Sarna will be responsible for steering the growth of the organisation as it continues to be positioned as a strong India-based hotel group with strategic presence in chosen markets outside India.
Mr. Sarna brings over three decades of experience across various leadership roles with Hyatt Hotels. He was the Group President of Americas and Executive Vice President at Hyatt Hotels Corporation with a portfolio of 146 Full Service, 233 Select Service hotels and 15 Vacation Ownership facilities across North America, the Caribbean and Latin America with 47,000 employees. In this role, Mr. Sarna was responsible for development and management of owned, managed and franchised hotels across all Hyatt brands. In his association with Hyatt Hotels, he has been instrumental in the development and operations of all Hyatt branded hotels in Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa & Middle East, South West Asia and Latin America and establishment of a pipeline of high-yield hotels, notably in China, India, Brazil & Mexico.
Mr. Sarna was responsible for co-establishment of the Hyatt’s development resources in New Delhi, Beijing & Zurich. He was also responsible for co-authoring the brand attributes of Andaz (the luxury brand launched by the Hyatt) and leading the launch of this new brand. Mr. Sarna has also managed divisional offices in Hong Kong (for Asia Pacific), Dubai (for South West Asia), Zurich (for Europe Africa & Middle East) and Mexico City (for Latin America).
Mr. Sarna has had an international upbringing. He moved to Canada as a young adult and completed his Diploma in Hospitality Administration from Ottawa.
Indian Hotels is an iconic part of the Tata group and representative of the group legacy. The current Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Raymond Bickson has been instrumental in expanding this legacy globally. Mr. Bickson has also been responsible for the expansion of the brand to include luxury, upscale, mid-scale and economy hotels.
