Ashish Vohra is respected as a hospitality industry veteran. With a career spanning over twenty five years, post his tenure with the Oberoi group, Ashish Vohra founded Justa Hotels & Resorts in 2005. Justa is a Sanskrit word, which means ‘to welcome’ to your home. Justa Hotels & Resorts founded by Mr Ashish Vohra , is where Indian hospitality meets international standards of luxury. Being believers in individualized service – each of the Justa hotels have less than 50 rooms. Justa promises an experience filled with a mosaic of happy experiences, rich in moments of luxurious comfort, seamless service, and the ambiance of opulence.
Since it’s establishment, Justa Hotels has grown organically through a mixture of own hotels, revenue share and management contracts.
Being passionate about hospitality, today he leads a team of dynamic professionals and helms the jüSTa Hotels & Resorts, running 13 hotels successfully across the country.
Ashish has also played the important role of a consulting director for a few reputed international hotels based in India and had a stint as the Representative Director of Leading Hotels of The World for India.
An MBA Sales and Marketing from the Mumbai University, he specializes in the field of Marketing, Sales, Strategy and Finance. Having started his career in Sales at The Oberoi Hotels, he has also handled key positions like Regional Director – Northern Region, Director of Marketing and Brand Development, where during his term were launched the Uday Vilas, Raj Vilas, Amar Vilas & Vanya Vilas, which stand tall among the top rated hotels in the world.
In an exclusive conversation with team Salt and Sandals, Mr.Vohra shares the experiences he had in the industry and also on his mantra to a happy life.
Amogh Tiwari : How do you handle stressful situations and working under pressure?
Ashish Vohra :It depends on what we identify as stressful. In my view, whenever a guest or a customer is not getting the right experience as per the set expectations, then it bothers me. We have a zero tolerance policy towards any negative guest experiences due to any service related issues. It is the prime focus of every member of my team, beginning with me to ensure that the guest needs come above all else and we work backwards from there.
AT-What motivated you to go into the hotel industry?
AV-The hospitality industry is unlike any other industry where no day is similar to the other. What initially attracted me to this industry is it’s dynamism and an array of experiences that we can provide for our customers as well as ourselves.
AT- You worked for the Oberoi Group for more than 25 years. Comparing Oberoi and Justa hotels, they have entirely different brand images and possibly different target markets. What prompted you to start Justa Hotels?
AV-Not really. Oberoi Hotels has been the pioneer and a trend setter in the hospitality industry for decades now. Many of us have been fortunate enough to have worked there and learnt from the best. jüSTa Hotels was a dream that I envisaged and started very small. If we keep aside the vastness and expanse of Oberoi Hotels, there are actually a lot of similarities between both the brands. We too are a home grown brand and have grown organically. In our organization too, we have the same DNA which focusses on guest experiences more than anything else. Many members of my core team also have worked with the Oberoi Hotels and have inculcated the same traits. Collectively, we drive this down to our teams across the country in all our units.
AT- You have spent nearly your entire career in India. What motivates you to stay in India?
AV- India, is the most diverse country one can find anywhere in the world with so many ethnicities and cultures. Yet, the single biggest differentiating factor of our rich country wherever you go is that every guest is treated with so much respect and honour by every home and family. These are the same values that we follow in the hospitality industry. Apart from this, the tourism industry still has a long way to go in India compared to other parts of the world. As such, the opportunity and potential to reach out beyond the tier one and two cities is in itself a huge factor that we as a young organization would like to explore.
AT:What are the most challenging issues you are facing currently?
AV-We see quite a few challenges from time to time and every time there are new ones. With the Global hotel chains bringing all their brands in every category, the competition has definitely been upped. With supply super ceding demand in most cities, the pressure is not just on occupancies, but more so on the ADRs. Another new kind of challenge is the advent of the aggregators who have given wings to the independent and unstructured hotels in our geographies. However, as we have seen in the past, no challenge remains forever. The brands that focus on quality and manage their operations as well as revenues smartly will be the ones to continue to sustain and succeed.
AT -What do you do at work that you enjoy so much you actually lose track of time?
AV-Actually any kind of work itself gives me a high – meeting with guests or clients to understand from them first-hand about their experiences at our hotels, our suppliers and partners who help us enhance the value additions to our operations, my teams to see how we can do better than what we already are.
AT- You graduated from the Mumbai University in Mumbai with an MBA degree. Did you work on your degree while working in the hotel industry?
AV – I started my career only after I finished my MBA degree.
AT – What advice would you offer to those who are inspired to become successful in the hotel industry?
AV – The perspective of the hotel industry with the outside world is that of being associated with a glamorous and flamboyant lifestyle. Well actually, though at times it looks tough, it’s actually very simple – One has to be disciplined, stick to the basics of service, be well informed of what is happening around you at all times and have a sense of commitment to what he or she is doing. Once this is in place, the rest will automatically follow.
AT -In your opinion, what is the single best quality your employees can possess?
AV -It’s very simple – Dedication and commitment to providing exemplary guest experiences.
AT -What are your new upcoming offerings?
AV -We are actively working on projects in Chennai, Goa, Uttarakhand and UP.
