Hotel Association of India Unveils Mentorship Initiative for Hospitality Leaders

New Delhi, Aug 14 (KNN) The Hotel Association of India (HAI), the apex body representing India’s hospitality sector, has launched a pioneering and structured mentorship programme, marking a first-of-its-kind endeavour for the hotel industry.

Announced on August 14, 2025, this programme addresses the growing talent deficit in the Indian hotel sector, with a focus on nurturing leadership capabilities, accelerating career progression, fostering organisational culture, and enhancing employee recruitment, retention, and engagement.

The initiative is particularly timely, as India’s tourism and hospitality industry continues to expand across around 50 tier-2 and tier-3 cities. A team of domain experts from HAI-affiliated hotels crafted the operational framework, ensuring relevance and effectiveness.

At the launch, Union Minister of Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, hailed the mentorship platform as a game-changer. He emphasized its potential to position India as a global tourism powerhouse—an integral part of the vision to create a $3 trillion tourism economy by 2047.

HAI President and Chairman South Asia of Radisson Hotel Group, KB Kachru, praised the programme’s roots in the traditional “guru–shishya” model.

He noted that with the ambitious goal of building one million branded hotel rooms by 2047, India will require 100,000 more middle- to senior-level hotel managers, making such mentorship critical.

HAI plans to integrate the mentorship programme across its member hotels, embedding it into their organisational cultures—empowering emerging leaders and reinforcing India’s reputation as a world-class hospitality destination.

(KNN Bureau)