Editors Note World View Asia-Pacific Scene Indian Panorama Kerala Traveller Aviation Face to Face 10 Questions Woman of the Month Hospitality Columns Bookshelf Variety Quiz Back Issues asian traveller :: home :: Woman of the Month W oman of the Month Asha Subramanian /> How did you become interested in Travel & Tourism business? My joining the Travel and Aviation Industry was not planned in the strict sense .As a child, I was keen in learning and knowing about different cultures, countries and people. The entire world of travel was fascinating and held me in great awe. Being an extrovert, I like meeting and interacting with people from different walks of life and this industry is a natural platform to do so. Soon after my graduation from Bangalore (which is my home town), I moved to Thiruvananthapuram where my spouse is based.I started my career in the sector in1992 with Air Travel Enterprises Ltd as Assistant Manager – Sales where I did a three year stint. I th... read story Farida Attarwala d> How did you become interested in travel and tourism business? My parents loved to travel and had shown us, the children, the entire country which sowed the seeds of understanding what travel is all about. At the age of 16, I travelled to USA all by myself, which gave me the know-how of handling travelling arrangements independently. It was followed by more independent travel adventures to Europe, Africa and other countries. I had started off on science studies to become a doctor but when I reached 12th grade I realised that was not what I wanted. However I continued in the same stream and graduated in Zoology nevertheless. I immediately went on to do a diploma in travel in 1986. Later I ran a gift boutique in Ahmedabad... read story Behnaz Irani /td> How did you become interested in Travel & Tourism business? By qualification I am architect, and was practicing as one. My desire for seeing new places and destinations to gather new ideas for my work, and my husband’s travel business, took me to new and different destinations. During my sabbatical from architectural practice, I would often visit the travel agency. I started out with just lending a helping hand, to work out some itineraries, being translator, etc. Somewhere down the lane, I was attracted to this profession and I decided its time for a change; and I am very happy about my decision. What is your current role in your company?  At Napolitan Travel, we have ... read story Priya Harikumar d> How did you become interested in Travel & Tourism business? I always had a passion for travelling, and always had an attraction to this industry, where you get numerous opportunities for meeting people, experiencing the unknown, getting to know more of different cultures, learning new things and hence decided in taking up a professional course in Travel & Tourism and did my Master’s in Tourism Administration (MTA). I started my career with a tour operation company based in Sharjah where I had enough opportunities for good exposure and experience after which I came back to India, and worked with a couple of similar organisations in Thiruvananthapuram. The excitement of something new was still in ... read story Audrey Brindley How did you become interested in Travel, Tourism & Hospitality business? I started in hotel sales in London in the early 70's.Please elaborate on how your business evolved over the period of time. Following a take over I had to leave my first job left and then I joined a travel publication selling advertising to International clients. This involved a great deal of travel on a global scale. You have been watching global tourism scene for a long time now. What are the basic things to learn for emerging tourism destinations of the world?I started my own publication on International Conferences and Incentives. But in early 80's we found advertising which s... read story Deepika Unni d> How did come to join this travel related industry? Tell us about the beginning of your career.I am basically in the Trade fairs and Exhibition Industry and Travel is one of the main industries I look into. Through ITB Berlin and now ITB Asia, my dealing with the Travel Industry has been quite intensive. I have worked with the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce in total for almost 10 years. I have also worked in Dubai with the German Industry and Commerce office for four years handling trade fairs, among other things. What is your current role at your organization? I am the Indian representative of Berlin Fairs. In this capacity, I represent all the fairs organized by Messe Berlin, who have... read story Anne Sajeev td> How did you become interested in hospitality business? Venturing into the hospitality industry was an unexpected turning point in my life and career. This industry has of course always held a fascination for me. Quality vacation with a new and exciting experience each time is something my family and I try to do at least once every year and this did give me an insight into how a holiday experience can be made- which I think is a very important aspect of the hospitality business.My entry into this fascinating industry happened by chance. We saw a beautiful piece of land up for sale, saw its great potential in creating a beautiful holiday experience, and there this journey began.What is your curren... read story Sonalee Vaz How did you become interested in hospitality business? Having graduated from H. R. College of Commerce & Economics some time back, I went on to pursue a post graduation diploma in travel and tourism. It was my time spent in learning about the industry that first intrigued me. The concept of travel was etched in my memory as a young child traveling with my parents when my dad (a film producer / distributor) took us to various scenic locations and we interacted with many stars of yester years like Sharmila Tagore, Mumtaz, Shashi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha and many more. Listening to their opinion on locations within and outside India always stirred my heart. These were early memories and my later education... read story Huzan Fraser How did you become interested in hospitality business? Please tell us about the beginning of your career. I started my career with Oberoi hotels as a Sales Executive as part of the Sales and Marketing department.  I actually just stumbled into the job I loved it so much that it became an integral part of me.  I even tried to move out of the hospitality business into banking at an earlier stage of my life and found it so dry that I came running back into this business.  What is your current role at your company? Please elaborate. Along with my business partner and long time friend Beena Menon we have established a destination marketing company seven years ago.  We have to... read story Prema Ram How did you become interested in hospitality business? It may sound strange. I was a college lecturer for the MA- Sociology course and had simultaneously registered for M Phil degree (prior to a PhD) in Bangalore University. I chanced upon an advertisement calling for a professional to start up a travel agency. Since the Managing Director of the agency was a well known motorbike racer (Sherif Dayan) whom I had a fancy to meet. I applied for it purely with the objective of meeting him for an autograph. He offered me a job, I stepped in. And, there began my tryst with the travel industry. What is your current role at your company? I am currently with AF/KL as General Manager -Sales for Karnat... read story Prameela Devi !/td> Prameela Devi made her entry into tourism industry with the launch of Hibiscus Court, which provides hospitality service to the travellers. With in a short time she has been able to establish her brand and now look forward to expanding her business to all prominent location in God's Own Country. How did you become interested in hospitality business?Being an army man's wife I had the opportunity to travel around, meeting beautiful people in different cultures. The hospitality they provided for us was an extension of selfless emotions. Since I am a very social person, this influenced me a lot. In the mean time I was search... read story Jaya Chandrahasan Jaya Chandrahasan is the Executive Director of Kerala Travels Interserve Limited. Established in 1959, Kerala Travels Interserve Limited has been time and again reckoned for its pioneering endeavours in travel and tourism sectors. How did you become interested in hospitality business? It was by sheer chance that I came into the hospitality business. With a Masters Degree in Botany I was on the look out for a lecture post in some college. My marriage to Chandrahasan, one of the two partners of the family owned travel company Kerala Travels, was the beginning of my career. It took me seven years after marriage for an active participation in the running... read story Pariva Rustagi /td> Pariva Rustagi, is the Director of Sales & Marketing (Delhi) of Marriott Hotels India Pvt. Ltd. She has more than a decade’s experience in the hospitality business – especially in the sales and marketing division. How did you become interested in hospitality business? I had the opportunity of attending a career counseling session way back in my eighth grade and the message was very powerful and convincing. I certainly did not know or understand the path that I may need to take but the direction was clear. A few years later I see myself walking into the doors of the finest hotel school in India, Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hote... read story Harinder Singh How did you become interested in hospitality business? After qualifying for the IPS I wanted to make it to the IAS and in the interim explored the possibility of joining the hotel profession for a year as an alternative and ended up joining the Hyatt as Guest Relations Officer. The hospitality industry had just begun to open up and over years it has grown immensely. What is your current role at your company? As the General Manager, my role at The Grand New Delhi is to oversee operational setup and over all management of the hotel. I am also responsible for developing strategies in opening the hotel shortly and also to strengthen the hotel's presence in local, national and international market along w... read story Sheema Vohra How did you become interested in hospitality business? When I finished high school - most of the traditional career choices were available. I was not interested in any of them, I wanted to be part of a global environment, be creative and enjoy work. A family friend introduced me to the idea of hotels and I applied to Pusa Institute for Hotel Management.  After completing my course I worked for a while and then decided to continue my education at UNLV (University Of Nevada Las Vegas) in the US. Since then I have never looked back - it continues to be a great journey. What is your current role at your company? Please elaborate.  I am the founder and director for Sartha Marketing Consult... read story Abhilasha Jain How did you become interested in hospitality business? When I was in college I got myself a world map big enough to be a wall paper and pasted it on a wall opposite my bed. So when I woke up every morning I would look at it and remind myself that I would like to at least have seen half of the world by the time I was 30. That is what interested me in hospitality industry - it offered me opportunities all over the world, whether in travel business or with hotels or airlines. Though when I started to get to know more about the industry I figured, I wasn't made for operations side of it- late night shifts, no off on public holidays etc. Chose to do my MBA in Marketing and then joined the hotel industry. My first job was with T... read story Nina Reddy How did you become interested in hospitality business? I have been a globetrotter all my life. During my travel, restaurants and hotels have always fascinated me. While my passion for hospitality grew with years, my marriage paved the way for my formal entry into this business. I used to visit Savera Hotels with family and friends to attend parties. When the business stretched to the second generation, we got the opportunity to be part of the management and operations. What is your role at your company? I am the Executive Director. I am in-charge of the day-to-day operations of the hotel which includes - Front Office, Food & Beverage, House-keeping, Sales & Marketing, Human Reso... read story Gauri Jayaram How did you become interested in hospitality business? It was certainly not a planned career. I left my home to study at Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics when I was 17 and after graduation I wanted a job that would keep me afloat financially so I could become independent. I applied for a job with an airline through an advertisement and I got the job. Once I became a part of the trade there was no looking back - now I am on my 17th year in the travel trade.  What is your current role at your company? Ours is the world's largest coach tour company and I am currently the Regional Director - South Asia and Middle East. So the company depends on me for running the office and ... read story Shilpa Sethi How did you become interested in hospitality business? Please tell us about the beginning of your career. I started my career with KLM Airlines with the ground team then moved on to United Airlines handling corporate marketing and sales. Then I started my own company offering consultancy services by way of negotiating bulk rates or discount structures on total business with hotels and airlines for individual corporates. What is your current role in your company? I am the General Manager of Buz Travel Marketing. Our core focus is offering representation services to foreign national tourist offices and non conflicting tourism products. Buzz Travel Marketing represents clients like Netherl... read story Neerja Bhatia How did you come to join the aviation industry? Although I am textile designer by training, I have spent my entire working life in the aviation industry. Prior to joining Etihad, I worked with Galileo India, a leading GDS company as General Manager, Western India, and prior to that for 13 years with a leading global airline of which last three years as a Sales Manager, North India. What is your current role at your company? As a General Manager, India for Etihad Airways, I oversee the Indian and Sri Lankan markets in terms of operations and commercial strategies and execution. Etihad is one of the fastest growing airlines in the world. India is a strategic market for Etihad, we already oper... read story Aishvarya Guhagarkar Tell us about the beginning of your career.I started my career with Mauritius tourism in the year 1996. After four years there, I started working with Singapore tourism board for two years and since 2002 I am with the Switzerland Tourism Board. What is you role in the company?At Switzerland tourism, my job function is to promote Switzerland in India, making more and more people go to Switzerland and experience it in a different manner. The brand is promoted through different travel agents and media. We have e-learning programs for the travel agents and travellers by putting up an India centric page where we can find a lot of information of the Indian tour operators based in different places like... read story Neha Lidder Ganju How did you become interested in hospitality business? I started my Career with Kimberly Clark, Pune in Industrial Sales. From there I moved on to advertising with Trikaya Grey, now called Grey Worldwide. I then took a break from work and went to Washington DC, there after a few months I got an offer to do a project with a company in San Jose, California. While working on the project in California I made up my mind to return to India. On my return a head hunter called me for the role of marketing head for Virgin Atlantic - that was in 2000. Rest, as they say, is history.What is your current role at your company?I head the Marketing and PR for Virgin Atlantic in India. All the branding and brand ... read story Neelu Singh How did you become interested in Travel business? Please tell us about the beginning of your career?I had always aspired to become a heart surgeon. It was by chance that I got into the travel industry. I was waiting for my post graduate classes to begin and in the interim took up the job of a summer trainee at SITA World Travels for three months and I have to admit that the journey since then has been quite interesting. It has been fascinating. Travelling to destinations that I only heard of and learning changing customer profile. What is your role in your company? I head the company as the Chief Operating Officer. I oversee all the administrative, marketing and operational activities of the company and the challen... read story C urrent Issue O ther Stories Asha Subramanian Farida Attarwala Behnaz Irani Priya Harikumar Audrey Brindley Deepika Unni Anne Sajeev Sonalee Vaz Huzan Fraser Prema Ram Prameela Devi Jaya Chandrahasan Pariva Rustagi Harinder Singh Sheema Vohra Abhilasha Jain Nina Reddy Gauri Jayaram Shilpa Sethi Neerja Bhatia Aishvarya Guhagarkar Neha Lidder Ganju Neelu Singh To place your advertisements in this space please contact Marketing, Mediastepsindia home | about us | advertise with us | subscribe | contact us | team support : colorvibes The news items and Advertisements published herein have been collected from various source, which are considered to be reliable. Readers are however requested to verify the facts before making business decisions using the same. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the written permission from the Publisher. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2009