Indian Hotels Exotica
Raymond Bickson was born in Hawaii, trained in Switzerland, and is now Ratan Tata's point man for the hospitality business.
If you thought US President Barack Obama has a delightfully mixed lineage, consider what Raymond Bickson had to say about his own. "My mother is Hawaiian, Chinese, Filipino, Spanish and German. My father was a Russian Jew. I was raised a Catholic," Bickson wrote in an article in the New York Times in 2005.
Both Obama and Bickson come from Hawaii in the United States and met recently when the US President visited the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai to commemorate the martyrs of the 26/11 terrorist strike. India has been home for Bickson since 2003 when he joined Indian Hotels Company Ltd, or IHCL, as Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer of Taj Luxury Hotels. Seven months after joining, Bickson pipped long-time favourite Zubin Dubash to the post of managing director of IHCL when R.K. Krishna Kumar handed over the executive baton.
So what did Bickson offer to IHCL that none of the Indian managers could? International experience, surely. Bickson had worked all across the world - Shanghai, Melbourne, New York, and was trained in Switzerland. He was General Manager for The Mark in New York for almost 15 years before deciding to leave for India. This was the time when the Taj was looking to expand globally.
During a large part of his leadership of the Taj, Bickson has worked in the shadow of Krishna Kumar, who remains Vice Chairman of IHCL. That may be set to change. With three years to go for Krishna Kumar, the show would be more and more owned by Bickson from now on. Since Bickson arrived, IHCL has opened one hotel every six weeks. The years ahead could see him hastening the pace.
Both Obama and Bickson come from Hawaii in the United States and met recently when the US President visited the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai to commemorate the martyrs of the 26/11 terrorist strike. India has been home for Bickson since 2003 when he joined Indian Hotels Company Ltd, or IHCL, as Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer of Taj Luxury Hotels. Seven months after joining, Bickson pipped long-time favourite Zubin Dubash to the post of managing director of IHCL when R.K. Krishna Kumar handed over the executive baton.
So what did Bickson offer to IHCL that none of the Indian managers could? International experience, surely. Bickson had worked all across the world - Shanghai, Melbourne, New York, and was trained in Switzerland. He was General Manager for The Mark in New York for almost 15 years before deciding to leave for India. This was the time when the Taj was looking to expand globally.
During a large part of his leadership of the Taj, Bickson has worked in the shadow of Krishna Kumar, who remains Vice Chairman of IHCL. That may be set to change. With three years to go for Krishna Kumar, the show would be more and more owned by Bickson from now on. Since Bickson arrived, IHCL has opened one hotel every six weeks. The years ahead could see him hastening the pace.
