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Issue 09
WINTER 2020
PROFILE
One to WATCH
H
Durban-born Ravi Nadasen has left an impressive career in hotels to run private schools. Matthew Hattingh reports
itler quit painting for politics. Elon Musk flipped from online finance to building rocket ships and battery-powered cars. And Mick Jagger abandoned the London School of Economics for a life in rock ’n roll. Dramatic career changes are nothing new. Still, Ravi Nadasen’s recent move from a senior role in South African tourism to running a group of private schools has to be worth more than a mention. And moreso, when you remember that unlike the tyrant, tycoon and Old Rubber Lips, who were in their spring (or close to it) when they made the leap, Nadasen has spent the best part of 25 years in not only the same industry, but with the same company.
He leaves Tsogo Sun Hotels, the country’s largest JSElisted hotel group with 110 hotels, where he was chief operations officer, to become chief executive of the local arm of Inspired, the London-headquartered, privately held education company He leaves Tsogo Sun Hotels, the country’s largest JSE-listed hotel group with 110 hotels, where he was chief operations officer, to become chief executive of the local arm of Inspired, the London-headquartered, privately held education company. Nadasen also served on a number of industry and government advisory bodies, including as interim chairman of South African Tourism and deputy chairman of the Tourism Business Council of SA. The affable businessman said while it was a change of direction, the management skills he acquired over the years (buttressed by formal study) would travel well. The 45-year-old from Overport, Durban, says hotels are in his
