Lifestyle & Beauty
Priya Paul Director of Apeejay Surrendra Group and Chairperson of Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels
Priya Paul
Leading Visionary Hoteliers
of India
To introduce her as one of the prominent entrepreneurs of the country will not do justice to her. She has gone beyond just being an hotelier. Honoured as a forebearer of the contemporary travel industry at LE Miami, the world’s first invitation-only travel tradeshow; ambitious and creative Priya Paul, Chairperson of Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels talks to us about her journey, how she took over as Chairperson, her creative side and future plans of the group.
T
hey say leaders are born and not created. Priya Paul gives us every reason to believe this. She truly is a classic example of beauty with brains. Throughout her career spanning over two decades, she has demonstrated how one can put their leadership qualities to best use and take the brand and the people associated with the brand from one level of growth to another. A star is born Born to Shirin Paul and Surrendra Paul, in 1967, Priya Paul is the oldest of three siblings. Her father Surrendra Paul became the Chairman of the APJ group (A for Amin Chand, Pyare Lal’s father); P for Pyare Lal and J for Jalandhar group in 1982). On many occasions Priya Paul has admitted that the sisters and brother were brought up differently at home, where the spirit entrepreneurship runs in the family. The leadership qualities were sown in her at a very young age.
Shirin Paul Chairperson Emeritus, Apeejay Surrendra Group
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Having completed her education in the Wellesley College in the US, Priya Paul joined the company headed by her father and eventually be the first woman in her clan to work in the family business. She managed the portfolio of Market-
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The Park. She has worked tirelessly towards building a brand that is synonymous with her unique creative energy and is well recognized for her leadership qualities. Under her direction and leadership, The Park Hotels have emerged as stylish, edgy, fun and warm – a true reflection of contemporary India. She wears many hats
(L-R) Kelly Zong, President, Hangzhou Wahaha Group; Wendy Yap, President & CEO, Nippon Indosari Corpindo; Priya Paul, Chairperson, Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels; Romi Haan, CEO, Haan Corporation; Vicky Bindra, President, Asia/ Pacific, Middle East and Africa, MasterCard Worldwide; Moira Forbes, President & Publisher, ForbesWoman
Priya Paul is a founding member of the World Travel and Tourism Council – India Initiative and has been appointed as the Chairperson for the year 2013. She is also a Trustee of the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) and Chairperson, South Asia Women’s Fund and a member of Harvard Business Schools’ India Advisory Board. She is also an Executive Committee Member and ExPresident of the Hotel Association of India. Awards and Recognitions Priya Paul was recently honored as a forbearer of the contemporary travel industry alongside Ian Schrager, Nick Jones and others at the LE Miami 2015, the world’s first invitation-only travel tradeshow to reflect the shift in luxury and contemporary travel.
ing Manager of The Park New Delhi. Priya Paul was just 21 year old then. Ever since she joined the business in 1988 there has been no looking back for her. She worked with her father Surrendra Paul, a global minded businessman with a clear vision and decisiveness who had the ability to make things happen. His leadership saw a period of consolidation of existing businesses and expanding into newer ventures. The father daughter duo took the companies under APJ group to an all new level.
Priya Paul has also been conferred with the insignia of Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Merite (National
President Pratibha Patil confers the Padma Shri Award to Entrepreneur Priya Paul during Padma Award presentation ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawanon on March 22, 2012 in New Delhi, India.
Order of Merit) in 2014 for her significant contribution to strengthening links between India and France. She has been awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honour, for her services to Trade & Industry by the President of India. She has also received the FHRAI (Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India) Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2000, was recognized by Forbes online as one of India’s 100 most powerful business
women in 2006, and took home the Zee Astitva Award in the Business category in 2008. She has also been awarded the ‘Spa Personality of the Year’ for the year 2009-10 by Asia spa India, India Today Woman in Business Award and PHD ChamberDistinguished Women Entrepreneur Award for 2009-2010 and has been inducted into the FHRAI Hall of Fame in 2010. Priya Paul’s design sensibilities are well-acknowledged in the industry.
Priti Paul, Francois Richier & Priya Paul, launched the new French Books section at Oxford Bookstore Connaught Place
When the going gets tough the tough gets going! In what we call a typical Bollywood movie style, just when everything was going good, things took a U turn with the Paul’s. Surrendra Paul breathed his last leaving behind a legacy that he had created and taken from one level of growth to another. His sudden and unfortunate demise in 1990 saw his wife Shirin Paul, taking over as Group Chairperson and Jit Paul became the Group Advisor, both steering the Group together through trying times. Surrendra Paul’s younger daughter Priti Paul and his son Karan Paul joined the business in 1990 and
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1992 respectively. With the third generation of the Paul Family at the helm, the Group burst forth with new ideas and business diversification. The Financial Services division was created with incorporation of Apeejay Finance Group in 1993 and Apeejay Securities Private Limited in 1995; the Real Estate division created Plug–n-Play offices Apeejay Business Centers in 1998, the Hospitality division began the expansion of The Park Hotels in 1999, the Shipping division saw expansion with additions to its Fleet and also in
the same year, retail activities were initiated and expanded country wide with Oxford Bookstores. Priya Paul; the perfect combination of beauty and brains Art collector and design aficionado Priya Paul is Chairperson of Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels in India. A prominent business woman and one of the most revered personalities in the hospitality industry; Priya Paul is the creative powerhouse behind country’s leading collection of contemporary luxury boutique hotels –
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To reaffirm the same, she was awarded for “Excellence in Design Innovation 2011” by Condé Nast Traveller India, at a glittering event in New Delhi. This honor was for seamlessly combining her passion for boutique hotels and her love of contemporary art and high-function design. Also, “Designomist 2011” at VGC Designomics 2011 was bestowed to Priya Paul for creating unique experiences for the guests across the world with a visual feast of design aesthetics and originality in each of the exquisitely designed boutique hotels. Priya Paul has been working in this industry for 25 years and it has been a journey to create something different, out of the ordinary and something that is inexplicable. She was awarded the Aatithya Ratna Award by Hotel Investment Forum India, 2011. This award was established by HIFI to honor an individual who exemplifies the extraordinary spirit of hospitality. To commemorate her contribution to the hotel industry for last 25 years, ‘Hall of Fame 2011’ was bestowed to her by Hotelier India. In 2012, Fortune India listed Priya Paul among the 50 powerful business women in India for the second consecutive year.
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Future plans of the Zone
“I had been collecting oleographs from calendar art and advertising materials for some years, when a dealer came by with hundreds of lobby cards and posters. These were fragile paper objects and I realised that they would soon be destroyed. It seemed like an urgent project to me, and I started collecting as many such artefacts as I could. I looked for images that had a strong graphic quality; that juxtaposed tradition with modernity; that were amusing or curious in some way, and of course, those that had actors and films I could recognise,” says Priya Paul.
An enthusiastic traveller, Priya Paul is someone who is always on the lookout for new experiences. And if she likes the place she leaves no stone unturned to set up her boutique hotel in style in that destination. Priya Paul even collects and stores information about the destination that she has not travelled to. This probably is what has prompted her to come up with a hotel in Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand and another one in Wayanad, Kerala. Priya aims at giving these spaces an eco-luxury feel because they are located close to the forest area. She wants the landscape and the architecture of the projects to speak for the projects.
Priya Paul has a heart for art and it comes by no surprise that she insists that each and every room of the Zone Hotels must have one original piece of art. She has commissioned work from award winning ceramic artist Rahul Kumar for her hotel in Jaipur. The Coimbatore property has on its walls photographs by upcoming photographers. The Zone Auto deserves special mention. It is an area that is dedicated to sell all quirky things and a food outlet for local snacks. This has become a signature across all hotels. However, the hues used and the designs are carefully chosen keeping the location in mind.
Heart for art Art has never been away from Priya Paul. She is an avid art collector of contemporary Indian artists and 19th and 20th century pop memorabilia. Her friends know her as someone who has an eye for the unusual and she buys artists even before they become popular. Her collection of old posters, calendars, postcards, commercial advertisements, textile labels and cinema posters, painstakingly accumulated over several decades, is one of the finest archives of such ephemera in India. Recently, Delhi-based Khoj International Artists Association put together an exhibition of film memorabilia that has been culled from Priya’s collection. The exhibition paid homage to vamps, anti-heroines, seductresses and dancers of Bombay cinema and includes posters, lobby cards and publicity stills from a long chronology of films, charting out the film
publicity machinery over the years.
Apeejay Institute of Hospitality celebrates the graduation day of the class of 2015
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Facts about Priya Paul and Park Group of Hotels • At the age of ten she was clear that eventually she would be an entrepreneur, but her entry into hoteliering was a decision made by the family, a fortuitous selection out of their portfolio of shipping, tea, real estate and construction, hospitality and financial services; a decision, she says in hindsight is creatively fulfilling. • Priya Paul takes credit of creating the Park Hotel ideology. This resulted in opening hotels in downtown locations, close to financial districts, attracting both the corporate and leisure traveller. This led to envisaging interesting and intimate spaces for customers, rather than being locked in accepted norms. • At a time when customers were not aware of the concept of architecturally unique, contemporary hotels with sophisticated interior designs and decorative themes, weaving in a whole gamut of the experiential and the eclectic, Park Group under the leadership of Priya Paul focussed on setting up city centred hotels and are the natural choice for anyone looking for a luxurious downtown location with easy access to key commercial and leisure districts.
architects, designers and artists such as Conran & Partners, Prakash Mankar, Michael Aram, Chandrasekhar Kanetkar, Carl Ettensperger and artist Hemi Bawa, amongst others. • Every hotel goes into a renovation phase after approximately seven years and this also attracts a new basket of clients. Anticipating trends, translating them into acceptable models, without diluting its functionality and integrating it with the service philosophy is the key for smooth transition. • There is a lot of Priya Paul that we can see in each of her hotels. Right from the involvement in every art piece and the overall concept to design requires her approvals. She is also involved in the nitty-gritty’s of the service and the training plan. Under her leadership, the group has evolved a style which is younger
and more friendly, resonant with the ethos of Park Hotels. • Priya Paul finds yoga and meditation very relaxing. Her wanderlust and love for nature has taken her on many voyages of discovery. In India, Goa is her favourite holiday destination. She draws inspiration from each place she visits and tries to capture that sensibility in one facet of her memory, to be drawn out later in conceptualising spaces. • Her favourite hotel is Park Bangalore, which was rated by the Tatler Travel Guide 2003 as one of the 101 best hotels of the world. • In her opinion the key to success in this industry is hard work, creativity and ability to see things differently.
• During the 39 years of the brand, the attempt has been to keep the hotels contemporary by bringing in fresh concepts and supporting them by edgy design ideas executed by renowned
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