Ovolo Hotels has promoted Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand, Dave Baswal, to the top job of Chief Executive Officer. Baswal’s promotion will enable Ovolo Founder and Executive Chairman, Girish Jhunjhnuwala, to focus on branding, development and strategic growth of the business.
The appointment comes as Ovolo prepares for the next phase of its evolution, with plans to expand into new markets as the hospitality industry recovers from the impacts of the pandemic.
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With 20 years of experience in hospitality, finance and real estate management, Baswal has been instrumental in Ovolo’s growth during the pandemic and in building a strong team aligned around the group’s core values.
Baswal joined Ovolo Hotels in 2016 as Director of Operations and Finance. He moved his way up the group’s hierarchy, and was promoted to Chief Operations Officer after 8 months and took on the additional responsibilities of Chief Financial Officer for the hospitality company in early 2018. Last year he was tapped as Managing Director for the local market.
“Dave Baswal personifies the very best of Ovolo – someone with the passion to constantly improve the guest experience; the creativity to innovate new services; and the business acumen to deliver strong performance,” said Jhunjhnuwala.
“Most importantly, he shares the same people-centric ethos that is at the very heart of Ovolo, delivering happiness to our guests, our teams, and our stakeholders.”
“I am excited that his promotion will allow me to direct my energy into finding new opportunities to take the Ovolo experience to more travellers globally. I started my journey in real estate 20 years ago and launched Ovolo Hotels in 2010, and this is the perfect time to evolve the group under a reinvigorated leadership. Dave has the trust of myself and our stakeholders, and his promotion will create new opportunities for the rest of our team. I am excited for what the future holds.”
Baswal said he is proud to take the mantle of CEO from Girish and is honoured to have earned the trust of Ovolo’s visionary founder.
“Girish has been such an inspiration to me, and all our team members and he remains the heart and soul of Ovolo. He has created a brand that deeply resonates with today’s travellers and that inspires our team to deliver exceptional service every day,” said the new CEO of Ovolo Hotels Group.
“I am honoured to lead this amazing group and to take Ovolo into its next phase at a time of enormous opportunity,” Baswal added.
A National Board Advisory Member of Tourism Accommodation Australia and former executive at Mantra Group, Baswal holds a Master’s in Professional Accounting, a Master’s in International Tourism and a Bachelor in Hotel Management, and brings a wealth of experience to the role.
Ovolo currently has 13 hotels and a dozen restaurants across Hong Kong, Australia and Indonesia and is looking for expansion opportunities across Asia Pacific, Europe, and the US.
Jhunjhnuwala will remain intrinsically involved in all aspects of the business, continuing to break the rules that traditional hoteliers follow to set new benchmarks in hospitality.