Little did he know while he was working as a dishwasher in his early career that he would once be acclaimed among the top businessmen in the world. From a humble beginning Deepak Ohri took off fabulously to become the big boss of one of the most sought after luxury hotels based out of Bangkok.
Deepak Ohri, two time winner of 'Entrepreneur of the year award' by The Art of Travel and Hospitality Asia and CEO at Lebua Hotels and Resorts, Bangkok, is an IIMB alumnus of the EEP ’04 batch. He comes with a hotel management background and has unparalleled experience working with some of the major hotels and resorts in and outside India.
He walked into the IIMB campus to undergo an Executive MBA program for The Taj Group of Hotels. Coming back to IIMB recently, Deepak remembered his stint at IIMB as instrumental in chiseling the entrepreneur in him.
The lion’s share of Deepak’s success story goes to how he magically transformed the fortune of Dome, a high end luxury hotel in Bangkok, and went ahead to expand the business and launch his brainchild, the Lebua Hotels and Resorts. He has made such an impressive triumph that Dome, Lebua and their annexes are now world renowned luxury destinations. With Deepak at the rudder, Lebua won the Overall Best Luxury Hotel Award leaving behind 1500 luxury hotels across the world. It’s quite an awe that his hotels are packed to an extent that getting a dinner table might take you a 90 day long wait. Has recession affected his business? It has got some respite to his customers with the wait being reduced to 30 days, chuckles Deepak who sits across tables with the rich and famous global personalities.
So what marked about Deepak’s style of working? He says his ability to understand and listen to people from an emotional perspective has done wonders. Deepak took up tough challenges and churned out opportunities from the most difficult situations.
Today Deepak is a member of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and is on the advisory board of the Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management in Singapore. His vision for the hospitality industry is to create a worldwide benchmark with an understanding of behavioral and emotional touch points of customers.
Deepak has a lovely wife who he says has been the pillar of his recent successes. He loves to play golf and his eyes set on retiring early. This Delhiite, at the age of 40, is unarguably the most successful, admired and envied hoteliers. With his charisma, humility and vision Deepak is all set to make many more big and fat successes. IIMB is proud to have him as our alumnus.
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