Masters of luxury hospitality and travel are redefining indulgence through wellness, technology, conservation and intimate experiences. From Aashica Khanna’s data-led Ayurveda programmes and year-round care to boutique festivals in Rajasthan, green-certified hotel chains, conservation-led safaris and private aviation, these leaders show how modern luxury blends evidence-based wellbeing, sustainability and personalised journeys.
Ask Aashica Khanna what’s the most overused word in wellness and she’ll tell you it’s “transformative”. “Every glamping retreat, every airport yoga pod describes itself as transformative. The word should be earned through outcome.”
That sort of result-oriented focus is what led Khanna to introduce a digital wellness management system at Ananda in 2024—taking the Ayurveda-focussed luxury wellness resort near Rishikesh—that her father Ashok Khanna, MD at IHHR (Indian Hotels and Health Resorts) Hospitality, founded in 2000—well into the future.
“The system allows continuous, data-informed monitoring—the ability to understand a guest’s physiological and psychological state with enough precision to move from intuitiondriven to evidence-based care,” Khanna explains. Khanna is also working on correcting a systemic issue when it comes to stay-based wellness, where guests at retreats like Ananda spend up to two months following diets, practising yoga, attending emotional healing sessions, and getting massages.
“They do profound work in a retreat. And then they go home to the same pressures, the same environment, the same habits. Without a bridge, regression is almost inevitable,” Khanna points out. What she’s building next at Ananda is a programme where doctors work with guests year-round, both while they’re at the retreat and back at home. “It is a model where Ananda isn’t a destination you visit—it’s a relationship you’re in,” she says. Khanna is also expanding the expertise of Ananda beyond the Himalayas through Nyãsa Wellbeing, an entity owned by IHHR. With a first outpost at Hotel Irada near Pune, these wellness sanctuaries offer programmes including those that combine yoga, sound healing, and personal coaching workshops. “The opportunity ahead of us is substantial,” says Khanna. “The global wellness economy is on a trajectory that aligns precisely with what we do.”
This year, Abhimanyu Alsisar—co-founder of Magnetic Fields, the multi-genre music festival that ran for a decade (till 2025) from his family’s Alsisar Mahal palace hotel in rural Rajasthan— decided to switch things up. Magnetic Fields Nomads, which almost exclusively focuses on electronic music with specific stages for ambient and downtempo, debuted in February. Alsisar describes Nomads as being “a notch more luxurious than Magnetic Fields”, with audience size being restricted to 1,500, versus almost 6,000 at the earlier festival. “People want smaller festivals. They want to sit, understand, and enjoy the music,” says Alsisar. The festival is set up in Abheygarh, the family’s fourth hotel in Khetri—another of the Alsisar family fiefdoms located about 220 kilometres from New Delhi. The 105-key purpose-built fort-palace mimics the old way of life but is fitted out for contemporary living. “Every detail,” says Alsisar, “from the use of Jaisalmer limestone, silver-plated bathroom fittings, and the chandelier in the bar made from swords, is custom-made for the property.”
His focus in the medium term is to promote Khetri as a tourist destination. “It’s Rajasthan’s prettiest town. We’ve got 108 temples, the biggest stepwell in the region, and two palaces within our hilltop fort which are being restored,” he offers as evidence to bolster his claim. One of the restored palaces will house a museum—exclusive to hotel guests—where Alsisar plans to host music-centric events and anchor the family’s philanthropic works. As a former member of the Rajasthan Wildlife Board, his father Thakur Gaj Singh Alsisar (Khetri’s titular ruler) has helped promote conservation at the Khetri Bansiyal Conservation Reserve. This is where Alsisar junior hopes to run safaris in the near future.
It wouldn’t be off the mark to say Anil Chadha’s career prospects have, for decades, been inextricably linked to that of the hotel chain he now heads. He trained in hospitality at an ITC-supported hospitality school in Manipal; then joined the company in 1992. He rose slowly through the ranks, initially heading several of the chain’s key properties in destinations such as New Delhi, Agra, and Chennai. The multi-awardwinning contemporary Indian restaurant Avartana debuted at the ITC Grand Chola, Chennai, during his tenure as Area Manager Southern Region ITC Hotels and General Manager ITC Grand Chola, in 2017. Since he took over first as COO (in 2019) and then as MD (in 2025), he’s been instrumental in not just growing this green-minded chain’s footprint—from 100 properties in 2019 to 140 in 2025 across India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal—but also in launching two new brands: Mementos in the luxury segment and Storii by ITC Hotels in the boutique hotels category, both in 2021.
Naturally, his outlook on the future of Indian hospitality is positive. “Indian hospitality is in a wonderfully restless phase—creative, energetic, and eager to experiment,” he says. Ask him how he plans to keep the chain’s famous green creds shining—even as he intends to expand ITC Hotels to over 220 properties by 2030—and he says: “Sustainability and responsible practices are no longer differentiators: they are expected.” Twenty-three ITC Hotels have LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certifications, the most of any global hotel chain. In addition, as cited in its annual reports, nearly half of ITC Hotels’ energy requirements are met from renewable sources and the hotels owned by the company have achieved their 2030 carbon emission reduction goals ahead of time.
“Guests want indulgence, but not at the cost of the environment or the community. They care about provenance, energy footprints, and the values behind the brand. It’s not activism, it’s awareness,” says Chadha. “If I had to pick one force that will shape the future of hospitality, it would be what I call blended technology—a world where AI and intelligent systems operate seamlessly in the background to deliver sustainable and superior guest experiences,” he predicts.
“In a world of algorithms, the rarest luxury will be human intuition,” says Anuraag Bhatnagar, the CEO at The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts. In his five-year stint as leader of the legacy hotel group, he has steered it through an ownership transition and an IPO listing. During his tenure, the number of hotels that The Leela operates has nearly doubled from eight to 15. There are nine more in the pipeline, including one at Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, which will mark the hotel chain’s international debut. “We are investing in markets with emotional resonance and long-term pricing power,” Bhatnagar explains. He also wants to change how guests perceive the brand. One of the earliest signs of evolution under his leadership was the opening of the conceptual bar ZLB 23 at the group’s flagship property, The Leela Palace, Bengaluru, in 2023, within what was an underused parking lot. That bar went on to secure a place on Asia’s 50 Best Bars in 2024.
In 2024, The Leela also debuted villas at its Udaipur property. More recently, The Leela launched its “by invitation-only” private members’ club, Arq By The Leela, in Bengaluru—a concept that The Leela will roll out at other properties, including Delhi and Chennai. Tapping into increasing consumer awareness around wellness, it has also amped up culinary and spa offerings. The Leela Hyderabad, for instance, has a multi-level wellness centre that offers tech-based therapies such as oxygen facials and red-light therapy.
“Earlier, luxury was defined by visible opulence,” says Bhatnagar. “Today, guests want experiences that feel personal to them.” What’s the one mistake he’s learnt the most from? “Early in my career, we implemented operational changes that improved efficiency but reduced personal interaction [between staff and guests]. It reinforced for me that hospitality is fundamentally about human connection.”
Recent headlines featuring The Oberoi Group have included the launch of The Oberoi Rajgarh Palace, a 350-year-old palace-turned-hotel near Khajuraho; the opening of Naila Fort, a fourbedroom retreat near Jaipur that signals the group’s entry into the residence rental space, and the awarding of Michelin keys to seven of its existing properties, including flagships such as The Oberoi Udaivilas and The Oberoi Marrakech that won two keys each. In keeping with the trend of big box hotels embracing wellness systems that goes well beyond the yesteryear offering of facials and massages, the group has also thoroughly revamped its own offerings and relaunched it under the banner Asmi by Oberoi. The new offering “places self-discovery and inner balance at the centre of the guest experience”. Older reports have highlighted the success of Amadeo by Oberoi, a fine-dining restaurant at Mumbai’s Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre and the group’s management of the private members’ Bay Club at Maker Maxcity, also in Mumbai
Speaking at the 75th Annual General Meeting of The Oberoi’s holding company, EIH Limited, in August 2025, Arjun Oberoi said: “Our growth trajectory is driven by a clear strategic focus: expanding into high-potential markets, delivering authentic and memorable guest experiences.”
The press release issued then indicated the company’s development pipeline consists of 25 properties, including three luxury boats across South Asia, the UK, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Unlike other hospitality chains that are pursuing growth across luxury and non-luxury segments, the Oberoi brothers’ razor-sharp focus on luxury formats furthers the legacy of their late father Prithviraj Singh Oberoi, a colossus of a figure credited with sparking the growth of luxury hospitality in India.
“Conservation is the very foundation of my business and our ethos,” says Jaisal Singh, when asked what’s fundamental to the work he does as a hotelier. About 25 years ago, Singh founded Suján Sher Bagh in Ranthambhore—inspired by generations of commitment to conservation in his family. Singh’s parents, Tejbir and Malavika, filmed some of India’s earliest documentaries, including Jungles of Rajasthan (1979) that focussed on the tiger. Even as a young adult, Singh was constantly out on safari with his parents and learnt the importance of conservation from his late uncle Valmik Thapar, who was among India’s foremost conservationists and tiger experts. All three of Singh’s properties, that he runs with wife Anjali, are Platinum LEED-certified. Money from tourism is channelled back into local communities through employment and upskilling activities, especially for rural women, and by supporting conservation initiatives, including anti-poaching and rewilding.
Singh claims to have “pioneered the most successful rewilding and community conservation tourism project in India to date” at Suján Jawai, about 160 kilometres from Jodhpur and Udaipur. According to Singh, their efforts have re-established wildlife habitats “for leopards as well as 30 other recorded species of mammals, 272 avian species, and 70 species of flora.” While its camps are missing the usual metrics of luxury, such as in-room TVs and mini-bars stacked with goodies, it is arguably the exceptionally high standard of hospitality—complimentary WiFi and laundry, air conditioning, knowledgeable guides, surprise bush picnics—that won Suján Jawai a place in the World’s 50 Best Hotels 2024 list. “Seeing wildlife return to landscapes that were once degraded—and knowing that our model of conservation-led tourism (in Suján Jawai) has contributed to that recovery—is incredibly rewarding,” says Singh.
“Trust your own judgement.” Jamshyd Sethna says that’s been his mantra since 1996, when he founded his legendary travel company Banyan Tours to create tailor-made luxury itineraries around India for international visitors. “The advice came from my father when I was just starting in the trade and every decision we’ve taken in both our companies has been made based not on some business plan, but on gut instinct.” Even Shakti Himalaya, founded in 2006 and offering luxury homestays, walking tours, and other cultural activities in Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Ladakh, was born out of a personal prompt. “I wanted Banyan’s clients to experience the Himalayas as I have, but in as comfortable a way as possible.”
Sethna took over village homes and upscaled them to a point where they allowed affluent foreigners to experience remote parts of India in luxury. He trained and employed locals and put in environmentally sensible technology, including solar power, water conservation, and waste management. Today, according to data provided by Shakti Himalaya, 45 cents of every tourist dollar is invested back in the communities Shakti operates in.
On the tours side of the business, Sethna says that the key to success has been having boots on the ground and being able to personalise experiences for each customer. “No true luxury traveller wants a cookie-cutter experience,” he declares. Sethna’s career has allowed him a vantage point from which to view the evolution of luxury travel in India. Or, as he puts it, from “the time when Biki [Prithviraj Singh] Oberoi set the ball rolling [for luxury hospitality] with his Vilas properties [in the 1990s].” Increasingly, he finds that the international luxury travel market is “heading towards smaller spaces that excel with cuisine, unobtrusive service, and thoughtful design that puts itself in a traveller’s shoes.”
And what’s his gut telling him about the future of his own companies? “I’m tired of investing my own money,” he says, only halfjokingly. “We are opening up discussions with potential investors and looking at locations for Shakti properties that are more in line with the destinations that Banyan Tours operates in.”
Kanika Tekriwal is a rare entrepreneur in aviation, which has historically been a boys’ club; private chartering being even more so. JetSetGo, the company she founded in 2014, is considered a pioneer in private aviation in India for not just making chartering more accessible but also making pricing more transparent.
Today, it “offers aircraft charter services, aircraft management, ownership advice, and exclusive membership programmes”, according to the company’s website, which also pegs the company’s own fleet at 10, including two 9-seater Dassault Falcon 2000EX jets. Tekriwal was awarded a National Entrepreneurship Award in 2017 by the Government of India and named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2018. That year, she also launched Sky Shuttle, a digital marketplace where business travellers can book seats on private jets and helicopters.
According to an Economic Times report in 2024, JetSetGo signed deals with global tech aviation companies Electra.aero, Horizon Aircraft and Overair, “to acquire 150 hybridelectric aircrafts for an aggregate deal value of $780 million”. Now, even as Tekriwal takes her experience with scaling a small startup to Shark Tank India, JetSetGo’s sights are set even higher with their company website saying they are “preparing for the next era of aviation with electric and vertical take-off aircraft.”