Puneet Dhawan has been appointed Head of Asia by the global hotel owner and operator Minor Hotels, as the group strategizes its expansion into Asia and India. Beginning in July, Dhawan will report to Minor Hotels CEO Dillip Rajakarier and be in charge of overseeing the performance of all Minor Hotels properties in Asia. He will collaborate closely with the senior leadership team of Minor Hotels.
Puneet Dhawan, Head of Asia, Minor Hotels
Puneet Dhawan, Head of Asia, Minor Hotels
With a thirty-year career in hospitality spanning Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, Dhawan is an accomplished professional who brings a plethora of expertise to his current position. In his most recent position at Accor, he led the group's business development, owner management, hotel operations, and commercial team while serving as Senior Vice President of Operations for India and South Asia.
This position helped Accor expand throughout the area. Interestingly, he was in charge of the first Raffles hotel in India when it opened. During his 25 years with Accor, he held various general manager positions in addition to serving as the group's vice president of operations, Middle East. Dhawan's career in the hospitality sector started with the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, where he worked at its establishments in Hong Kong and the Philippines.
Dhawan graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management. When he joins Minor Hotels in July, his center of operations will be the group's corporate office in Bangkok.
Puneet is a welcome addition to the Minor Hotels family, said Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of Minor Hotels and Group CEO of Minor International. We will greatly benefit from his operational knowledge and inspiring leadership in the upcoming years as we strive to realize our growth goals in Asia and India.
By the end of 2026, Minor Hotels aims to expand its global portfolio by over 200 properties, of which about half are located in Asia, as it revealed in January. The hotel chain has declared that it will open 50 new locations in India over the course of the next ten years, with the launch of its upscale Anantara brand in Jaipur later this year.
