Leading designer boutique hotel collection Ovolo has promoted Dave Baswal (pictured above) to CEO, allowing Founder/Executive Chairman Girish Jhunjhnuwala to focus on the branding, development and strategic growth of the business.
The company currently has 13 hotels and a dozen restaurants in Australia, Indonesia and Hong Kong, and is planning to expand throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe and the U.S. The appointment comes as Ovolo prepares for the next phase of its evolution, and as the hospitality industry recovers from the impact of the pandemic.
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, the company reports.
“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.
He continued, “I am excited that his promotion will allow me to direct my energy into finding new opportunities to take the Ovolo experience to more travelers 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 Jhunjhnuwala and is honored to have earned the trust of Ovolo’s 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 a created a brand that deeply resonates with today’s travelers and that inspires our team to deliver exceptional service every day. I am honored to lead this amazing group and to take Ovolo into its next phase at a time of enormous opportunity.”
