Hotel chain Hilton Worldwide ropes in Kaushik Vardharajan to lead expansion plan.

International hotel chain Hilton Worldwide has roped in Kaushik Vardharajan , former Asia Pacific MD of hospitality consultancy HVS, to head its expansion plans in India.

Vardharajan will take over as the hotel chain's vice-president, development - India, at the end of this month, replacing Rajesh Punjabi, who recently quit to start his own venture.

'Kaushik Vardharajan will lead our development efforts in India,' confirmed Andrew Clough, senior vice-president, development - MEAP, Hilton Worldwide, adding that Vardharajan will be based out of the hotel chain's India regional office in Gurgaon. Earlier, the development team was operating out of Mumbai.

Globally, the hotel chain has 12 brands with more than 4,440 managed, franchised, owned and leased hotels, besides timeshare properties in 97 countries.

'The hotel chain has a strong presence globally, but it has not expanded aggressively in India. Of its total portfolio of hotels, it has only 14 properties in India. So India contributes a small share of their revenue globally,' said an industry expert, adding that the company is now trying to strengthen its footprint in India.

According to Clough, the hotel chain's pipeline in India includes nearly 20 hotels with over 3,000 rooms. Currently, it operates 14 hotels and resorts under four brands across 11 cities in India.


ET