The story of Madhav Bellamkonda, GM, Novotel Visakhapatnam, Varun Beach, is all about sheer will, faith and determination to fight against the tide and stand up strong. From driving an auto rickshaw in his early days to being in the driver's seat as GM, he has a clear vision both for his property and Vizag as a tourism hotspot.
There was a time not too long ago, when Vizag was considered a sleepy city in the eastern part of the newly carved state of Andhra Pradesh. It was the year 2008-09 when the ARR in the top category hotels was around ₹ 3,500- ₹4,000 per room night and there was nothing to write about in general about the place, apart for its naval base stories. However, with time, like other Tier II cities of India, the development wave caught on. Local visionaries and entrepreneurs like Prabhu Kishore, from Vizag, realised the potential of the hospitality sector and went ahead and laid the foundation of their hospitality dreams, which was backed by statistics and the passion to offer the country a superlative product. Then came the time to sign a hospitality partner and after a series of discussions Accor was chosen because it shared the owner's vision; this finally gave birth to the Novotel Vizag Varun Beach. Madhav Bellamkonda, who worked as the CEO of the parent company, took over as the GM of the property as well. Amongst his various achievements as GM, one of the highlights was to lead a team of professionals that catered to the Naval Event, which witnessed a stream of high profile delegates from the PM of India to the head of the armed forces and more.
On Vizag
This story is from the August 16 2016 edition of Food & Hospitality World.
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This story is from the August 16 2016 edition of Food & Hospitality World.
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