Hot Seat

An achiever and a perfectionist

Anil Bhandari, managing director of International Travel House, describes himself as an achiever, a perfectionist and a little restless. By Anupama Sushil

Born in 1948 in Delhi, Anil Bhandari completed his schooling in 1965 and went on to pursue graduation in BSc. He later joined the Institute of Hotel Management, Catering & Nutrition, Pusa New Delhi. He then began his career as a management trainee with India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC).

Once he realised his aim in life and knew that his business had to do with helping people travel, he knew how to go further. He decided to experience travelling himself because "tourism is a people's business".

Having held high positions with India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), Hotel Corporation of India (HCI) and now International Travel House, Bhandari was always heavily involved in designing, operating, and managing hotels at locations. Having worked at various levels in all departments and gaining experience, he eventually became the managing director of HCI and managing director of ITDC.

Today, his professional biography includes managing 36 hotels in various parts of India, flight kitchens, duty-free shops and travel and tours division. He says with pride, "I have been a major contributor on opening up of 11 ITDC hotels and feel delighted about it. I feel I have made a huge contribution to tourism. My greatest achievement was to turn losses into profits. I have seen no failures in life, I have been able to achieve whatever I wanted to achieve."

Revealing his mantra for success, he said that the key to good business is analysing the business well, foreseeing changes, changing with the times, working honestly with sincerity and common sense. He believes that no business can run into losses. "Every business has potential and as a manager it is my duty to only make profits," he exclaims.

Speaking about his family he says that it is the most important part of his life and when he is away it is his family that takes care of everything. His wife, Pamela Bhandari, is a chief commissioner, Income Tax office, while his daughter Sonal is currently working with Hewitt as a senior researcher and his son Anuj is studying masters in architecture in America.

Bhandari says, "At this juncture when India tourism is at a high, we should learn to respect our culture and maintain it, because only when we respect our culture will the others do so too. Also it's time we should create an environment for private sector investment and relax the existing rules in tourism."

He aspires to continue contributing to tourism and aims at creating a luxury spa resort hotel. In his leisure, the MD enjoys listening to ghazals and finds cookery a soothing experience. Being a traveller, he enjoys destinations that are close to nature.