A captain’s journey

Category : Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner : Captain CP Krishnan Nair

Captain C P Krishnan Nair

A patriot, an industrialist, an environmentalist and a true hotelier - Captain C P Krishnan Nair has donned many hats through his illustrious career. The veteran's journey began with a dream - a dream to make the impossible, possible. Born in Cannanore, Kerala on February 9, 1923, his first lessons in leadership and management began as early as 12, when he was inducted as the secretary of the student’s union. After completing a successful military stint, he started rebuilding the handloom sector. It was during this period that he met and married his wife Leela, in 1949.

During the late 50s, he visited Germany as part of a delegation and stayed at the Kempinski Hotel. He was extremely impressed by the hotel and it was then when he dreamt of building a world-class hotel in India. The dream was realised in 1985 when Captain Nair broke ground in north Mumbai to build The Leela Kempinski Mumbai. In 1987 he tied up with the Kempinski Hotels - the oldest hospitality group in Europe. The stamp of class and quality of The Leela Palaces, Hotels & Resorts is visible in the award-winning luxury hotels located in Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa and Kovalam. The group is also developing hotels in Gurgaon - Delhi NCR, Udaipur, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and New Delhi.

Excerpts from Captain Nair's acceptance speech: I am overwhelmed by this honour that I have been considered worthy of the lifetime achievement award. Due to stringent conditions I am not able to accept the award personally. This is my twentieth year in the industry and what I have achieved today is because I dared to dream. At the age of 86, I still dare to dream - to build a hospitality industry that the world is truly envious of.