Ovolo Appoints Dave Baswal as Chief Executive Officer

(01 Apr 2022, 12:17 +07)  Ovolo has promoted Dave Baswal to Chief Executive Officer, allowing Founder and Executive Chairman Girish Jhunjhnuwala to focus on branding, development and strategic growth of the business.

Ovolo currently has 13 hotels and a dozen restaurants across Hong Kong, Australia and Indonesia. The appointment comes as the company prepares for the next phase of its evolution, with plans to expand into new markets as the hospitality industry recovers from the impacts of the ongoing COVID19 pandemic.

With 20 years of experience in hospitality, finance and real estate management, Dave has been instrumental in Ovolo’s growth during the pandemic and in building a strong team aligned around the group’s core values.

Girish Jhunjhnuwala (left) with Dave Baswal

“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. 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,” said Girish. “I am excited that his promotion will allow me to direct my energy into finding new opportunities to take the Ovolo experience to more travellers 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.”

Dave has been with Ovolo since May 2016, joining as Director of Operations and Finance before becoming Chief Operations Officer in December 2016 followed by roles as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer from March 2018 to March 2021, when he was appointed as Managing Director - Australia and New Zealand, his most recent title before becoming CEO.

Prior to that he was a National Board Advisory Member of Tourism Accommodation Australia for three years and spent almost 9 years working in Finance for Mantra Group.

Dave holds a Master’s in Professional Accounting, a Master’s in International Tourism and a Bachelor in Hotel Management. 

“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 travellers and that inspires our team to deliver exceptional service every day,” said Dave Baswal, new CEO of Ovolo Hotels Group. “I am honoured to lead this amazing group and to take Ovolo into its next phase at a time of enormous opportunity.”

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