WE ’ RE OPEN TO DOING SOME MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS WITH OWNERS WHO UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF THE BRAND . IT IS THE TIME TO START EXPLORING MANAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE ASIA PACIFIC MARKET , ESPECIALLY .
– DAVE BASWAL
CREATING A BLUEPRINT The Ovolo Group was founded by entrepreneur Jhunjhnuwala as a serviced-apartment company and in 2010 expanded into hotels as an owner-operator by renovating older properties , designing them in a contemporary fashion and providing services in line with a lifestyle brand . The company expanded into Australia in 2014 and by 2016 Baswal joined the company leading operations and finance and becoming managing director before his most recent promotion .
Baswal says that as a young brand being an owner-operator is a good way for Ovolo to control its destiny .
“ When we started , we had a blueprint . We wanted to achieve a certain level of know-how within our own team . So , it ’ s been a 10- year learning journey where we ’ ve dealt with heritage buildings and conversions , and changed office buildings into hotels ,” Baswal says . “ We created a very robust platform , which has the ability to buy assets , repurpose assets , and enhance asset values by the positioning of those assets under the new brand . We are building operating teams , learning asset management capabilities and some basic development abilities as well . Having said that , developing hotels and new buildings is not really our core business .”
By April 2021 , their journey led to their first new-build Ovolo in South Yara , a suburb of Melbourne . This came after opening in Bali a year earlier , marking its first operation in the Indonesia market .
ROCK ‘ N ’ ROLL AND VEGETARIAN One fan of the Ovolo brand and of Jhunjhnuwala is Eric Levy , managing director of Tourism Solutions International , a Singaporebased consultancy . He says the company created its own brand through a focus on rock ‘ n ’ roll music and a consumer-centric approach to design and services . Levy is especially intrigued by the company ’ s food and beverage operations , particularly