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In awe of the grand stairway and the imposing blue dome at The Taj Mahal Palace in Bombay, the starry eyed child thought "This is what I want to own some day!” Growing up she learnt that "I couldn’t own the hotel but I definitely could run it!” In her last few days as deputy general manager at this prestigious property, Mehrnavaz Avari reflected on her one-time fascination transformed to long-standing loyalty to the Taj group before assuming her overseas posting as area director, UK in May 2021. "All three of my assignments at The Taj Mahal Palace have been memorable. Leading the Grande Dame through its best years and the most challenging one last year has been a learning that cannot be replicated anywhere,” acknowledged Avari in an email interview with Parsiana.

 

 

 

 

 

"It is an honor to be given the opportunity to be at the helm of a prestigious and challenging operation as the hospitality and tourism sector makes its recovery from the worst crisis it has ever seen worldwide,” she noted. In her new role as area director, she will additionally serve as general manager of two properties that share a common courtyard — St James’ Court, A Taj Hotel, London and Taj 51 Buckingham Gate, Suites and Residences — besides overseeing further developments that may come up in the region.
Her preparations for her new role included "a detailed study of the country and its political, cultural and social framework along with a deeper understanding of the local labor laws. It is also essential for me to get a better understanding of the current pandemic situation in the UK and what it means for our industry as a whole; the vaccination/quarantine rules and how the tourism and hospitality is evolving in the country at this point of time (inbound and outbound),” she explained.
During her nearly two decades of association with the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), she has regarded each assignment as "a learning of a different nature; with every role, I’ve grown as a person.” In 2016 when she took over as the general manager of the prestigious Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur at the age of 35 years, she was the youngest lady general manager at IHCL. Viewing this stint as "the high point of my career so far,” Avari reported with pride that during her tenure, the Umaid Bhawan Palace won the Travellers’ Choice Award as the number one hotel in India, number two in Asia, and number three in the world by TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site.
Equally reassuring for The Taj Mahal Palace team is to see guests ranking them "the highest in customer satisfaction for the third year in a row. Nothing beats that feeling,” she confessed. "We were one of the few hotel chains that continued to operate our major hotels non-stop through the year gone by,” stated Avari, elaborating on their "heightened hygiene and safety procedures for all guests, employees, partners and vendors.” Besides an emphasis on digital operations, even the dining systems were modified with greater choice of wellness-oriented food for healthier meals and greater level of immunity.
The Taj group recognized that every crisis presents an opportunity and those that recognize these opportunities the fastest, will be the first to come out of it! To boost their dwindling food and beverage revenues during the first lockdown, they introduced novel concepts: offering gourmet hampers through Hospitality@Home; launching a food delivery application (QMIN), taking their speciality fine-dining to the residences and offices; curating virtual dining experiences. The 500-room Taj was popular with air and sea travelers who perforce had to quarantine themselves for seven days after landing in Bombay. Once the lockdown restrictions eased last year, staycations became trendy getaways for those who could afford a luxurious break in their city of residence.
IHCL as a Tata group company has always been guided by the benevolent principles of the founder family. Avari referred to the philosophy of one of their former chairmen J. R. D. Tata who stressed, "No success or achievement in material terms is worthwhile unless it serves the needs or interests of the country and its people and is achieved by fair and honest means.” In the past year, the Taj group "served over two million meals to health care workers across the country and migrant labor in Bombay through our trust,” reported Avari.  The key hotels in the group also opened their doors to doctors and other health care workers.
"The values of the Tata group…resonated with me at every step of the way,” said Avari. "The wonderful thing is the Company has always recognized my talent through the years and offered me interesting and challenging roles. I, in turn, have given it my very best! This mutual trust and respect is something that keeps me going. I can safely say I have never considered venturing out in the last two decades! The Tata group is also a wonderful company for women to work in… If you work hard, there is no glass ceiling for you to break through — the sky is the limit!” declared the hard-working dynamo who is well aware that in the hospitality industry the hours of work can stretch indefinitely. On different occasions she won recognition for her managerial skills as also for being the best sommelier at the Taj group. She was also involved with the Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the Hospitality Industry and lent her expertise as vice president of the Maharashtra State Council.

 

 

 

 

 

A double graduate in hospitality and psychology with sociology, Avari started her career as a management trainee with IHCL in 2002, "rose through the ranks” to assistant food and beverage (F&B) manager, later chose to gain exposure to the accommodations division for two years, and subsequently earn her masters of management from the Cornell University in New York and the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. As part of her masters program at Cornell she did two internships of a month each: in quality at Ritz Carlton New York and in revenue management at Four Seasons Austin in USA. Her stint at Cornell was made possible by the scholarship provided by Taj, she acknowledged. On her return to India, she was made F&B manager at The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai and subsequently resident manager at the Taj Palace, New Delhi prior to her posting at Umaid Bhawan Palace.
"My dad taught me how to work and survive in the corporate world… Mom is my pillar of strength, the one who motivates me to dream bigger,” Mehrnavaz gave credit to her parents Pervez and Hilla Avari. Pervez rose from a shop floor engineer at Tata Motors to director level positions in other subsidiaries before retiring. Hilla who spent her life as a banker, retiring from the Zoroastrian Co-operative Bank Ltd  as senior manager, is now an eight-time MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table, a global association of more than 62,000 of the world’s leading life insurance and financial services professionals) award winning insurance advisor with Tata Life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poona born Mehrnavaz vividly remembers her childhood days when her parents took the family to the Gateway of India for an outing and the children "looking at the hotel in awe. The Taj Mahal Palace was never a hotel we could afford at that time. We then (just) walked through those hallowed doors and its lush corridors.” She has two older sisters. Perinaz, a chef based in the San Francisco Bay Area in the US, currently runs an Indian and Parsi cooking school called Simply Bhonu. Delna, erstwhile head of marketing, communication and services at Tata Motors, launched Delna Avari and Consultants that advises companies on business transformation, scaling, brand management and sales acceleration. She has another venture, Business360, that meets the needs of start-ups and younger enterprises through business boot camps and catalyst programs.
"I love exploring new places. Walking, I feel, is the best way to experience a city. Seeing and experiencing new culinary concepts is a passion that rolls over from work to my personal life. And finally, music is a great de-stressor,” Mehrnavaz lists her interests. 
While professing a love for the "Parsi customs, traditions and of course our bhonu!” Mehrnavaz adds, "I am a strong believer in the purity of our religion and the principles of good thoughts, words, deeds. I truly believe in inclusiveness while maintaining the authenticity of our religious tenets.”
Looking forward to making a difference as area director in the UK with the support of "our stellar team,” Mehrnavaz is appreciative that she has "learnt from every person I have worked with along the way — some teach you what you should do and some teach you what you should not do!”