Board of Directors

Former Managing Director and Regional Vice President of Starwood Hotels and Resorts South Asia, Dilip has over three decades of experience in the hospitality industry and has worked with brands such as Oberoi, Taj, IHG, and Starwood in India, Australia, and Africa.

A graduate of the Oberoi Centre for Learning & Development, Dilip is recognised as one of India’s foremost thought leaders in the tourism and hospitality industry.

Fuelled by an entrepreneurial spirit at his core, Prahlad has been a part of multiple start-up ventures in verticals such as information technology, as well as interior design & architecture tech

Prahlad grew up across India, Australia and East Africa, after which he pursued higher studies in the United Kingdom. From a very early age he gained a very unique insight into the hospitality industry as a result of his father’s career in the business. Along with his passion for technology and innovation, Prahlad brings an invaluable perspective on the mindset of today’s generation.

Benoît-Etienne Domenget started his career in 2001 with Accor, overseeing different hotels in Paris as General Manager. In 2006, he joined the corporate office as Senior Vice-President Development EMEA. In this role, Benoît-Etienne managed a network of developers across 40 countries, leading the group’s strategic development in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He also served as Supervisory Board member of Accor Germany GmbH and of various joint ventures in which Accor had a stake.

From 2011 to 2014, Benoît-Etienne acted as Managing Director of Accor Switzerland, overseeing a network of eight brands and 56 hotels, and leading the expansion of the portfolio in the Swiss market from 42 to 56 hotels. He was then called to the helm of Michel Reybier Hospitality Group, including luxury hotels such as La Réserve and Victoria-Jungfrau Collection, vineyards and wellness businesses.

Benoît-Etienne was appointed CEO of Sommet Education in January 2017.

He is a graduate of HEC Paris.

In his free time, Benoît-Etienne enjoys modern art, mountain sports, cycling and cooking. He is married and has four children.

Aditya K. Rajaram is the Managing Director of Radar Holdings, a hospitality development enterprise.

Rajaram has previously worked with Ernst & Young in their specialised hospitality, real estate and finance team. Rajaram has also worked on various operator search and selections for hotel projects in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, in addition to creating a comprehensive strategic hotel investment and development strategy for a mega real estate company in Dubai. A graduate from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, he is an active member of the Cornell Hotel Society – Arabian Gulf Chapter and the Penn State Hotel Restaurant Society.

Marie-Claude Mathieu has over 15 years’ professional experience in various international organisations both in Canada and Switzerland. She started her career as a commercial lawyer in a Canadian business law firm, providing legal advice on a wide variety of matters, including complex contracts, financing, M&A, corporate, intellectual property, real estate, data protection and commercial litigation.

From 2007 to 2016, Marie-Claude acted as Senior Legal Counsel for Lexmark, supporting the worldwide purchasing organisation of the company and proactively addressing legal risk and creating solutions from conception to after-sales services, through production, supply chain and marketing.

Since December 2016, Marie-Claude acts as Group General Counsel for Sommet Education, providing legal advice to the management teams both in the institutions and at the corporate level and supporting the implementation of the group’s business strategies.

Marie-Claude holds an LLB (Bachelor of Laws) from the University of Montreal and a post-graduate degree in taxation from HEC Montreal. She is admitted to the Bar since 2000 (Canada).

In her spare time, Marie-Claude enjoys reading, photography, hiking and community volunteering. Since 2012, Marie-Claude is president of a non-profit organisation in Lausanne that provides childcare services for children up to six years old — a centre her own son attended until recently.

Dhairya Choudhrie is the Managing Director of Shanti Hospitality, which owns seventeen operational hotels globally, including the Ananda Spa and a portfolio of Hyatt hotels in India.

Earlier in his career, he was instrumental in the sale of Grandeur Real Estate to Alpha G: Corp working with Morgan Stanley. He was also part of the team that grew BIG Malls India with a $32m investment from Silverpeak Asset Management. Dhairya is a graduate in Economics and Business Management from Boston’s North Eastern University.