Spirit W | "Just believe in yourself" says Hyatt's Yasmin Poonegar

Yasmin Poonegar who brings several years of experience in the hospitality industry, communications and marketing of luxury brands within India, the US, Chile, Italy and France has always been focused and passionate about corporate and internal communications and on launching international hotel, food and wine brands in India. She is currently the Director of Corporate Communications at the regional office for Hyatt hotels in Southwest Asia based in Dubai.

Adgully caught up with Yasmin D. Poonegar, Director of Corporate Communications, who joined Hyatt in 2000, to talk about her journey and her initiatives at Hyatt hotels. The fact that Poonegar joined Hyatt again post a short hiatus shows her love and passion towards the brand.

Hyatt, one of the known brands in hospitality industry is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary in India. Speaking and sharing some key high points of the brand's journey so far, Poonegar said, "Well, though there are a lot of memories to share the best would be how Hyatt Mumbai (Santacruz, Kalina) branch was born and how we came up with our hotel both in terms of developing the location and the brand at the same time. This branch was born during the time when there was no proper road leading to Kalina (Santacruz) and interiors. Inspite of the tough time we underwent during its birth The Grand Hyatt, Mumbai (Santacruz) has reached a noteworthy position now and is one of the flagship hotels of Hyatt in terms of Business Hotels of India. As like most other organisations we too have grown through the thick and thin over the years."

Having brought in several years of experience in the fields of marketing and communications she has seen the entire industry evolving and growing over the years. According to her the biggest and the most visible among all is the fact that today the generation has become much more online savvy. She says, "The young generation is very different from the generation I grew up in and the entire hotel industry has experienced and accepted this fact. Infact we all are struggling to match up the online savvy generation. But no matter how the industry evolves and changes, the essence of the hospitality industry i.e. serving people still lives on and at Hyatt we call it 'Authentic Hospitality' which is our mission. Our vision lies in becoming one of the finest brands in the hospitality industry."

Poonegar has earlier worked with brands like Canterbury Hotel, Washington DC, as a management trainee and has also worked with the Taj and Oberoi groups. Well that explains her inclination towards the food and beverages industry and the reason for choosing this field as her profession. She has also been consulted by various wineries in California, Europe and Australia, and has written several articles on travel, food and wine and this proves what she is passionate about! In this regard she says, "I have always had a love for marketing and creativity and also at the same time I have the ability to manipulate a person's mind and that is what marketing is all about hence I guess I am in the right place. In short my preferences and Hyatt's philosophies have always been going hand in hand. "

Recently to mark its 30th anniversary, Hyatt hotels in India announced their association with the Smile Foundation to organize a series of fund-raising activities, called Smile with Hyatt – Making a Difference. This unique program will enable SMILE to support hundreds of underprivileged children for one year through their “Mission Education” projects across 25 states in India. Elaborating on the fact how all this is adding value to the brand Hyatt, she said, "Well I hope they add value in the long run in terms of giving back to our country in a good and a better way. I am sure if we do it consistently and with a right thought it will add value at some point though it will not happen in one shot but yes going further down the line it will. Our philosophy is Human care and Human spirit. The entire motive is to take the philosophy of our brand to our audience."

The event liaises perfectly with Hyatt’s belief in making a difference in the communities they operate by placing human care at the forefront of everything they do. Sharing this vision, some of the biggest names in the Art Industry like Ms. Anjolie Ela Menon, Mr. Jatin Das and Mr. Bikash Poddar from Mumbai, Ms. Seema Kohli, Mr. Bikash Poddar and Mr. Harsha Vardhana from Delhi and Mr. S Nandagopal from Chennai amongst many more will showcase their talent and help Hyatt raise funds for this wonderful event. With this humanitarian outlook on celebrating Hyatt's 30th anniversary in India, the celebration rides on social welfare and giving back to the community reinforcing Hyatt’s strong local commitment, knowledge and sensibility.

Apart from this they have also been supported by an organization with their initiative called 'room to read' which enables libraries for children with an aim to fasten literacy globally among the under privileged kids. She said, "We have partnered with them to come up with 4 libraries in India and for which we are going on a global drive in December with an aim to collect funds for these libraries." Moreover they have also partnered with Youth Career Initiative (YCI), wherein teenagers from slums and under privileged areas are trained to be a part of Hyatt. "So YCI is the middle man who goes in depth and visits slums and areas from where they hunt 10 - 15 teenagers and young men whom we train for 6 months and based on their capabilities hire them at Hyatt. Infact a lot of our managers and supervisors are from this apprenticeship program and have been doing really well," added Poonegar.

Apart from all the key markets Hyatt is present in, India has been the flavour of Hyatt. "Looking at the growing market and opportunities in India we are taking this market as one of the key markets and interestingly one of our ex-CEO is really passionate about India. He and his entire family has visited India more that 40 to 50 times. This shows how passionate people are about our country," she added.

Last year the program was organized at Hyatt Regency Mumbai and this year too it is scheduled to take place at The Grand Hyatt Mumbai and Hyatt Regency Delhi.

When asked about some of their best marketing initiatives apart from their CSR initiatives that have led the brand grow in terms of awareness, Poonegar said, "Though we haven't really marketed our properties, the fact is that each hotel stands for itself and has built up its own identity."  

Last but not the least, her motto in life is 'Just Believe in Yourself' and that is what has helped her reach the position that she is in today.

Yasmin started her career as a research intern with the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC - Museum of African Art where she published a book on Egyptian Art.