The Hospitality Business Leadership (HBL) program welcomed its 2026 cohort on 13th April with an inspiring start, bringing together students from across India whose achievements already extend far beyond the classroom.
From competitive athletes and filmmakers to designers, musicians, and adventurers, the incoming batch reflects a new age vision of hospitality leadership, driven by creativity, resilience, innovation, and cultural perspective.
Among them are a 15,000-ft Bhuran Ghati trekker, state and district-level athletes, an award-winning SAE electric two-wheeler designer, a TEDx Hyderabad jingle composer, an FTII-certified filmmaker, and a Northeast India essay competition rank holder recognised by NCHMCT and the Ministry of Tourism.
The orientation set the tone for the journey ahead with a thought-provoking panel discussion on the evolving identity of Indian hospitality in the global landscape. Titled “From ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ to Global Benchmark: Positioning India on the World Hospitality Stage,” the session explored how India’s deeply rooted culture of guest experience can translate into world-class hospitality standards.
The panel brought together voices from luxury hospitality, food and beverage, branding, and communications, offering students diverse industry perspectives and insights into the changing expectations of global travellers.
Industry leaders across hospitality, communications, and entrepreneurship came together for the session, including:
The discussion was moderated by Joseph Karam, Dean of Graduate Studies at the Glion Institute of Higher Education, and focused on innovation, service excellence, and India’s growing influence on the global hospitality landscape.
Hospitality today demands more than operational excellence. It calls for storytellers, innovators, creators, and changemakers. This new HBL cohort represents exactly that: a generation ready to shape experiences that are not only memorable, but globally relevant.