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 Confirming that she was not working for the luxury hotel chain anymore, she said, ‘after three wonderful years with ITC Hotels, I felt the time had come to move on to newer challenges and take full advantage of the various work opportunities that exist in the wine and hospitality industry. I am therefore no longer a full time resource at ITC Hotels and have decided to give my entrepreneurial spirit and skills, full lead.’
Before she joined the ITC hotels, the WSET Dip wine aficionado had started Sonal Holland Wine Academy in which she had been conducting wine appreciation classes in Mumbai. ‘I am most excited about the impending launch of my new wine business that will put the spotlight where it belongs - on the consumers. I also have on the anvil, important collaborations within the wine trade. I am looking forward to announcing these shortly and in due course.’
Through ITC Sonal has gained valuable corporate experience giving her insights into an important facet of the wine business. She says, ‘working with ITC Hotels has been a tremendous learning ground. We achieved important milestones in the areas of wine training by creating the single largest pool of WSET certified professionals in the country, enhanced our wine selections and offerings, hosted iconic wine events for our esteemed guests, and witnessed a 15% growth in wine revenues in the year 2015-2016 over the previous year.’
One of her greatest achievements saw her bringing the world-famous producer of the iconic winery Vega Sicilia in Spain. She once stayed with the Alvarez family in Ribera del Duero during her trip to Spain since the wife of the owner Pablo Alvarez is her friend. There she made Pablo promise her that he would come to India soon. Wine connoisseurs in Delhi and Mumbai had a unique experience of meeting the doyen of Spanish wine industry and tasting exceptional wines from his 5 wineries including Vega Sicilia, at dinners and lunches in Mumbai and Delhi in July last year.
‘This has been a hugely rewarding experience, but more importantly, it has been a great collaborative process involving senior management commitment and sanctions’, she says. Declining to give details about her immediate future plans are as a lot was going through her mind at the moment, she did give a peep as she said with a chuckle, ‘as a consultant, I am now in a position to take on this strategic role with more luxury hotels and restaurants, including ITC Hotels’.
For Sonal Holland quitting ITC Hotels may be just an Adieu and not Goodbye.
Subhash Arora |