BHUBANESWAR: After creating a large portfolio of luxury resorts in Maldives, Odisha-born hotelier Salil Panigrahi has now set his eyes on the Odisha market.
Managing director of ‘Atmosphere Core’, a fast-growing hospitality company which is currently operating nine resorts within Maldives, and is set to further expand in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan, Panigrahi said his company has already signed 15 luxury hotel management agreements for its India operation of which, properties in Bhopal, Coorg and Kolkata will be opened this year.
Panigrahi is waiting for the state government’s nod to go ahead. “Since there is an enhanced confidence in Odisha’s tourism and hospitality industry, our company has decided to set up resorts in the four locations - Bhubaneswar, Chilika, Konark and Koraput. We have submitted our proposals to the government,” said the hotelier who is an alumnus of BJB College.
A chartered accountant by profession, Panigrahi had started his career at Oberoi Hotels in India and subsequently, moved to Maldives to join the Six Senses group where he led the finance wing and resort operations. There, he formed EoN Resorts, a company that engaged in resort development and consultancy for luxury resorts, in 2003. And almost a decade later, he launched his own brand with a five-star resort Atmosphere Kanifushi Maldives. Under Atmosphere Core, he went on to create three distinctive brands - THE OZEN COLLECTION, Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts and COLOURS OF OBLU.
For his tourism initiatives in Maldives, Panigrahi was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman-2021 in tourism category for strengthening the relationship between India and Maldives through his hospitality brand.
In the capital city to attend the 18th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, he feels proud about Odisha hosting the prestigious convention. Previously, he had received the ‘Maldives President’s Tourism Gold Award’ for his exemplary contributions to the island nation’s tourism sector.