Rocky Kalra to Lead The LaLiT Suri Hospitality School with a Holistic Vision
Rocky Kalra, CEO, The LaLiT Suri Hospitality School, brings more than three decades of hospitality leadership experience together with expertise in psychology, counselling, yoga and wellness.
By SOH Edit Team
The LaLiT Suri Hospitality School has appointed Rocky Kalra as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). A long-standing hospitality professional who has served The LaLiT Suri Hospitality Group, including in a vice-presidential role, Kalra brings more than three decades of experience across leading hospitality brands, coupled with an unusual breadth of expertise in people development, psychology, counselling and wellness.
In his new role, Kalra will spearhead the strategic direction of The LaLiT Suri Hospitality School, focusing on strengthening academic programmes, building meaningful industry partnerships and preparing students for the demands of a rapidly evolving global hospitality landscape.
His vision, however, extends beyond technical competence. At its core is the belief that tomorrow’s hospitality professionals will need empathy, emotional intelligence, resilience and an understanding of people alongside operational expertise and business acumen.
A New Direction for Hospitality Education
“Education must go beyond imparting technical knowledge—it must nurture empathy, emotional intelligence, resilience and a genuine understanding of people,” says Kalra. His aim is to create an environment where students develop not only into skilled professionals, but also confident, compassionate and future-ready leaders.
Kalra’s professional journey spans senior leadership roles with organisations including Bharat Hotels (The LaLiT Suri Hospitality Group), ITC Hotels, Costa Coffee and The Park.
During his tenure in senior operations leadership at The LaLiT, he worked across a diverse portfolio of hotels and multicultural teams, with responsibilities encompassing operational consistency, service excellence, strategic growth, team building and guest experience.
What sets Kalra’s approach apart is his longstanding engagement with the human dimension of professional life. Alongside his hospitality career, he has spent more than two decades working in counselling and personal development, helping individuals better understand their thoughts, emotions, behaviours and relationships.
A trained psychologist and certified yoga teacher, he draws on positive psychology, mindfulness, meditation, deep listening, empathy and compassionate communication. It is a perspective that could prove particularly relevant to hospitality—an industry built as much around human connection as it is around operational excellence.
Creating Future-Ready Leaders
Kalra now intends to bring this philosophy into the educational environment at The LaLiT Suri Hospitality School. His approach places empathy alongside efficiency, emotional intelligence alongside business acumen, and inner balance alongside professional ambition.
Dr Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson & Managing Director, The LaLiT Suri Hospitality Group, said Kalra’s experience in hospitality leadership and his understanding of psychology, wellness and people development would bring “a well-rounded perspective to hospitality education.”
Academically, Kalra holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Delhi, a qualification in Business Administration and Management from Cornell University, and a Doctorate in Philosophy from École Supérieure Robert de Sorbon.
His appointment brings together several strands of experience—hospitality operations, leadership, psychology, counselling and wellness—at a time when the industry is increasingly looking beyond conventional skill sets.
For The LaLiT Suri Hospitality School, the mandate is clear: to develop professionals who understand the business of hospitality while remaining attuned to the people at its heart.
