Dr. Chekitan S. Dev is the Singapore Tourism Distinguished Professor, a Professor of Marketing and Professor of Management at Cornell University’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration. He graduated from IMHI in ’85 and says that “It has been a long and wonderful journey these past 39 years, and IMHI truly transformed my life in immeasurable ways”.

Chekitan began his hospitality career with Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, first as a management trainee and then an Assistant Manager Marketing Planning. While at IMHI, he was a summer stagiare at Hotel George V, and continued in a half-time position as an Analyst till he graduated. During his Ph.D. program, he worked as an Assistant to the President of Resort Property Management in Virginia Beach, and a Senior Associate at Olsen & Associates Hospitality Management Consultants. Upon completion of his Ph.D., he was appointed a professor at Cornell and had served there for 34 years.

Today, Chekitan is an internationally renowned thought leader and scholar on marketing and branding in the hospitality, travel, and tourism industries, having worked with hospitality businesses in 50 countries. As an expert witness, he has testified in deposition, trial, and at arbitration in numerous hospitality-related matters, in the United States and internationally, including multiple cases involving hotel owner–brand relationships and the online travel industry. Recently, he spoke at the United Nations at a high-level debate on the future of Tourism hosted by the President of the UN General Assembly and the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, a first for an IMHI graduate. 

Chekitan has written over a hundred articles in leading journals, such as the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, the Harvard Business Review, the Journal of Marketing, and the Journal of Marketing Research. He has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Economist, and the International Herald Tribune. 

Honors Chekitan has received include the Best Case Study Award from the Case Centre at the Cranfield School of Management (UK) for the Harvard Business School case on Accor Hotels & Resorts, the Best Service Research Paper (finalist) Award for the article “Return on Service Amenities” (Journal of Marketing Research) from the American Marketing Association, the John Wiley Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Council of Hospitality Educators (ICHRIE), and several awards for teaching excellence. In 2010, The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) selected Chekitan as one of the “Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Hospitality, Travel and Tourism Sales and Marketing.”

In regards of the current state in the hospitality industry Chekitan says that to recover, we need to be kind and walk the fine line between doing anything to keep the business afloat and being customer-centered. In addition, we need to show heart by letting our customers know what we are doing to help those in need. Hospitality has a once in a lifetime opportunity to get to a "better normal" instead of simply a "new normal" by offering "new and improved" hospitality experiences to our guests.

In his 34 years at Cornell, Chekitan has worked with over 15,000 students working in over 100 countries. Students say about Chekitan that his teaching style was refreshing, engaging and enthralling. 

Stressful times during his career he can recall are being a poor scholarship student at IMHI, struggling to finish his Ph.D., facing the challenge of getting tenure (permanent appointment) at Cornell, and balancing work and family priorities. Each time he had his family supporting him, friends and colleagues encouraging him, the generosity of classmates who opened their hearts and homes to him, and ultimately a fierce determination to make it through no matter what. 

Advice he would humbly offer younger colleagues is a 4 part plan for career management: have a vision for where you want to be in the future, define strategy by figuring out what market gaps exist (the “opportunity”) and how you can best prepare to fill them (the “capability”), be opportunistic (seize opportunities that come your way) even if it takes you off your “planned” path, and stick-to-it to get each job done to the very best of your ability. Here is how this thinking helped Chekitan along his journey. Chekitan joined Oberoi, a leading brand in the hospitality industry, because the hospitality and tourism industry was taking off in the late 1970s and promised many opportunities. At Oberoi he lobbied hard for a corporate marketing placement —to him it looked the most exciting department--even though management trainees were only placed in property operations. After 4 years at Oberoi, knowing that more/specialized education was need for success, he applied and was accepted at Cornell but ultimately came to IMHI for a Masters because he was offered a full tuition scholarship by Dean Beck. At IMHI, he took an overload of courses to finish most requirements in the first year, enabling him to turn the George V summer stage into a part time position working 2 ½ days week during his second year, learning the business and building his resume. At IMHI he worked hard to earn the highest grade in his class, and learned that there was a global shortage of hospitality professors who had both work experience and academic training. So, when the opportunity presented itself, he volunteered to be a Teaching Assistant to Visiting Professor Dr. Mike Olsen who then offered him a spot in his Ph.D. program. Upon graduating from IMHI, he turned down an offer to be Operations Analyst with Hilton International in Khartoum and accepted Dr. Olsen’s offer, packing his bags and travelling to Virginia Tech. After completing his Ph.D. in a record 3 years, he had 5 job offers—so there was a shortage--and picked the best one: Cornell. By fulfilling Cornell University requirements for excellence in teaching, research, and industry engagement, he was offered tenure (permanent appointment) and promoted 3 times ultimately achieving the highest possible rank at a University: a “chaired” or named professor. His vision was to have a career that has value, where he is valued, where he can add value, while having an exciting and varied life. The strategy was matching a shortage of hospitality educators (the “opportunity”) with maximum education (the “capability”) and earn a Ph.D. Being opportunistic was raising his hand when Oberoi offered an opportunity to interview with Dean Beck for a scholarship at IMHI, jumping at a part-time Analyst position at GV even if it meant travelling via RER and Metro three days a week from Cergy to Av. George V, offering to be a teaching assistant to Dr. Olsen and adding to an already full workload knowing that would improve my chances of being admitted to his Ph.D. program, and taking a risk by turning down Hilton’s offer in Africa to move to Virginia. The stick-to-it part was completing the Ph.D. program, working hard to convince Cornell he was worth keeping, and trying his best to balance his professional and personal life.

Today, Chekitan is happily married to Joyce for 29 years, they have two sons Andrew Chetan (25, engineer, working for “big tech” firm Salesforce) and Christopher Arjun (20, in his 3^rd year at Cornell’s Hotel School, interested in hotel development having completed summer internships with Brookfield Asset Management in Washington DC and IHG’s Development Group in Atlanta). Recently, Chekitan started a “phased retirement” from Cornell (half-time), dividing his time between Ithaca, New York in  the fall, Lake George, New York in the summer, and Sanibel Island, Florida in the winter and spring.

Congratulations Chekitan from us all for your incredible career and a wonderful life, and thank you for your continuous contributions to our hospitality world.