Eight Continents Hotels and Resorts Appoints Javed Akhtar to its Advisory Board

INDIA, 16th February 2026 – Eight Continents Hotels & Resorts, a luxury hospitality and hotel management group redefining emotique hotels through distinctive design, cultural authenticity and personalised experiences, has announced the appointment of Javed Akhtar, hospitality entrepreneur, loyalty strategist and AI-led business architect, to its Advisory Board.

This appointment comes at a strategic time as the group focuses on long-term growth, asset optimisation, alternative revenue models and building stronger guest lifetime value across its portfolio. As part of the Advisory Board, Javed will work closely with the leadership team at Eight Continents Hotels & Resorts to guide strategic initiatives across loyalty-led growth, experiential revenue integration, alternative monetisation channels, AI-enabled guest engagement models and global partnership expansion.

Javed brings over two decades of cross-sector experience spanning hospitality operations, loyalty ecosystems, consumer engagement and AI-led revenue architecture. Having started his career as a hotelier, he offers hands-on operational insight into occupancy management, guest experience delivery, distribution dynamics and asset profitability – perspectives that closely align with Eight Continents’ vision for value-led hospitality growth.

He is the entrepreneur behind TripXOXO (TravelPort Digital), one of Asia’s largest aggregators of experiences and attractions, operating across 140+ countries with access to over 50,000 experiences globally. He also leads RewardPort, a leading consumer promotions and loyalty solutions company in India, where he has partnered with over 200 brands to design loyalty programmes, gamification systems, reward engines and channel engagement strategies.

Welcoming Javed to the Advisory Board, Richa Adhia, Managing Director, Eight Continents Hotels & Resorts, said, “We are very excited to have Javed join our Advisory Board. With over 20 years of strategic leadership across hospitality, loyalty-driven revenue frameworks and customer engagement ecosystems, his appointment not only strengthens our executive vision but also reinforces our commitment to long-term, value-oriented growth. We look forward to driving innovation together and unlocking new opportunities for guest value and sustainable performance.”

Commenting on his appointment, Javed Akhtar, Advisory Board Member, Eight Continents Hotels & Resorts, said, “Eight Continents is creating a differentiated hospitality platform rooted in design, culture and personalised experiences. I am excited to work with the team to strengthen loyalty integration, experiential commerce and AI-led engagement frameworks that can unlock long-term value for both guests and hospitality assets.”