The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts has unveiled plans to induct, train, and develop more than 3,000 hospitality professionals over the next three years as the luxury chain expands from 15 to 24 hotels. The hiring and learning push will run through the Leela Centre of Excellence (LCoE), a strategic training initiative launched in partnership with Le Cordon Bleu and GD Goenka University.
The Centre of Excellence, spread across approximately 9,600 square feet within a 50,000-square-foot learning campus, is designed to serve as the central hub for the company’s hospitality talent pipeline. It will run integrated programmes spanning leadership development, culinary capability, butler training, and operational excellence.
“As we celebrate four decades of True Indian Luxury, the launch of the Leela Centre of Excellence (LCoE) marks an important step in strengthening the foundation of our growth,” said Anuraag Bhatnagar, Chief Executive Officer, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, at the launch event.
Isha Goyal, Chief Human Resources Officer at The Leela, has framed the move as a response to the difficulties of lateral hiring in luxury hospitality. “Whenever we hire laterally, we are anyway investing significantly in helping people understand how we deliver luxury and how the Leela way works,” Goyal said in a recent interview with HRKatha.
The company has committed to running structured learning programmes for over 650 associates and managers annually. This includes leadership and functional development for more than 250 managers through the Leela Executive Accelerated Development (LEAD) programme, along with academic and operational training for over 220 associates across The Leela Palace Services (TLPS), the Leela Leadership Development Programme (LLDP), and the Butler Development programme. Soft skills training will cover 200 associates per year, and the Shefs at The Leela platform will support 30 culinary professionals annually.
At the heart of the Centre sits the Luxury Leadership Programme (LLP), a 15-month initiative designed to build future general managers internally. Participants are not fresh graduates but hospitality professionals already working in the industry who are being prepared for larger operational roles.
The Leela’s hiring push comes as Indian luxury hospitality enters a sharp expansion phase, driven by destination weddings, premium travel, and inbound tourism. The company has separately announced a ₹1,131 crore investment in five new properties slated to open by 2028, although the exact split of the 3,000 hires across new properties versus existing operations has not been disclosed publicly.
