Photographic portrait of  Girish

Girish Jhunjhnuwala

EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2022 Judge

Founder and Executive Chairman of Ovolo Hotels

Areas of focus Entrepreneurship

Girish perfects the art of travel with his brand of boutique hotels.

Before becoming a hotelier, Girish Jhunjhnuwala had a comfortable life running the family watchmaking business. Concerned about the future of the industry, he made the difficult decision to sell the business and start a new hospitality venture. Since acquiring his first Hong Kong property in 2002 and subsequently expanding into the hotel industry in 2010, Girish has grown the Ovolo Hotel Group into a string of boutique hotels in Hong Kong, Australia and now Bali.

Girish created Ovolo Hotels to solve the problems he experienced as a frequent traveler. He finds it unfriendly when hotels charge their guests for everything from the minibar to the gym, so he makes sure his own hotels are all-inclusive. Instead of the traditional, cookie-cutter-style hotels he was used to, Girish has created a series of unique destinations, each with a different style, designed with lots of natural light and vibrant pop art.

He is committed to sustainability and has announced Ovolo Hotels will be fully vegetarian across its properties for an entire year. 

Girish was EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2016 China – Winner, Hong Kong/Macau.

Never let a good crisis go to waste.
Girish Jhunjhnuwala