Indian companies leading the way in CX

Summary

Indian hospitality has built a global reputation on a simple cultural principle: guests are treated as equivalent to the divine. That ethos, captured in the Sanskrit phrase Atithi Devo Bhava, has shaped how India's leading hotel groups approach every stage of the guest journey, from arrival to departure, distinguishing them in a fiercely competitive global travel and hospitality market.

Two of India's best-known hospitality names are recognised among the top companies across Asia Pacific for customer experience excellence. Their inclusion reflects a broader pattern in Indian service culture, where hospitality is treated not as a transactional function but as a relationship built on genuine care, anticipation of guest needs, and a hospitality-first mindset that extends across staff at every level.

For businesses across sectors looking to elevate their own customer experience standards, the recognition of these hospitality leaders offers an instructive reference point: exceptional experience design does not always require the newest technology. Sometimes it starts with a deeply held cultural philosophy translated consistently into everyday service behaviour, across every guest touchpoint, staff interaction, and unscripted moment that shapes how a brand is remembered long after checkout.

What can other industries learn from a hospitality culture built on treating every guest as equivalent to the divine?