Puri, who has worked for iconic properties such as Raffles in Singapore and Peninsula Hotels in Hong Kong, talked to Accor’s Heart of Hospitality podcast about his long-running career in the sector stretching across five decades.

“It’s an incredibly meaningful profession in which you’re able to enrich other people’s lives and contribute to the happiness of other people,” Puri told podcast host Duncan O’Rouke, who is also Accor’s chief executive for northern Europe.

“It’s a privilege and an honour to be able to serve people, and that’s the point to be able to understand what a great industry it is, and why we do what we do.”

The discussion also touched on the recruitment crisis currently facing the hotel industry and whether the sector had a reputational issue, which Puri stressed was not the case.

“We have every possibility to be able to show people how wonderful this industry is. And it’s just a matter of re-educating people to say, here’s a profession that is noble, that is sexy, that is creative, that is fun, and is full of passion,” added Puri.

“It’s a glamorous industry. You know, the A-listers come to us, the celebrities come to us, the whole world comes to us, heads of state come to us, everybody comes to our hotels because that’s where everything happens. We’re the centre; we’re the social centre of each community.”