Dr. V.K. Chawla, president of Greenwood-based Chawla Enterprises Inc., will be honored by Gov. Phil Bryant Tuesday in Biloxi for his contributions to Mississippi tourism.
Chawla will be presented the Friend of Tourism Award as part of the Governor’s Conference on Tourism. The awards program, which is expected to draw some 2,500 attendees, will be held at the Beau Rivage hotel.
On Tuesday, Chawla, 77, will dine with Bryant accompanied by his wife, Chander, as well as his two sons and his daughters-in-law.
Chawla says he chose the Delta when he started in the hotel business — 25 years ago in August — for a reason.
“The Delta’s poor. I had poor beginnings myself,” he said. “I said if I could do anything for the Delta it would be to create jobs for the people. That’s been my aim.”
Today, Chawla Enterprises has more than 2,000 hotel rooms and employs more than 300 people in the Delta, said Suresh Chawla, Chawla’s son and treasurer of Chawla Enterprises.
“In the early years, my brother, Dinesh, and I were for hotel expansion in Jackson and Memphis. Our father loves the Delta and said, ‘Our focus has to be here — the nicest place on earth,’” Suresh Chawla said.
Dinesh Chawla is vice president of Chawla Enterprises.
Suresh Chawla said his father had been congratulated just this week by Bryant and Brent Christensen, executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority, for his contributions to the state.
In May, Chawla Enterprises opened its 16th hotel in the Delta, a Hampton Inn in Clarksdale.
Construction will begin next month on another Hampton Inn in Indianola. Plans are also in the works for a state-of-the-art boutique hotel to be located next to the Grammy Museum in Cleveland, Suresh Chawla said.
He said his father was nominated jointly for the tourism award by Delta Convention and Visitors Bureaus in Greenwood, Greenville, Cleveland, Clarksdale and Yazoo City.
Suresh Chawla said his father is much deserving of the honor.
“He’s been one heck of a friend of tourism in the Mississippi Delta,” Suresh Chawla said.
A strong proponent of education, Chawla was presented with the Commonwealth’s Community Service Award in 2008.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
