George Lobo’s star isn’t just rising, it’s reaching new zeniths. Lobo has proven a precocious talent throughout his tenure with Karma Group, swiftly rising through the ranks to his current position as Regional General Manager – India, overseeing one of the company’s most complex portfolios – 16 properties scattered across eight states from Goa to the high Himalaya.
Still in his early thirties, George started his journey with Karma Group back in 2011 in the customer service department, where he quickly came to understand the needs and wants of Karma Members and Owners who are the beating heart of the Karma family. It was the perfect grounding for him to develop into his true calling – resort management.
Armed with a Hospitality Management degree and a clear operational bent he was soon installed as Assistant GM at Karma’s flagship India property – Karma Haathi Mahal in Goa. The General Manager position swiftly followed and by 2021 he had moved into the General Manager – India Resorts role, with 1000+ team members under his wing.
A meteoric rise – but it’s the stories behind that rise that resonate – and 2025 proved exactly what makes George different. In May of last year, as one of his teams raced to open Karma’s new resort in Dharamshala, Karma Tashi, cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan flared into military hostilities. Travel stalled. Security alerts pinged. Families panicked. Delay would have been defensible.
The company offered staff the option to return home. Most stayed. George stayed with them – not issuing instructions from a safe remove, but on site, steadying nerves, troubleshooting bottlenecks, keeping the opening on track. Against all odds, the resort launched on time.
Day to day, George’s leadership is less dramatic but no less exacting. With properties dispersed from coast to highland, he has engineered a tight cadence of virtual check-ins, clear escalation routes and honest, solutions-first dialogue with his GMs. Operational metrics matter – but so do people and George always gets the balance right.
He spends time in the field, too – not just with senior managers, but with emerging talent. High performers are moved across resorts of differing scale and character, stretching their range and quietly building a bench of future leaders, strengthening retention and fostering ambition.
George reads a P&L fluently, but he also reads rooms. Senior leadership values his judgement; teams respond to his presence. In an industry that can veer between theatre and churn, he offers something rarer: composure, consistency and a bias for action.
A new generation is taking the reins of hospitality – commercially literate, operationally forensic, and attuned to culture as much as cost. George Lobo is already operating at that altitude.