Profile: Robyn Bickford
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For New Zealander Robyn Bickford, joint general manager of the Amanbagh Amanresort in the Indian state of Rajasthan, a typical day might include organising camel polo for guests, clearing an airstrip to receive new arrivals or visiting Bhangarh, an abandoned 15th century city.
“I’ve always wanted to travel and work in hospitality, it has been one of my dreams,” says Ms Bickford. “I go through life with a tick-list and I’m just about done with the things I started imagining when I was 11.”
She has been jointly running the Amanbagh, one of 23 luxury Amanresorts worldwide, with her husband since 2007. Located in a remote part of the Alwar district, the 24-acre resort has 40 rooms, 210 staff and is a “hands-on management experience” says Bickford, who describes her role as akin to the mayor of a small village.
Aside from some marble quarries, Amanbagh is the main employer in the immediate area. A mixture of jungle and agricultural land, it is home to 40 villages, an ancient tribal community called the Meenas, leopards and, since their recent reintroduction, three tigers.
“We have to be careful that we don’t alter the economic balance of the area or create envy,” says Ms Bickford. “We try to employ one person from each family and only so many from each village. It’s a conservative rural society and we’re careful not to send guests out wearing skimpy clothing for example.”
It’s not Ms Bickford’s first experience working in India. From 1975 through 2002, she was a career diplomat working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and, in 1984, led the team sent to re-open the New Zealand High Commission in New Delhi under the Lange Government.
Her career included postings to Moscow, Athens, Beijing, New Delhi, Jakarta, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Ms Bickford was also one of the government officials who helped midwife the establishment of the Asia New Zealand Foundation in 1994.
Her call to India to work with Amanresorts came while running the Opou-A Country House, an upmarket lodge located outside her home town of Gisborne that she had established with her husband, Indian-born Manav Garewal, who she met in 1985 during her posting in Delhi.
“One fine day, Adrian Zecha, the founder of Amanresorts called out of the blue after hearing about Opou-A Country House from one our guests,” says Ms Bickford. “He thought we had things in common and invited us to India.”
Amanbagh, (‘Aman’ means peaceful in Sanskrit, and ‘bagh’ is Hindi for garden) is one of three Amanresorts in India, all adhering to the company rule of a maximum of 50 rooms in order to provide guests the feeling that they are staying in a friend’s holiday home.
“We spend a lot of time keeping in touch with former and prospective guests,” says Ms Bickford. “Although we provide a luxury setting, it's elegant rather than ostentatious and has given Amanresorts something of a cult following – some of our guests visit each resort around the world.”
Before the terror attacks in Mumbai on 26 November 2008, the majority of guests were Americans, now Europeans and Indians dominate the mix with the occasional New Zealander.
The remoteness of the resort, which is two-hour’s drive to the nearest city of Jaipur, has provided Ms Bickford with a different perspective on life to most Kiwis living in India who work in an urban setting.
“I find part of being here is that you get very stripped down, you become like a farmer, watching the seasons and slowing down to live a seasonal life”, says Ms Bickford. “My mind is a lot less cluttered than in the city; after a few hours in Delhi I’m ready to go home.”
- Interview by Matthew Roy
Photos:
1) Chairman of Asia:NZ Hon Philip Burdon with his wife Ros at the Amanbagh Amanresort with Robyn Bickford and husband Manau Garewal.
2) The Amanbagh Amanresort (sourced from the resort's website)
3) The Thanagazi fort in the India's Alwar district (sourced from Wikimedia Commons)
