Luxury hotel group Orange County has changed its name to Evolve Back.

Emmanuel Ramapuram, chairman of what is now Evolve Back, explained the reasons for the change were manifold.

He said: “The name Orange County, crafted specifically for our resort in Coorg, was not conveying the ‘Spirit of the land’ character of our new resorts – Kuruba Tribal Village themed resort at Kabini and the Vijayanagara Palace themed resort at Hampi.”

The House of Ramapuram, planters by tradition, diversified into the hospitality business in 1994 by setting up a small resort in our 100-year-old, 300-acre Chikkana Halli Estate in Coorg.

Besides coffee and spice, Coorg produced some of the finest oranges in the country.

As a reflection of this, the company initially decided to name the resort Orange County to cue in the produce and the colonial planter legacy of Coorg.

When the second resort opened at Kabini, the group decided to continue with the Orange County name because of the equity the brand had built.

However, by then, a blight had permanently destroyed most of the orange trees in Coorg.

Ramapuram continues: “As we prepare to expand the locational footprint of our resorts to other parts of India, Africa and Asia, we needed a universal name that was inspired by our ‘Spirit of the land’ philosophy.

“Moreover, we found that in the global tourism markets, the brand name ‘Orange County’, had a very strong association with a county in California, USA.”

Despite the name change, the ownership, management, and operations or the company are still under the ownership of Orange County Resorts & Hotels Ltd.

Ramapuram concluded: “While we have evolved over the years, our spirit has remained the same.

“Today, as we prepare to expand the locational footprint of our resorts further into India, Africa, and Asia, we have found the need to rename ourselves to reflect our spirit.”