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What I've Learned Building A Career in Hospitality Leadership
with Gilda Perez-Alvarado, CEO of Orient Express and Group Chief Strategy Officer at Accor
Josiah Mackenzie
December 12, 2023
Together with
Today, Gilda Perez-Alvarado, the CEO of Orient Express and Group Chief Strategy Officer at Accor, shares her career and leadership advice on everything from why you should learn about real estate to why being a global citizen is important to time management to lessons from parenting and creating more inclusive work environments.
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FEATURE STORY
What I've Learned Building A Career in Hospitality Leadership
with Gilda Perez-Alvarado, CEO of Orient Express and Group Chief Strategy Officer at Accor
Gilda Perez-Alvarado // Credit: Accor
Gilda Perez-Alvarado is the CEO of Orient Express and Group Chief Strategy Officer at Accor - and today, she shares what she’s learned along her career journey so far. A few highlights:
How she defines being a “global citizen”
In preparing for this interview, several mutual friends told me Gilda sees herself as a “global citizen,” so I asked what this meant to her.
It's just this relentless quest to learn and grow.
I've grown up in many different places. My family is also from everywhere. And where you surround yourself with people who are very different from you, the first thing that you try to do is you establish what you have in common. That's the basis of a relationship.
When you're only with people who think and look like you, the first thing you think about is what differentiates you, why you're different. That's almost like what drives you apart?
When you're traveling, when you're meeting people from all corners of earth, many different backgrounds you learn that ability to establish a connection very quickly. I love that.
Why knowledge of real estate matters as a hospitality provider
Without real estate, hospitality doesn’t work.
You have to have an understanding of real estate because this is where you're going to be planting your flag. You cannot move your location.
The best hotels are curated for every single guest. That doesn't mean just the guest who is paying for the hotel room for that one evening, but also the community. Are they going to become patrons of your hotel? Are they going to dine in the hotel? Are they going to use it for a meeting? Maybe they want to stay there, maybe they want to celebrate something there.
So you have to know about real estate to know where to open.
How she thinks about time management
This is the number one requirement of what I'm doing right now. It's about filtering through the noise and all the information.
Listen to our full conversation here now for more on all of this and other topics, such as:
Place-making in hospitality
The “15-minute city” concept
How becoming a parent changed how she views the world (and work)
Advice for women in hospitality building their careers
Removing structural barriers to opportunity
…and more!
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