This is what we predict
Our SEVEN Predictions
Although many articles have been written predicting travel trends for the year (and we’ve covered them in the Round-Up!), here we take a look at 2023 through our own hertelier lens. Shining a light on the progress we’re seeing post-pandemic, we are excited about the opportunities 2023 may hold for women in hospitality. Spoiler: the future looks bright!
Prediction 1: More women moving into the C-suite at hotel companies and taking on marquee GM roles
At the height of the pandemic, 22 million jobs were lost in the US, 39% of which were in hospitality. Not surprising that most of these job losses were women who bore the brunt of caretaker roles when daycare and schools closed during lockdowns. Since then, however, men and women have regained the jobs lost. “Fears of a ‘she-cession’ turned out largely to be unfounded,” Richard V. Reeves, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution told CNN of the idea that women would be impacted more by pandemic-related job losses. “Women are returning to the labor market, and we’ve actually seen quite a big increase in the share of women in management roles and senior management roles.”
Fast forward to this month, for the first time in the Fortune 500 list’s 68-year history, more than 10% of Fortune 500 companies are led by women. The Jan. 1, 2023 start dates of five new Fortune 500 chief executives brought the number of female CEOs up to 53, pushing the tally over the long-awaited threshold. Though none of these are hotel companies (only Marriott even makes the Fortune 500), it sets a precedent. “Women as CEOs isn’t an oddity anymore,” Jane Stevenson, global leader for the CEO succession practice at Korn Ferry tells Fortune. “It’s not the majority, but it’s not an oddity. So 10% makes it more and more normal—and less risky, subconsciously, to put a woman in the top spot.”
Looking at hotel industry executive moves, so much to celebrate in recent appointments: Amber Asher, CEO of Standard International; Katerina Giannouka, Jumeirah CEO; Maud Bailly, CEO at Accor of MGallery, Sofitel and Emblems; Jillian Katcher, President, Twin Bridges Hospitality; Danielle Schneider, CEO, Pathfinder Hospitality, and just this week Julie Arrowsmith, was named interim CEO for G6 Hospitality. According to the 2022 report from the Castell Project, there was one woman for every 10 men in hotel company leadership (CEO, president, founder, etc.) up from one in 11 in 2019, and we expect to see the needle move more aggressively in 2023.
We’re also seeing women leading iconic luxury hotels and resorts around the globe: from Marlene Poynder at The Carlyle in New York and Abby Murtagh at The Broadmoorin Colorado, to Joanne Taylor-Stagg running The Athenaeum in London and Katrin Rüfenacht running the design-led 7132 in Switzerland, to Maria Bou Eid as GM of The House Hotel in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia, and Sabrina Dey as Hotel Manager of the JW Marriott Bengaluru resort in India. We predict more of this in 2023!
