Nakul Anand, executive director, ITC Ltd., Kolkata, India
As executive director on the board of ITC, Anand is in charge of the hospitality, travel and tourism business, which currently includes ownership and management of more than 100 hotels across luxury and midscale segments across 80 destinations. The group also has a pipeline of some 30 additional properties.
Anand has been with ITC since graduating college in 1978, starting as a management trainee and along the way developed a special commitment to quality control and sustainability. With a focus on “Responsible Luxury,” the brand has developed 13 LEED Platinum Certified hotels, the largest in the world.
Anand has served as chairperson of the World Tourism & Travel Council – India Chapter, president of the Hotel Association of India and chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry – National Committee on Tourism. Currently, Anand is the chairman of the apex tourism body in India, FAITH (Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality), an umbrella body of the top 10 travel and hospitality associations.
Alan Fuerstman, founder, chairman and CEO, Montage International, Laguna Beach, California
Fuerstman since 2002 has been the leader of the luxury hospitality management company encompassing Montage Hotels & Resorts, Pendry Hotels, Montage Residences and the management of premiere golf courses and clubs.
Prior to founding Montage, Fuerstman was the opening vice president of Hotel Operations at Bellagio in Las Vegas. Previously, he served as president and managing director of The Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he also oversaw The St. Regis Aspen and The St. Regis Houston, as well as all ITT Sheraton properties in Arizona. He began his career with Marriott International.
Fuerstman has been recognized with many industry accolades, including the Environmental Media Association’s Corporate Responsibility Award 2017; Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year 2013; and The Robert Mondavi Wine & Food Award 2013.
Fuerstman currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Gettysburg College, the Northern Arizona University School of Hotel and Restaurant Management Advisory Board, and the Resort Committee of the AH&LA.
Tim and Kit Kemp, owners, Firmdale Hotels, London
An innovative force in the boutique hotel segment, Firmdale Hotels is made up of 10 hotels in London and New York. Focuses on service excellence and unique interior design have over the years led to business successes and international accolades.
Firmdale Hotels has received the Queens Award for Enterprise in 2000, 2006, 2009 and 2017, a recognition of its outstanding achievement to international trade.
As Creative Director, Kit Kemp MBE has forged an acclaimed reputation for not only her individual hotel interiors, but also as an author, a successful textiles, fragrance and homewares designer and as a highly respected champion of British art, craft and sculpture. Celebrated for her original approach to design, Kit has won many awards, including House & Garden’s Hotel Designer of the Year and CN Traveller’s Best Hotel in the World for Design.
Frank Marrenbach, CEO, The Oetker Collection, Baden-Baden, Germany
CEO of the luxury hotel company with jewels like Le Bristol Paris and Hôtel du Cap Eden-Roc, Antibes, Marrenbach has led the expansion of the Oetker Collection, which now stands at nine hotels and has the goal to add 10 more via management or ownership over the next five years.
Today based in Baden-Baden, Germany, Marrenbach was born in Germany’s Rhineland. He received a Bachelor Degree from the GSBA in Zurich and later earned a Masters in Business from the State University of New York in Albany.
He first embarked on commercial training at the Steigenberger Parkhotel in Düsseldorf after passing his A-level exams. His career also took him to The Berkeley in London, the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris and the Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof before he arrived at the Federal Government Guesthouse at the Petersberg (Germany), where he became resident manager in 1994. In 1997, he moved to Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa in the same capacity, and became managing director there in 2000. In 2008, Rudolf August Oetker offered him the role of CEO of the Oetker Collection Management Co. in Baden-Baden.
A particular honor was his appointment in 2005 to the executive committee of the Leading Hotels of the World. He was named vice chairman in 2011.
Laurence Geller, chairman, Geller Capital Partners, Chicago
Geller CBE is an expert in the fields of hospitality, specialized education and dementia care. He is a British-born, UK- and U.S.-based property investor, author and philanthropist.
Geller focuses placing capital in the hospitality and leisure industries. In 2015, he acquired the Waldorf Astoria Chicago, repositioned and upgraded the Marriott Georgetown in 2016, and opened the Conrad in Chicago in 2017.
He started his career as a hotel busboy in Switzerland at the age of 15 before emigrating to the U.S. in 1976, where he first worked for Holiday Inns, serving as its executive vice president. He subsequently served as the COO of Hyatt Development Corp., as well as director of Grand Metropolitan Hotels in London. He was from 1997 to 2012 the founder and CEO of Strategic Hotels & Resorts, which from 2004 was traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
Laurence has long-held associations with the University of West London in the UK, where in 2016 changed the name of its 70-year-old Hospitality College to the London Geller College of Hospitality and Tourism. He is also chairman of Innovative Aged Care, a London specialist care home company, which opened its first luxury home in Chelsea in 2017.
Geller is the long-time chairman of the International Churchill Society and in 2015, he donated US$1 million to digitize the Winston S. Churchill Archives and to have specially developed learning modules available without charge to school children throughout the World.
Geller is also the author of two thrillers about hotels, Do Not Disturb and The Last Resort and has authored over 100 published professional articles.
Olga Petroni, general manager, Alvear Palace Hotel, Buenos Aires
General manager since 1995, Petroni put her plan into place to return the palace, originally built in the 1930s, to its previous glamour by consolidating management, redefining the mission and vision of the hotel and setting out to restore excellence in service delivery and the physical product.
Petroni says service excellence continues to be the main focus of the organization with related training that is permanent and intensive. The result has been market leadership in rate and occupancy.
Since her arrival in the middle 1980s and the introduction of new ownership in 1984, the classic Louis XVI-style property has been refurbished both in the front- and back-of-house. Today, the Alvear Palace holds the distinction of being the city’s highest-ranking hotel and under Petroni’s leadership plays host to society teas, Sunday brunches and other high-profile social events.
Nathalie Seiler-Hayez, directrice générale, general manager, Beau-Rivage Palace, Lausanne, Switzerland
Since September 2015, Seiler-Hayez has been in charge of the 169-room luxury hotel that includes a two Michelin-stars restaurant Anne-Sophie Pic.
Previously, she was general manager of the luxury Connaught in London, where she redefined and implemented a new management structure, as well as developed a new brand identity and managed the rebranding process. She has also served as the December 2007 opening GM of the first Regent hotel in France, The Regent Grand Hotel, Bordeaux, and also ran the Radisson SAS Hotel Champs Elysées, Paris.
Earlier in her career Seiler-Hayez worked as executive manager of the Hotel du Louvre, Paris, as well as a as a director of sales & marketing in New York City and Paris for Rosewood Hotels & Resorts and Concorde Hotels.
A graduate of the Lausanne Hotel School in Switzerland, Seiler-Hayez ran the New York City Marathon in 2017.
Edward Staros, vice president and managing director, The Ritz-Carlton Resorts of Naples
Staros was appointed vice president and managing director of the Ritz-Carlton, Naples in October 1999, and moved to Naples from The Ritz-Carlton headquarters, where he served as the brand’s vice president of worldwide operations since 1992.
In 2002, he oversaw the development of The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort and The Ritz-Carlton Spa both located in Naples. As the managing director and vice president, he is responsible for the overall operations of both luxury resorts.
When The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. was established in 1983, Staros was one of the company’s six “founding fathers” and was instrumental in creating the now-legendary Gold Standards for The Ritz-Carlton, including its Mission Statement, Credo and Basics.
He held multiple positions with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. and in 1992 was promoted to vice president of worldwide operations. He was formerly with the Hyatt Corp. from 1972, until he joined The Ritz-Carlton in 1983.
Staros currently sitting on two advisory boards at Florida Gulf Coast University: the Lutgert College of Business Advisory Board and Resort & Hospitality Management Advisory Board. Additionally, he is a founding sponsor of the Naples Winter Wine Festival.