We often end up in places we hadn’t imagined ourselves in because we chose to follow great leaders. Or, at least, that’s what happened to Ana Morillo, Palladium Hotel Group’s chief marketing officer.
Long before stepping into hospitality, Morillo started as a consultant at Simon Kucher & Partners, where she worked on projects in construction, media, automotive—you name it.
After six years there, she took a job with Spain’s NH Hotel Group as global director of pricing. She then moved into commercial strategy and eventually dove into the strategic transformation of projects across the company. Those roles allowed her to apply what she’d learned—constantly looking for opportunities in marketing, commercial strategy, organizational structure and business development, then building plans, leading teams and implementing change.
Morillo believes consulting taught her how to simplify complex problems, identify opportunities and recognize where value could be created, as well as understand an array of businesses from the outside. “Many people believe you need to specialize immediately, but what’s most important is understanding how a business works at its core,” she said. “Once you understand that, you can apply those principles to any industry.”
Who says you can’t go home again? Nine years at NH went by, and Morillo felt it was time for a refresh. She went back to where she started, returning to Simon-Kucher to work with many of the world’s leading hotel companies. The experience, she said, allowed her to learn from different organizations, share knowledge across the industry and confirmed what she loved most about hospitality: being close to the product, understanding guests, designing new concepts, redefining brand strategies and working on transformational projects.
“That can really only happen within a company,” she said. She got her wish when she met the CEO of Palladium Hotel Group, Jesús Sobrino, who promptly coaxed her to join the company, which operates more than 40 hotels and over 13,000 rooms in eight countries.
GREAT VISION, GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Morillo says the people who have inspired her most all shared three crucial characteristics: they created a compelling vision; they motivated their teams to move toward it; and they preached that giving up is simply never an option. “I can think of several people who were true visionaries— people who looked at something others considered impossible and found a way to turn that vision into reality,” she said. “They also teach you never to stop learning, never to stop questioning and never to stop believing that something can be achieved.”
In terms of her own leadership style, Morillo thinks of herself as a demanding leader, someone who sets high standards for herself and her team while providing a blank canvas to dream, to create, to execute, to make mistakes, to learn and then restart it all. “It’s a bit like raising children—if you don’t challenge them, who will?” (She also has three young daughters.)
GETTING OFF TRACK
In Morillo’s office are Post-it notes. One has a sole word written on it: focus. It’s incredibly easy to lose focus in an industry where there are endless exciting things you could be working on, she admitted. “You can redesign brands, rethink investment strategies, transform distribution channels, revamp room categories or restructure hotels. The possibilities are endless,” she said. “It’s tempting to work on what’s exciting, what’s visible or what looks impressive, while neglecting the fundamentals and the processes that truly matter.”
One of the biggest lessons she’s learned, and one that has become one of her teachings, is to make sure that whatever you’re working on is not only urgent, but truly important. “Otherwise, it’s very easy to send an entire organization in the wrong direction,” she said. “One decision from me can influence more than 12,000 people.”
SHAPING THE FUTURE
Artificial intelligence is changing the way travelers make decisions, and that’s putting marketing at the center of the conversation.
Morillo said one of the biggest challenges ahead will be ensuring that Palladium’s nine brands are represented consistently across large language models and other AI-driven platforms. “The way we invest in Google, the major digital platforms, TripAdvisor, Meta and other marketing channels is also going to change dramatically,” she said.
If she had to give her younger self one piece of advice, it would be not to suffer so much along the way, but to enjoy change. “Change is coming whether you like it or not,” she said. “If you’re someone who embraces change, you’ll always be in the best position to keep moving forward. If you resist it instead, you’ll first have to recover, regroup and adapt before you can move again. I’d rather welcome change than fear it.”