The Global Hospitality Village: How our industry bridges oceans and decades
There is a specific kind of magic inherent in the hospitality industry that you won’t find in a textbook or a profit-and-loss statement. It is the “Global Village” effect this massive, multi-billion-dollar industry can suddenly shrink down to the size of a small room.
I recently found myself reflecting on this phenomenon during a trip to Paris for the HSMAI Europe Leadership Development Camp. As I sat in a training room in, I realized that my journey there wasn’t just about professional development; it was a testament to the enduring power of human connection and the beautiful cycle of lifelong education.
The Shift Toward Education
Over the past months, my professional compass has been pointing more and more toward education. There is a profound shift that happens when you move from simply doing a job to understanding the mechanics of it so deeply that you can teach it to others.
During my time in Paris, I was able to live out this duality in real-time. For the first two days, I was a student. I was there to challenge my own assumptions, sharpen my business acumen, and earn my HSMAI CHBA (Certified in Hospitality Business Acumen). It requires a certain amount of humility to step back into the “learner’s seat,” especially when you’ve spent years in the field. But I’ve found that the moment we stop being curious is the moment we stop being relevant.
The beauty of the Paris trip was the balance: I spent those first few days absorbing new strategies and frameworks, only to pivot and take on the role of trainer myself later in the week. This transition, the “student-to-teacher” pipeline, is exactly where I find my professional inspiration today. It reminded me that we are at our best when we are in a constant state of flux, both taking in knowledge and pouring it back out into our community.
A NYC Reunion on the Banks of the Seine
The most striking moment of the trip, however, had nothing to do with a syllabus. It was the “small world” realization that occurred when I walked into the workshop led by Heidi Anaya, CHBA, CHSL.
Back in the days during my New York bustling career days, Heidi and I met at The Pierre Hotel. She attended an event when I worked there. We spent a good portion of our break in Paris trying to pin down the exact timeline. Was it 2012? Maybe 2014? The exact year was blurry, but the connection was crystal clear.
Back then, we were both navigating the complexities of one of the most demanding markets in the world. Now, more than a decade later and a whole ocean away, our paths had crossed again. There I was, attending her two-day training, benefiting from the expertise she had cultivated over the same decade I had been growing my own career. One day later I took the lecturer role for the Revenue training day. What a small world and a full circle!!!
It was a powerful reminder: The Hospitality industry is huge, but the community is tight. The person you share a brief project with today might be the person certifying your expertise ten years from now. In hospitality, your reputation and your relationships are your most valuable currency, they travel with you, regardless of your zip code.
Earning my CHBA certification during this trip felt like the culmination of this journey. In an industry that is becoming increasingly data-driven and complex, business acumen is the language that allows us to communicate across departments and borders.
I am incredibly grateful to Ingunn Hofseth, who I met about four years ago and had a great connection since. This opportunity means a lot and I look forward to many more moments together. Ingunn and the HSMAI team were the invisible glue that held the week together. They created an environment where high-level strategic learning felt communal rather than competitive. They understand that when one of us levels up our knowledge, the entire industry rises.
As my career evolves, I find myself drawn more frequently to the educational side of hospitality. There is a specific fulfillment in deconstructing the complexities of our field and turning them into actionable insights for others. This trip was a perfect reflection of that shift. Beyond my own certification, I was particularly energized by the collaboration with Frederic Toitot for our Revenue Management Day within the program. Working alongside him allowed us to merge our perspectives and deliver a session that was both strategic and practical. Our partnership during the training reinforced my belief that the best education happens through collaboration, bringing different experiences to the table to give the next generation of leaders a well-rounded view of the landscape. Taking on this role as an educator, especially in tandem with a peer like Frederic, felt like a natural progression of my journey in this industry.
As I reflect on this trip, I’m struck by the realization that in hospitality, we never truly say “goodbye”, but we say “see you later.” The person you assist during a busy shift in Manhattan might be the same person who signs your certification in Paris a decade later. This is why I am so invested in the educational side of our field. When we teach, we aren’t just passing on facts; we are strengthening the threads of a global community.
Whether I am in the seat of the student, as I was with Heidi, or at the front of the room leading a training, I am mindful of the fact that the people in that room will be my colleagues for the next twenty years. We are building a global village, one workshop and one certification at a time.