As part of the line up of industry luminaries sharing their insights with us at Unfold this year is Stuart W. Greif, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy, Innovation & Operating Officer at Forbes Travel Guide.
Formerly, he was Microsoft’s Senior Executive for Hospitality and Travel, and led J.D. Power’s Global Hospitality and Travel group. Greif also worked for a unicorn startup Amperity, backed by early investors in Facebook, LinkedIn and Amazon.
Now that you’ve met the maestro, let’s ask him some challenging questions.
Why do you love the hospitality industry?
Back when I launched my career, I was living in hotels five to six days per week for months on end and spent a lot of time with the hotel staff. It’s something that always resonated with me on a profound level – in terms of having empathy and experiencing kindness in a hotel and within a travel context of new experiences and people. That's what I find wonderful about creating memories and experiences, be it for business, travel or leisure.
I've been across a lot of industries earlier in my career, but it became apparent over time that I am continuing to hang out with travel and hospitality folks. I think it's been in my blood since I was very young, but unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to realize it as early as others.
What do you think the new standard in hospitality is?
To me, the new standard in hospitality is self-actualization. Covid really shifted the notion of life being precious and there was a recalibration of enjoying our lives in different ways, not necessarily waiting until after work is over. And that's where you see themes like bleisure emerge.
I think there’s a need and desire to connect on a much deeper level: experientially and authentically. The new standard is the self-actualization of ourselves as guests and travelers, but also as employees and colleagues, in what we do and how we integrate that into our daily work and personal lives. That's the unstated macro trend out there in the ether, and I hope it will be sustained over a long period of time.
Generationally, there were already shifts underway because of the macroeconomic conditions where younger generations realized that there was more to life than work. And I think that's healthier. The European countries have that culture inherently in ways that other countries around the world don't, so there's also a recalibration within different cultural contexts.
The new standard in hospitality should be predicated on what's really going on and what people need: employers, our colleagues in industry, guests, our partners. It needs to consider everyone.
Read the full interview here