Davina Cisier, Director of Development Luxury Hotels for Accor will be presented the prestigious ISHC Young Leader Award at the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF), a hospitality investment conference that hosts over 2500 senior figures from over 80 countries.
New to the IHIF programme this year will be a generational discussion between the Young Leader Award winner and the IHIF Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. They will share their thoughts on successful hospitality strategies and their views of the future.
Andrea Belfanti, Executive Director of ISHC commented, “We are looking forward to IHIF and especially the addition to the programme of the generational discussion between our Young Leader Award winner and the Lifetime Achievement Award winner. We’re inspired by the accomplishments of Davina and her success in the hotel development field at the young age of 30. Thank you to the organizers of IHIF for their continued partnership.”
Currently Davina is leading the growth of the Accor Luxury portfolio in Europe, which include the luxury and LifeStyle brands of the Group Accor: Banyan Tree, Raffles, Orient Express, Delano, Fairmont, SLS, So Sofitel, Sofitel, The House of Originals, Mondrian and Hyde. Most recently, she concluded the hotel agreements for the new Sofitel Taksim Istanbul, Fairmont Grand Hotel Geneva as well as the future Fairmont Golden Prague, the SO/ Sotogrande and the Raffles London.
Tess Pearson, Event Director for IHIF said on behalf of Questex Hospitality Group, “The ability to recognise and reward developing talent is vital in creating a sustainable, future-proof and forward thinking industry. We’re delighted to continue working with the ISHC identifying individuals who demonstrate perfectly what this award was created to celebrate. Congratulations to Davina, a very worthy recipient, and we look forward to welcoming her to IHIF 2020 next month.”
Davina joined Accor in 2016 through the acquisition of FRHI Hotels and Resort. Prior to joining the Development department of FRHI and then Accor, Davina worked in Revenue Management for the Swissôtel Metropole Geneva and Swissôtel Bosphorus Istanbul.
Davina holds a Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality Management, with a major in Finance, from the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland.
The Young Leader Award was established by ISHC and IHIF in 2009 to recognise and celebrate the excellence of young emerging leaders in the hospitality industry. Candidates must meet the following criteria and be nominated by someone they work with:
- 35 years of age or younger. Born on or after 3 March 1984
- Currently works for or directly within the hotel sector
- Is recognised by peers and industry members as an emerging leader for the hotel industry
- Whose contributions are already making an impact on the hotel industry
Respected CEOs from across the hotel industry reviewed a short list of nomination forms of outstanding candidates before voting on the winner. Presentation of the Young Leader Award will take place at 16:30 (CET) on Monday, 2 March during plenary session at IHIF.