EDITOR'S COMMENT
• It was encouraging and exciting to learn that Ariane Gorin will be the new CEO of Expedia Group from May, taking over from Peter Kern once his contract comes to a close. Gorin is a smart and highly respected leader who has earned the right to claim the top job, having worked her way up through a number of influential roles, including most recently served as president for Expedia for Business.
I interviewed Gorin at last year's Short Stay Summit in London [which returns on 24 April - the day after our Shortyz Awards], and was struck by her vision for the One Key loyalty programme and emphasis on the importance of the STR sector to the UK tourism economy. Not only is she a champion of this category but her insights from working in loyalty across multiple hospitality verticals will be invaluable to establishing greater brand recognition in our space, and I have every confidence she will lay down good foundations for the future.
Gorin joins a growing - if glaringly small - number of female CEOs to lead a Fortune 500 company - the 2023 list revealed that 29 of the 500 businesses [5.8 per cent] had female chief executives, albeit up from 24 the year before. It is clear that there is still some way to go to negate this imbalance, but it is reassuring that barriers to improving gender diversity in C-suite roles are gradually being removed.
Kern's influence should not be taken lightly though, having taken on the CEO position in a turbulent period and steered the company through the pandemic. He steps down as Expedia Group reports record full year lodging gross bookings and full year and Q4 revenue, while an ad partnership with Netflix offers plenty of opportunities for future growth.
• Our February webinar schedule is not to be missed, starting with 'Mastering hyper-local pricing for hyper-effective results' [sponsored by PriceLabs] next Tuesday 20 February at this link. Then sign up here for 'Building a strong company culture in the era of remote work' [27 February], when our speakers include Steve Satoru Naito [Anyplace], Pierre-Camille Hamana [Hospitable], Sophie Fourteau [Ukio] and Camila Ramirez [GoCamp].
• Submit your no-cost entries now for the 2024 Shortyz Awards in as many of the 20 categories as you wish - including our new Team of the Year Award - by Monday 4 March at our dedicated platform here. Click here for the overview of the categories and their criteria.
And for more information, read our advice article on how to craft the perfect Shortyz entry/ies at this link.
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