Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian Links Empathy With Hotel Growth — Full Video

05.10.2023 - 13:07 / skift.com / Mark Hoplamazian / Sean Oneill / Hyatt Hotels

Mark Hoplamazian, president and CEO of Hyatt Hotels Corp., rhapsodized last week about how the hotel giant uses empathy as a tool for everything from fostering company culture to strategically analyzing acquisitions and brand development.

Hoplamazian particularly stressed that human connection remains the essence of what hotel staff need to provide travelers — especially in an era where digital tech and automation are making life a virtual hamster wheel.

Hyatt‘s top boss made the remarks on-stage at the Skift Global Forum in New York City on September 27. (See video and transcript of the interview below.) During the interview, Hoplamazian also underscored business travel’s rebound — citing especially surprisingly high bookings for New York City in October.

What’s more, Hoplamazian explained why Hyatt entered the mid-market segment with the new brand Hyatt Studios. He covered the company’s strategy in China, its aspiration for carbon reductions, its plan to hire 10,000 youth from underserved communities by 2025, and why he believes leisure travelers will make up a larger share of Hyatt’s customer base for years to come.

Sean O’Neill: Hey, Mark, thanks for joining us today.

Mark Hoplamazian: It’s a pleasure. Thanks, Sean.

O’Neill: The theme of Skift Global Forum this year is about how human-to-human connection was the original promise of travel. But we have all this talk of generative A.I.. We have digital tech. As I was joking with Mark earlier, you know, you go on vacation, and everyone’s just staring at their phones. So there was something that you said, Mark, eight years ago when you were on stage and. Skift Global Forum, that I thought was really relevant on this point. So we’re going to play a clip now from what you said.

Hoplamazian: So as we think about applying empathy in our business, we think about it as the essential capacity to bring humanity back into hospitality. At Hyatt, we have an equation that we use, and it’s an equation that we put together to remind ourselves to reverse perspective, practice empathy, and combine it with action. So it’s a call to action. So it goes. Empathy plus action equals care. And care is really the essence of what we stand for. It’s it’s why we as a company, we care for people so they can do their best. And when we’re at our best and when our industry is at its best, we can actually fulfill that mandate. 

O’Neill: So eight years ago. My empathy there: you look the same. I don’t know what you’re doing. So today, how do you use it at Hyatt — that kind of equation today for human-to-human connection?

Hoplamazian: Yeah. So first of all, hi, everybody. It’s great to see such a robust crowd here. And what a beautiful venue. And thank you, Sean. And to Skift.

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