Big interview Experience and leadership
in hospitality
With more than two decades in hospitality at IHG, Karin Sheppard has built a reputation for herself and is currently managing director, Europe at IHG Hotels & Resorts. As an industry leader responsible for driving performance, sustainable growth and the reputation of the hotel group’s European business, Sheppard speaks to Phoebe Galbraith about her experience in hospitality and her role as a leader, what it means to provide true hospitality and the group’s aims for the future.
hospitality. Initially working as a dish washer in an Italian restaurant as a teenager before going on to work in the IT industry, Sheppard found herself falling back in love with hospitality when she returned years later. According to her, the personal touch that working in hotels brings is what “makes it so much more rewarding” and helped her realise her passion for the industry. With 20 years of experience at IHG, in nine different roles and six different locations around the world, Sheppard now serves as the company’s managing director for Europe. For Sheppard, that is just “one thing that is so special about [the job], which is the opportunity to travel the world and just see the diversity of what’s on offer”. Hospitality is more than just a job to Sheppard – it is a passion. And it is one that allows her and many other employees to experience the world and different cultures, which makes the job all the more fascinating and rewarding. It is not just about the travel either, Sheppard is very aware that, at its heart, the industry is all about people. “What we do in hotels is so reliant on the people, and what we all remember as our wonderful memories from hotel stays is all about the people and it just makes it so much more rewarding,” says Sheppard. Whether it is guest or employees, hotels need people to create that “moment of joy” that comes from a hotel stay.
“O 12 Hotel Management International /
www.hmi-online.com Hotel Management International /
www.hmi-online.com
ne of the trademarks of hotels are just how fun it is,” claims Karin Sheppard. For her, all roads lead to
IHG Hotel & ResortsIHG Hotel & Resorts
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