Latest / The Modern Hotelier / #343: The Future of Hospitality in Latin America | with Rocco Bova
Transcript
- The Modern Hotelier #343: The Future of Hospitality in Latin America | with Rocco Bova === David Millili: Welcome to The Modern Hotelier, the most engaged podcast in hospitality. Don't forget to follow, like, subscribe, and let us know in the comments what you think about today's episode. Steve, who do we have on the program? Steve Carran: Yeah, David, we got a good one today. We have on Rocco Bova, the founder of Summit Latinoamericano de la Hospitalidad. Welcome, Rocco. How we doing today? Rocco Bova: Thank you so much, Steve and David. Good to see you again. It's been a while, actually. We didn't talk, so I'm glad to be back again on the show, and look forward to sharing some news from Mexico. David Millili: All right, great. So we're gonna dive in. We're gonna go through a lightning round. We're gonna get to know you better, your background, your career, and then we're gonna dive into some industry topics. Sound good? Rocco Bova: Excellent. Shoot it. David Millili: All right, so what did you want to be when you grew up? Rocco Bova: I wanted to be a traveler, actually. I wanted to discover the world and, you know, travel to different countries, and I've done that, 11 and counting. David Millili: All right, great. What's something that you wish you were better at? Rocco Bova: Oh my God. You know, the industry eats up a lot of our time and probably being a more present dad. David Millili: Okay. And what's a luxury you can't live without? Rocco Bova: Time. David Millili: Okay. So give us a person, dead or alive, who you'd like to take to lunch. Rocco Bova: A person dead or alive I would love to have for lunch is Mr. Adrian Zecha, the founder of Aman Resorts. David Millili: Okay. All right, good. So give us something that's on your bucket list. Rocco Bova: Probably the Pacific Islands, you know, Tahiti, Bora Bora, you know, just to go there on vacation. Not work, vacation. David Millili: Sounds— Steve Carran: And me both. That was great, Rocco. Now we're gonna dive into your personal background, a little bit more about you and what makes you tick. So you grew up in, is it Scylla, a small village in southern Italy? Is that correct? Rocco Bova: That is correct. My hometown is Scylla. It's actually in the Odyssey, the book of Homer. If you read, if you watch the movie, they actually talk about two monsters, you know, Scylla and Charybdis, and Scylla is my hometown. So I live within a monster, basically. Steve Carran: How did growing up in Scylla shape you into who you are today? Rocco Bova: So, you know, my hometown basically is a touristic village. So since I was very young, actually, my very first job was when I was 13. It's very normal for young people to get into waiting jobs, you know, whether it's a bar, restaurants, or a pizzeria, and that's how you get going into the industry. I became very popular very soon, I guess, because I was good at my job. And a couple of summers later, people started calling me, and I was also able to even charge more because people were calling me. People wanted me to work with them. So it was a good time. And then one day I met this Brazilian guy who took me to London, and the rest is history. David Millili: All right. So you went to Westminster Kingsway College and got your degree in hospitality management. What made you decide to go to that school and pick that degree? Rocco Bova: That's actually a perfect question because, you know, unfortunately, degrees today are very long. They take you four years to get a degree, and the younger generation doesn't want to waste four years of their life studying something that is not rocket science. We all know hospitality is actually a very simple industry where you only need to have a great attitude, and then you can learn everything else. Coincidentally, I was looking for a short-term course that could help me to achieve a degree in a short time. So I found this. It was perfect. You know, it was Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 5:00, compulsory attendance, so it was in person, compulsory every five days a week. So over Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday, I was going to work to earn some money, of course. My wife, then my girlfriend, helped me to pay bills and share expenses. But then I was able, within 10 months, to actually get my degree, and immediately after that, I got my first job to go into Dubai, where I worked as a restaurant manager at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. So it was perfect timing, perfect length of course. I learned what I had to learn, and I wish the same courses existed today. I keep telling all hotel schools, you can't waste a 19-year-old person's time for four years, expecting them to be there with you and keep this attention span for such a long time. David Millili: And tell us about your focus on wine in undergraduate studies. Rocco Bova: As an Italian, we grew up drinking wine when we start drinking. So at the age of 0.5, we already have our first sip of wine. You know, believe it or not, actually, parents give you a little sip, like a drop, basically, just to have the taste. I remember giving my first sip of champagne to my son. He was probably six, eight months. With that, you start to develop a certain interest. And of course, my career started in food and beverage, and therefore, knowledge of wine was compulsory. I started to develop an interest, not as much as before now, to be honest. Now I get into more mezcal and tequilas, which are great in Mexico, by the way. But yes, I enjoyed my early career, focusing also on understanding wine, winemaking, and meeting the winemakers themselves. I organized dozens of winemakers' dinners during my time in Dubai and in Singapore at the Four Seasons, for example. I remember I had 11 winemakers, all at the same table. It was amazing to have some amazing wine, all from Italy, coincidentally. But from sparkling Prosecco to great Barolos, it was unbelievable. Steve Carran: That's great. So you say that you're the happiest searching for seashells on a beach. It brings you back to your childhood and helps you relax. Do you have a specific memory of a beach that you have, or even a favorite beach that you've been to? Rocco Bova: So yes, I do have the beach, but let me tell you something about my seashells. So can you believe that when I came to Mexico, they confiscated all my collection? All of it. So I only have memories. I now have a lot of memories, but no more seashells. However, the best beachcombing for me was actually the island of Mauritius. There was a wild, very secluded beach called Gris Gris, and I used to go there to search for baby seashells, actually. Very tiny, small, you know, from one millimeter up to maybe two centimeters, small seashells. I had thousands of them, but no more now. Only memories. Great memories. Steve Carran: Well, at least you still have the memories. So that was great, Rocco. Now we're gonna dive into your career, how you got to where you are today. So, kinda like you mentioned before, after school you went to Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai, Four Seasons in Singapore, Hilton Kuala Lumpur, and you focused more on the F&B side of things. What did you learn in those early international days that you take with you today? Rocco Bova: So one of the very first things that I learned, actually, was how to make a budget. How to prepare a budget, you know? It was very fresh in my mind because I had just started before that, but then applying the theory into practice was fantastic. So at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, from one day to the next, I was told, "Okay, Rocco, tomorrow I need you to start working on your budget for 1999." So it was the year 1999, by the way. And I told them, "Okay. I never prepared one myself, but I'll find out how." So I started to talk to some friends, and then obviously I got feedback and stuff. It was great. Then from there, obviously, it became natural to work on that. In Singapore at the Four Seasons, one thing that I actually learned is how a company can take care of their staff. And Four Seasons at the time was great because, if you remember, during those days we had the first pandemic called SARS. It was actually the year 2003, and my son was just born, and the hotel occupancy went from 90% to zero, you know, one day to the next. For about six months, we remained almost empty. We had very few guests. Actually, I was one of the guests because I lived in the hotel. I was very lucky and privileged to live at the Four Seasons for two years. And the company made the commitment to keep everyone employed. Of course, we had to make some sacrifices on our salary, but it was great to see a company behind the employees and owners also, because at the end of the day, it's the owner's money, it's not the management company's money. So, you know, it was great to see the resilience of a company during tough times. And the third experience I can tell you about is my Kuala Lumpur time. I led possibly the best food and beverage program in the region at the time. I was the guy to know. Everyone wanted to talk to me because everyone wanted to have a restaurant reservation. Everyone wanted to have a special table. Everyone wanted to have a party in our hotel. So I was the man, and I had a great time. We had some of the best food and beverage concepts, nightclubs, live music, wine bars, fine dining, Chinese cuisine, you name it. Everything was actually there. It was amazing to be able to lead the best, possibly the best F&B concept in the region. In the region, not in Kuala Lumpur. It was actually in Southeast Asia at the time. So great memories. David Millili: So you later worked in management with Aman, Lux, and St. Regis. You spent four years leading Chablé Yucatan. How did working in leadership roles shape you and how you lead people? Rocco Bova: I think one of the best qualities and opportunities of living in different countries and experiencing different cultures, languages, and work environments allows you to become a better person if you're able to listen and learn first before acting. Second, you become a lot more flexible. You understand the different cultures and different behaviors of people. You become like a psychologist more than a hotelier. And leading people is more important than leading money. Managing money is a lot easier. It's one plus one minus one, and it will give you the result. But when it comes to managing people, it's a lot more difficult. You have a lot of work to do first on yourself and then on others. And working in so many countries and with so many different kinds of people from so many nationalities, even in Dubai, in those days at the very beginning of Dubai, we had nearly 90 nationalities working in one hotel. So imagine me trying to adapt to people from the Philippines, from India, from Sri Lanka, from China, from Vietnam, Europe, Eastern Europe, and Russia. I mean, you really become a much better person, and you really become a person who understands others. And also different clients, not just the staff, because you also need to deal with clients. So in Asia, you have a higher percentage of clients coming from Asia than from Europe or the United States. But as you get closer to Europe, then you start to get other kinds of clients, so you also understand clients. I mean, a lot of people tell me, "I have 35 years of experience," but they only work in one country and for one company. That, to me, is not experience. I'm so sorry. You know, with all due respect, you have experience where you have really learned and lived in different countries for different companies, so your baggage becomes so much heavier and so much better, if you will, from that point of view. Steve Carran: Love that. Love that. So now you've founded a few of your own companies. You founded the Summit Latino Americano de la Hospitalidad, Summit Latino Americano del Turismo Wellness, and Summit Latino Americano Branded Residences. What made you go out on your own and found all these different companies? Rocco Bova: So Steve, about five years ago, I changed the direction of my career. I started from being an employee to being self-employed. I decided to move and work as a consultant. Actually, this was a push from my wife, to be honest, and she told me, "You have so much experience, so many contacts. Why don't you start working as a consultant?" For me, the idea of consulting was that one retires and then works as a consultant. I felt I was too young, only to then discover that it was the best choice of my life because I enjoy consulting. Now I work with maybe six or seven projects at the same time, so you learn how to really multitask. Trying to remember each one of them independently is also a challenge at times, but it's fun. Also, as a consultant, I participate in and attend many conferences, expos, and events, mainly in Mexico, of course, but I also go to other events in the region. So, I discovered that there was not a single one focusing on hospitality. For some reason, I don't know exactly why, but I couldn't find a single one really focusing on hospitality, and I was wondering why. Normally, you have three types of events here. You have the expos. You have a lot of expos for hospitality with a little area for conferences, but it's so noisy that you don't really get concentrated to focus on the conference. The second one is real estate. So you have a lot of conferences focusing on real estate, development, and investment, which is great. And the third one focuses more on the travel industry, bringing together travel agencies and tour operators with hotels. But nothing focuses on hospitality. So I said, "Okay, why does nobody want to do it? So maybe I should do it myself." So this idea came to fruition two years ago, in 2025, and in February 2025, we had our first event. To my surprise, we sold out the event. We had over 190 participants, one full-day event, and we also had a small expo with eight exhibitors. It was very intimate, but I could see the faces of people. Everyone was so eager to stay at this event. That, to me, triggered the decision to repeat the event the following year, which was actually this past May. We launched the second event, a two-day event. We had almost 450 participants, and we also had a slightly bigger exhibition space for about 30 to 35 companies. Now, next year, I'm planning a three-day event with three different pillars, as you just mentioned: the Hospitality Summit, the Wellness Summit, and the Branded Residence Summit. I realized that the three events can be one, and people can learn from the three areas. Whether it's branded residences or wellness, people can participate in all three events without any issue. David Millili: And for those who aren't familiar, can you share more about the Summit Latino Americano Branded Residences and why branded residences are a big topic now? Rocco Bova: I guess it's not rocket science. We all know what's happening at the moment globally. Every hotel brand is pulling out all the hacks, introducing a new type of brand with residences. First, there were only a few, like Four Seasons, the Ritz-Carlton, Aman Resorts, and St. Regis, starting this kind of concept. Slowly, it's now becoming common even to have a four-star brand offering branded residences because not everyone can afford a Four Seasons branded residence. Mexico is no stranger to this, so now they are sprouting up everywhere. We actually have Armani Residences under construction in Mexico City. St. Regis already has theirs. Apparently, I'm saying this off the record, but maybe not, apparently Aman is coming to Mexico City. Steve Carran: Oh. Rocco Bova: So, Aman Resorts actually just opened a couple of months ago in Los Cabos. There are many resorts like One&Only, Four Seasons, St. Regis, Banyan Tree, and Rosewood, both on the Pacific side and on the Caribbean side, with their own branded residences. SHA Wellness Clinic, which opened about three or four years ago, has its own branded residences, so we're going into wellness-branded residences too, by the way. It's definitely a very hot topic for Mexico. Now, the reason for creating this conference is not just to discover what already exists, but to understand how to develop these projects. A lot of developers are developing branded residences, but actually, they are not branded residences. It's either fractional ownership, a condotel, or a different kind of structured business model. My idea is to educate the market to understand what branded residences mean, how to operate the business model, and how to commercialize them, because if you don't sell the concept properly, you won't reach the market you're looking for. So that was the main reason behind it. Steve Carran: Awesome. All right, so now we're gonna dive into the industry thoughts, more of the thought leadership section of the podcast. I'm curious about what you're seeing. You mentioned earlier that you went to school for 10 months to get your degree in hospitality. What are you seeing now in how we're educating more executives who are focusing on hospitality? Rocco Bova: So, Steve, what's happening, and I think this is global, is that there is a lower intake of students registering for hospitality schools. That's a fact. Actually, the other day I was talking to Peter Ritchie, who I'm sure you know from FIU. Even in the United States, there are similar symptoms. Younger generations are no longer attracted to our industry, and this is a problem. This is a big problem. And again, I go back to the fact: why would a 19-year-old have to study for four years? Let's say three years plus another year of internship, but you still need four years of your life to study something that you can learn in six months or maybe 10, like me. Today, we have technology resources. We have so many things that can help us reach that level much faster. We are not getting the message. I think, from the government side, first of all, they need to understand that they need to review what a degree should look like in the future, not just today, but also for the future. Why should a degree last five years? Why should all degrees last five years? Maybe there should be degrees that last one year, and there could be degrees that last five years, like becoming a doctor. If you want to be a doctor, of course, you need to understand how to be a doctor. But to be a hotelier, you don't need five years or four years for the sake of it. And number two is the fact that teaching in different languages is also important. We have great schools that can teach hoteliers in English, or even French for the Swiss schools, such as Les Roches. Although their curriculum is mainly in English, they also have a French option, so you can actually learn another language. But in Spanish, not a single one. If nobody wants to do it, then I'm forced to do it myself. So I'm going to launch the Academia de la Hospitalidad very soon, which is the competition to Cornell, but in Spanish. I'm basically here in Mexico to disrupt what's happening around me. I'm tired of seeing the same things over and over again, and I just hope to make my little dent in the universe. That's all I want to do. David Millili: So, in your opinion, what are the main hospitality events in either Mexico or Latin America where industry leaders can meet and learn from each other? Rocco Bova: There are none. That's why I created the— David Millili: Okay. Rocco Bova: Latin American and African. There's none, you know, for now, at least. What I actually hope, David, is that there will be more. The other day, I was talking about whether competition is healthy. We were debating about Airbnb. What do I think about Airbnb? Airbnb is great. It's fantastic. I love Airbnb. I don't use it a lot, to be honest. I prefer hotels, but it's a great way to compete with the hotel industry. A great way. Now, what can a hotelier do? Complain or do something about it? How can I communicate to the user why they should use a hotel instead of an Airbnb? It's very simple. There are two different products. There is no competition. Airbnb goes for price. The lower, the better, and they go for occupancy. Low price, high occupancy, because even if they earn $1 per booking per day, they become millionaires. Every single day, they churn out dollars. A hotel is a different story because hotels have overheads, costs, and expenses, which Airbnb doesn't have to the same extent. So we cannot say it's competition. It's just another way to do business. The same goes for hospitality conferences. I wish there would be more very soon because otherwise, I say I have the best conference in all of Mexico, but I'm the only one. I need more competition, please. In Spanish, please. Steve Carran: There you go. That's great. That's great. I'm curious about this. We haven't had a lot of guests who are living in Mexico. How is the global geopolitical situation affecting Mexico and Latin America? Rocco Bova: So, Steve, Mexico already has a second new government. When I first came, there was one party leading the country, and now there is another party leading the country. When the current party came into power, they removed all the promotional tourism offices around the world that were promoting Mexico, from Japan to Asia, Europe, Latin America, and so on and so forth. Everyone was scared that we were going to lose tourism and would not get any more tourists in Mexico. Guess what? Tourists are still coming to Mexico. On the other hand, the geopolitical situation is affecting this part of the world as much as the rest of the world. I think we are no different from the rest of the world. There is a moment, and it's cyclical, like everything else. On many past occasions, we had financial crises, wars, and pandemics. It's not the first time. What we need to find out is, first, how long it's going to last, which we all hope will be less than most. And second, what are we going to do about it? My concern is not how long it's going to last. My concern is that no one is doing anything about it. We just came out of a huge pandemic five years ago that halted the travel industry globally. What have we learned from that moment in terms of action to preserve cash for later? Zero. Mergers and acquisitions continue to happen. The only cost-cutting companies are doing is cutting heads, and there is no other strategy to preserve cash and maintain continuous work for team members. I guess this is also the reason why people are no longer committed to working in the hospitality industry. They're not committed because companies don't care anymore. The first thing they cut when there is a crisis is people. I don't think this is the right strategy to follow. I understand that you have shareholders and commitments, and you have to pay suppliers. But let's find another solution. Instead of cutting heads, let's find another way to preserve cash and move forward for as long as possible. Again, if all the companies had a little piggy bank since the pandemic, where you put $1 a day and save some money for the future, maybe today we wouldn't have to fire 20% of our workforce, or we wouldn't have to have artificial intelligence and robots serving guests. We didn't have to do that. But instead, what we're doing is obviously the obvious, which is the easiest way. We cut heads, and we save money like this. Anyway, I hope that at some point this mentality will change because otherwise, if you want to be served by a person, you will need to pay at least $1,000 a day. Otherwise, you will get a bot answering your call, an AI agent doing your check-in or answering your queries to book a dinner reservation, and a robot getting your tray into your room if you want room service. Who are you gonna tip? There will not be any tips anymore. David Millili: All right. So from an investor's point of view, why should people invest in Mexico right now? Rocco Bova: Well, I've been living here for 10 years. In February, I celebrate 10 years in this great country. Mexico, for me so far, has been the best choice of my life. Both my children were educated in Mexico. They're now living in Europe, but that's because of their choice. My wife and I are very happy to live here. People are very welcoming. We are very comfortable here. Despite a lot of common misconceptions, Mexico is actually very safe. Otherwise, we wouldn't stay here for 10 years. In other countries, we didn't stay more than five years in one country, so we doubled that amount of time in Mexico. Overall, Mexico is not a bad place to live, invest, and even educate your children. From a hospitality point of view, there is still a lot of work to be done here, a lot of work, so we are just at the beginning of a transformation. When I came here 10 years ago, Mexico was a different country, catering to a different kind of people and travelers. Today, Mexico is elevating that standard to welcome many luxury brands. Now, just for you to know, and you probably know this already, but if you want to buy a branded residence in Los Cabos, it may cost you $10 million or $20 million. There are mansions that are huge and very expensive. Actually, one of my clients recently, who is Mexican, had a beautiful residence at the Four Seasons Costa Palmas. So, no, it's definitely a wonderful country, very beautiful, with great food and great beverages, by the way, with mezcal and tequila at the top of the line. We are just at the beginning. Mexico is a huge country where maybe only 10% of the land is developed. So imagine, we're just at the beginning, and I can see myself being very busy for the foreseeable future. Steve Carran: That's great. That's great. I'm a tequila fan as well, so I'll have to come down and check some out. But, Rocco, we've been asking you questions this whole time. This is where we turn the tables and let you ask David and me a question. Rocco Bova: David, who will be your next guest on your podcast? David Millili: Well, I mean, Steve, I'll steal his thunder here probably, but we've talked about a lot. I would love to have Ian Schrager on our podcast if I had a dream guest, only because I worked in hotels in New York when the Ian Schrager hotel movement was really at its height, and the bars were the most popular bars. They really set a precedent, I think, for independent hotels and making them cool, making the lobby a focal point, and things of that nature. So if I had to pick one person, I would pick Ian Schrager. Rocco Bova: That would be fantastic. I look forward to hearing when you confirm that. Let me know. And Steve, what is your pet peeve when you go to a hotel? Steve Carran: My pet peeve. Oh my goodness. I call it top-of-the-head syndrome when I go to check in and all I see is the top of their head just staring down at the computer, with really no engagement with me as I check in. Also, when I'm walking down the hallway and I pass an employee and they don't say hi to me or make eye contact. The lack of personalization, not personalization, but the lack of interaction from hotel folks kind of drives me nuts sometimes. But I think a lot of the hotels we go to do a great job, but every once in a while, we stay at a hotel where it just seems like we don't exist. Rocco Bova: You know, Steve, people keep telling me that with the introduction of artificial intelligence, we will have more time to focus on guests. I don't see this happening at all. On the contrary. Steve Carran: Great question. Great question. So our producer, Jon, has been listening this whole time. We're gonna kick it over to him for one more question before we get you out of here. Jon Bumhoffer: Not necessarily a question yet, but kind of piggybacking off what you said. I heard someone say recently, "Never in human history have we ever made less work for ourselves." So the idea that AI is gonna promise all this stuff sounds good, but when was the last time that actually came to fruition, where we have less to do because technology advanced? You have a very interesting background. You've been a lot of places, a lot of places I've never been. I'm curious, what are some things or experiences you've had that really impact the way you see hospitality or the way you look at food and beverage, which is kind of your background? Rocco Bova: Well, we'll see, Jon. We'll talk in another six months, and let's see what the difference is going to be six months from now. By the way, you are all invited to my next event, so block your dates: September 7th, 8th, and 9th, 2027. You're most welcome to join me. Just brush up on your Spanish, please. David Millili: Yeah. Well, we won't need to. We'll just use AI so we can talk Spanish. Steve Carran: Ja. David Millili: All right. Well, that does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier. Rocco, this is where you get to let people know how they can get in touch with you and how they can find out about everything you're doing and all your initiatives. Rocco Bova: Just follow me on LinkedIn. I spend about 95% of my time on LinkedIn. I think it still is a great platform, although I see more and more artificial intelligence-created content. But it still is a great platform. I love it, and you can find me there. You can follow me there. I'll be happy to follow you back. David Millili: All right. Well, that's great. Well, that does it for another episode of The Modern Hotelier, the most engaged podcast in hospitality. Whether you're watching or listening, we appreciate you and hope to be with you again soon. Thanks for joining us. Rocco Bova: Ciao. Steve Carran: Thanks, Rocco.