Blogs

Consulting the Future

Published

4 years ago

02/18/2021

Kossi Adzo

We talked to Simone Puorto of Travel Singularity on how to solve the growing needs for connecting the dots between digital disruption and change with the existing technology and this is what he had to say.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times?

Simone Puorto: Fine. We live in Paris, and restrictions are quite strict over here, but we’re holding up.

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded Travel Singularity.

Simone Puorto: I’m a former hotel General Manager, consultant, author of two best-selling books on hotel marketing (the third one will be out next year), contributor for the major blogs in the industry, and MBA lecturer for schools such as Les Roches, ESSEC, and LUISS. I am the founder and CEO of Travel Singularity. Over my career, spanning across over 20 years, I consulted for international hotel groups such as Divani Hotels Collection in Greece, Library Hotels Collection in New York, and The Pavilions Hotels & Resorts in Asia Europe. I also helped to consolidate one of the largest hotel chains in Italy. I advised countless travel tech companies worldwide.

How does Travel Singularity innovate?

Simone Puorto: Travel Singularity is a consulting firm whose vision is to solve the growing need for connecting the dots between digital disruption and existing technologies in hotels, so innovation is in our DNA.

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?

Simone Puorto: With consulting mainly for hotels, my business was, of course, affected. Luckily, not all destinations became influenced by the pandemic, and I have a company in the tech space that kept going quite well, even during the lockdown months. I consider myself quite lucky.

Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned?

Simone Puorto: I had to cut down some expenses, like everybody. Without traveling, however, this was almost organic. Before the pandemic, I traveled 100 days a year, which went down to zero in 2020. I’ve learned that there is no such thing as continuous growth and that sometimes a crisis helps you take a step back and refocus.

How do you deal with stress and anxiety, how do you project yourself and Travel Singularity in the future?

Simone Puorto: I keep providing the best service I can for my customers. It keeps me motivated. I am thinking one day at a time for now. Work hard, stay focused. I think that’s all we can do.

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Simone Puorto: In 2020, many people working in the travel space got laid off, and some of these people started working in consulting, so competition grew quite rapidly over the last few months. I stay in the game by trying to be always one step ahead, trying to anticipate new trends in the industry.

Your final thoughts?

Simone Puorto: I think something good can come out of this disaster. I had the time to write my new book and review some processes in my company. I could not have done it under normal circumstances.