Global Hotel Alliance x Regent Seven Seas Cruises - 1
Girlahead went back to sea – with the crème de la crème of the hotel industry. Celebrating 22 years of existence, Global Hotel Alliance, GHA, wanted a ‘how amazing’ annual CEOs gathering. There are now 55 different brands with a waitlist coming up, and the board really wanted to make this meeting special. Turn, therefore, to GHA member and partner, Regent Seven Seas Cruises (RSSC).
The 2026 GHA meeting was, after many months of detailed planning, therefore held aboard the splendid RSS Splendor, sailing from Barcelona to Monte Carlo, 3-6 July 2026. The onboard group included 33 hotel groups’ CEOs or top leaders, plus, from the RSSC side, owning company NHL’s Chief Luxury Officer Jason Montague together with RSSC’s President Wesley D’silva and Chief Marketing Officer Caroline Smith.
Splendor was built by Fincantieri in Ancona and commissioned in 2020. She’s 224m long, 12 decks high: she has 373 suites (maximum passenger count 746 looked after by 548 crew). Captain on this voyage was Marco Nocera. The GM, heading everything except maritime ops, was Gianluca Pezzollà
Many of the attendees had brought spouses, and in some cases children. Apart from Kempinski’s CEO Barbara Muckermann, who moved to hotels after a short lifetime at sea, and with exceptions that could easily be counted on one hand, none of the hoteliers had ever cruised before. Facilitation, led by Kristy Howgate, Nic le Roux and Sarah Schwetje - all under the ever-attentive eye of GHA boss Chris Hartley (below)- was meticulous, even to the extent of themed leather key card holders, and drink swizzle sticks….
