ASAntonella Sgobba Italiano

Expertise

What an owner gets when I take on an asset: a brand that can be sold, a commercial team that can sell it, and the distribution relationships that bring the right guests.

Six areas

Brand creation, positioning and go-to-market

Naming, visual direction, tone of voice, positioning narrative and launch plan. The Itaca Luxury Collection and Nilaa Coral Island brands were built this way, end to end.

Luxury start-up and pre-opening

Governance, operating model, recruitment, pre-opening strategy and the first commercial year. Nilaa Coral Island, Hilton Molino Stucky in Venice, Fidenza Village.

Repositioning of high-end assets

Rate architecture, feeder markets, missing roles, service standards and the renovation itself. Grand Hotel San Pietro, Hotel Principe di Savoia, Rome Cavalieri to Waldorf Astoria.

Commercial organisation and team building

Teams of seven to thirty-five people built or rebuilt across sales, marketing, revenue, communications and digital, with targets, incentives and reviews that stick.

Luxury distribution and travel-trade networks

Working relationships with Virtuoso, Serandipians, Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts, Internova Travel Group, Preferred Hotels & Resorts and The Leading Hotels of the World.

Luxury sales culture

Training front-line and sales teams in anticipating needs, upselling and cross-selling, and the attitude that luxury guests expect.

How I work

A twelve-month roadmap for an asset that needs to be brought to market, or back to it. Only the first phase is contracted; owner and advisor review together before continuing, and the plan ends with a handover to the in-house team.

  1. Foundation

    Months 1 to 3

    Brand assessment and rebranding plan, master narrative, feeder-market intelligence, sales and marketing budget. Audit of images, copy, website and OTA content. Scouting of PR agencies, sales representatives and an internal sales manager, with three qualified partners proposed per category.

  2. Build

    Months 4 to 6

    Contracts signed, press kit written, action plan with targets at three, six, nine and twelve months. Sales manager on board. Website and digital strategy relaunched. Rooms revenue strategy, review of the F&B offer and pricing, proposals for meetings, weddings and events.

  3. Pre-launch

    Months 7 to 9

    PR push, familiarisation and press trips. Team recruitment and training in anticipating needs and luxury attitude. Check-in and guest-relations procedures, F&B calendar, partnerships with local destination companies.

  4. Launch and consolidation

    Months 10 to 12

    Opening support, standard operating procedures in every department, commercial and PR indicators, mystery guest, budget and plan for the following year, handover to the in-house team.

Working principles

  • Direct dialogue with ownership, with a weekly alignment call.
  • On-site presence combined with remote continuity.
  • Specialist partners contracted directly by the owner, never resold.
  • A planned handover: the person who carries the project on is identified and trained from the start.

Markets worked

United States luxury leisure, Middle East, United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Chinese inbound, Southern Europe (Italy, France, Spain, Portugal).

Groups and houses worked for or with

Dorchester Collection, Armani Hotels, Hilton, Waldorf Astoria, Le Méridien, InterContinental Hotels Group, Falkensteiner, Lindbergh Hotels & Resorts, Itaca Luxury Collection, Italian Hospitality Collection, Value Retail, Bulgari, Giampiero Bodino, Belstaff.