Turned Relationships Into Hospitality Success

Luxury hospitality is built on beautiful destinations, exceptional properties and memorable experiences, but behind every successful hotel brand are professionals who know how to turn these qualities into meaningful relationships. Simone Ficorella has built his career around exactly that ability.

With international experience across luxury hospitality, sales, MICE and leisure markets, Simone has developed a professional identity based on relationships, adaptability and commercial understanding. His journey has taken him through different markets and cultures, including an important professional chapter in Dubai, before recently bringing him back to London for a new senior position.

Today, Simone is entering another important stage of his career as Senior Sales Manager for MICE at Shangri La The Shard, London. The move represents more than a new title. It reflects years of experience, international exposure and a continuing ambition to grow within one of the world’s most competitive hospitality sectors.

Building a Career Around People and Relationships

Sales in luxury hospitality is rarely about simply presenting rooms, facilities or packages. Clients expect confidence, understanding and a level of personal attention that matches the experience being sold.

This human side of business appears to have become central to Simone’s professional philosophy.

His background includes experience in account management across both MICE and leisure segments. Working across these different areas has required him to understand different customer expectations while maintaining a consistent commercial focus.

B2B sales, negotiation, business acumen and knowledge of luxury standards have consequently become important parts of his professional skill set.

More importantly, his career demonstrates the importance of building relationships that continue beyond a single transaction.

For Simone, successful hospitality sales is ultimately about creating trust.

“Luxury may open the door, but genuine relationships are what make people return.”

That philosophy captures a broader truth about an industry where personal connections remain essential despite rapid changes in technology and customer behaviour.

Dubai Became an Important Chapter

Dubai provided Simone with an opportunity to operate within one of the world’s most ambitious luxury hospitality markets.

During his time with Jumeirah, he became part of an internationally recognised hospitality environment while representing Jumeirah Beach Hotel and connecting with partners across international markets.

His work extended beyond conventional hotel sales. It involved meeting partners, representing the property at industry events, strengthening existing accounts and creating new commercial relationships.

One example came through Luxury Bloc in Prague, where Simone represented Jumeirah Beach Hotel while engaging with partners and exploring opportunities within the Central and Eastern European travel market.

Such experiences highlight the international nature of modern hospitality sales. A luxury hotel may exist in Dubai, but the relationships supporting its commercial success can stretch across Europe and far beyond.

For Simone, that international exposure strengthened both his network and his understanding of how different markets approach luxury travel.

Simone Ficorella Learning to Adapt Across Markets

One of Simone’s strongest professional qualities is adaptability.

International hospitality demands more than product knowledge. Professionals regularly communicate across different cultures, expectations and business environments. What works with one market may need to be approached differently in another.

Simone’s diversified background has helped him become comfortable with this reality.

Rather than seeing change as an obstacle, his career reflects a willingness to adjust, learn and continue moving forward.

His can do mindset and positive approach have also played an important role in helping him work toward individual and team targets.

That attitude matters particularly in sales, where success often comes after persistence, changing strategies and repeated conversations.

From Dubai Back to London

Simone’s latest career move marks an important transition.

After completing his Dubai chapter, he returned to the British capital to join Shangri La The Shard, London as Senior Sales Manager for MICE.

Located inside one of London’s most recognisable buildings, the luxury hotel gives Simone another international platform from which to develop business relationships and contribute to commercial growth.

His return to London also reconnects him with a market where relationships across corporate travel, events, agencies and international businesses are central to the MICE sector.

Yet Simone has approached the transition without dismissing what came before.

He has publicly reflected on Dubai with gratitude, recognising the experiences, friendships, professional partnerships, colleagues and mentors that became part of his journey.

That perspective says something meaningful about his approach to career growth. Progress does not always require leaving the past behind. Sometimes it means carrying its lessons into the next opportunity.

The Human Element Behind Hospitality Success

Perhaps one of the most important lessons from Simone’s journey is his belief in people.

Hospitality can sometimes appear to be an industry defined by impressive buildings, luxury suites, restaurants and destinations. Yet its real foundation remains human interaction.

The same principle applies to sales.

Strong sales professionals do not simply know what they are selling. They understand who they are speaking to, what those people need and how to create confidence around a decision.

Simone’s emphasis on partnerships reflects this relationship driven approach.

It also explains why networking has become such an important part of his professional development. International events, market visits and direct meetings allow hospitality professionals to build the trust that digital communication alone cannot always create.

Selling the Dream With Commercial Purpose

Simone describes his professional world with a memorable phrase, Selling The Dream.

It fits luxury hospitality particularly well.

Hotels do not simply sell accommodation. They sell anticipation, experiences, celebrations, business opportunities and memories. A successful salesperson must communicate that emotional value while still understanding targets, revenue and commercial priorities.

Balancing those two sides requires both personality and business discipline.

Simone’s background in negotiation, B2B sales, account management and business development gives him the commercial foundation, while his international experience allows him to understand the emotional and cultural side of luxury travel.

That combination has shaped his career so far.

Leadership Is Becoming the Next Ambition

Career growth for Simone is not limited to achieving stronger individual sales results.

His longer term ambition includes taking on greater senior responsibility and becoming more involved in team management while continuing to develop knowledge across additional markets.

This represents a natural progression.

Professionals who spend years developing accounts and understanding clients eventually gain something valuable beyond sales expertise. They develop perspective.

Leadership provides an opportunity to pass that knowledge to others, support teams and influence wider commercial strategies.

Simone’s international background could prove particularly valuable as his responsibilities continue to grow.

A Journey Still Moving Forward

Simone Ficorella’s career reflects the increasingly international nature of luxury hospitality.

His journey has connected different destinations, business cultures, luxury brands and professional relationships, while each chapter has contributed something to the next.

Dubai offered experiences and partnerships that he continues to value. London now presents another opportunity to grow, reconnect with the market and deliver results within a globally recognised luxury environment.

Yet perhaps the most valuable part of Simone’s story is that he continues to see development as an ongoing process.

Success has not made him stop looking forward.

Instead, every market, partnership and professional challenge appears to become another opportunity to learn.

For young professionals entering hospitality, that offers a useful lesson. Careers are rarely built through one position or one achievement. They are created gradually through consistency, relationships, adaptability and the willingness to embrace change.

As Simone begins his latest London chapter, his journey continues to demonstrate that luxury hospitality is ultimately a people business.

Properties may provide the setting, but relationships create the opportunities.

And for Simone, selling the dream has always been about understanding both.

Connect Simone Ficorella on LinkedIn

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