Davidson Hospitality Group is promoting Thom Geshay, who has spent more than 30 years with the hospitality management company, to the key role of CEO and president.

Changes are afoot at one of the biggest management companies in the hospitality industry.

Leadership transition

The newly announced promotion of Davidson Hospitality Group’s Thom Geshay to CEO and president, which takes effect from 1 January 2022, forms part of its strategic executive succession plan. On taking up the role, Geshay will be only the fifth CEO and president in the group’s 50-year history.

Geshay succeeds John Belden, Davidson’s longest serving CEO as well as its current chairman, who will nevertheless remain actively engaged as executive chairman and member of the board of directors.

In his new position, Geshay will drive the company forward in terms of creating value and delivering industry-leading service to property owners, brands, team members and hotel guests.

“I couldn’t be more pleased, nor more confident, that our team members, property owners and investors are in excellent hands and will be well-served under Thom’s tremendous direction,” said Belden. “In his 30-plus years with the company, Thom has been instrumental in our achievement of major milestones, a critical catalyst in championing our culture and a driver in the development of our immensely talented team.”

Building on experience

Geshay first joined Davidson in 1988 and since then has ascended through the ranks, taking on the role of chief operating officer in 2016 and president in 2019. Among other successes, he played an important role in the launch of Pivot, Davidson Resorts and Davidson Restaurant Group, along with the refinement of the company’s brand architecture, deployment of its global sales office and rollout of its hybrid meetings initiative.

Belden said: “I have spent much of my adult life cultivating and growing Davidson and can’t imagine a better steward to hand the baton to than Thom. While Thom takes over the day-to-day reins of the company, I will continue to support Thom and the team as executive chairman, focusing on our vision and strategy development, portfolio growth and owner relationships.”

Davidson has developed strong relationships with Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide and Hyatt Hotels Corporation down the years and become the largest operator of Margaritaville Hotels & Resorts. It’s also become one of the first third-party operators for brands such as Thompson, Kimpton and Nobu Hotels, and expects to end the year with approximately 70 hotels, representing over US$1.8 billion in normalised portfolio revenue.

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