Working with Celebrity Guests: Rob DelliBovi, RDB Hospitality

Rob is the founder and CEO of RDB Hospitality, a hospitality consulting firm with a particular focus on Travel Management & Concierge services for high net worth, dignitary and celebrity travelers.

After years working in luxury hotels, the number one question I get asked is “Who’s the most famous person you’ve met?”, and honestly that’s a tough question to answer. If you stay in the industry long enough, interacting with government officials, celebrities and other VVIP guests becomes commonplace. 

What’s not common however, is how a hotel can repeatedly deliver an experience to this sought after group of travelers that ensures they keep getting the business. It takes awareness, communication, discretion and the ability to move quickly when the situation calls for it. 

Everyone wants to have the big name stay with them but getting your hotel ready to service these guests requires the ability to make them the most important people in the hotel while at the same time not getting caught up in the hype and treating them like anyone else.

Rob shares some great insight into misconceptions about these types of guests, how hotels are selected, how they can best prepare, and why those riders can be so crazy.

About Rob

Since 2003, Rob DelliBovi has overseen hospitality sales, marketing, and revenue management strategy for many of the industry’s biggest names. In recent years with his company, RDB Hospitality, DelliBovi and team have served as full-service advisers or asset managers on properties in domestic & international markets. RDB Hospitality has worked with over 140 properties and brands worldwide.

Prior to his advisory portfolio at RDB Hospitality, DelliBovi was Vice President of Sales for Dream Hotel Group, overseeing the group's portfolio of five brands. DelliBovi has also held various management positions with leading boutique and lifestyle hotel brands.

Since 2009, DelliBovi has also owned an IATAN accredited travel agency (working independently w/ Travel Experts, a Virtuoso Agency) and concierge company, where his team handles day-to-day needs for more than 500 celebrities and touring recording artists, as well as various corporations, executives, productions, festivals, and high-net-worth individuals.

Since 2017, DelliBovi has served as an executive recruiter & trainer for hotel, nightlife & restaurant companies, where his team is already one of the leading groups in these industries.

Links

Website: https://www.rdbvip.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robdellibovi/

Instragram: https://www.instagram.com/robdellibovi/

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Thank you to Breezeway for sponsoring this episode. If you’re looking for an operations software platform that will make an immediate impact on your business, visit breezeway.io/provenprinciples to learn more.

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