Managing Director of Real Hotels & Resorts to speak at Cornell's 'Conversations with Entrepreneurs'

Fernando Poma, managing director of Real Hotels & Resorts, will speak on Wednesday, April 2nd in the “Conversations with Entrepreneurs” series presented by the Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. Poma will present from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. in 291 Statler Hall, Beck Center. Guests are welcome.

Managing director since 2000, Poma has grown Real Hotels and Resorts from 4 to 22 premier hotel brands including InterContinental, Marriott, Quality and Comfort Inn. His growth plans are focused on Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama and Colombia and include a JW Marriott hotel, a JW Marriott Resort and five Courtyard by Marriott hotels. The company is also expanding its InterContinental hotel base.

Prior to joining Real Hotels and Resorts, Poma was assistant to the managing director of Choice Hotels Europe and worked in asset management and hotel acquisitions for the Westmont Hospitality Group. He graduated from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University and received his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Fernando Poma’s tremendous successes are testimony to his unique blend of talent, skill, and entrepreneurial drive. We are delighted he is returning to campus to share his entrepreneurial journey and innovation insights with our students and faculty,” said Tom Ward, managing director of the institute.

The final speaker in the spring series will be Patrick Meyers, chief legal officer and managing director, owner of Cervantes Capital/Quiznos, on April 17 from 1:15-2:15 p.m. in the Statler Amphitheatre of the Statler Hotel.

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