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About

The story, in my own words.

I work on hospitality from three sides. I lead digital and automation at a hotel group, I advise the companies building hotel technology, and I build with AI myself. Rosso Consulting is where those come together.

Portrait of Marco Rosso
Marco Rosso · Lugano

I grew up in hospitality. My grandfather founded Francorosso International and Planhotel Hospitality Group, so hotels were the language at home long before they were my job.

After EHL I went to the other side of the table. I spent nearly a decade selling and scaling hotel technology at Triptease, SiteMinder, Cloudbeds and Canary Technologies, from account executive to leading commercial teams across EMEA and globally.

In 2024 I went back to operating. As Chief Digital Strategy & Business Automation Officer at Planhotel Hospitality Group, I now buy the kind of software I used to sell, and I see every day what hotels actually adopt.

Then AI changed what one person can do. I never learned to code, yet I built and launched Astia Web, a website service for hotels and small businesses, by prompting, testing and iterating until it was right. It taught me more in months than years of reading about it would have.

Rosso Consulting brings these sides together. I advise the founders building hospitality technology, I help hotels put AI to work, and I keep a lab where I try ideas before I recommend them to anyone. If you are thinking about what comes next, I would like to hear about it.

01 — The path

From roots to now.

  1. Roots

    Hospitality family

    Francorosso International and Planhotel, founded by my grandfather.

  2. Seller

    Nearly a decade in hotel SaaS

    Triptease, SiteMinder, Cloudbeds, Canary Technologies.

  3. Operator

    Back to running hotels

    Planhotel Hospitality Group, since 2024.

  4. Builder

    AI as the team

    Astia Web, built without a coding background.

  5. Now

    Rosso Consulting

    Advisory, AI in Practice and the Lab.

  • 4

    hospitality SaaS companies, from account executive to global director

  • 80+

    people in commercial organisations scaled from single digits

  • 4

    active advisory roles with hospitality technology companies

  • 3

    working languages: English, Italian and Spanish

Career

  1. 2024–today Planhotel Hospitality Group Chief Digital Strategy & Business Automation Officer
  2. 2023–2024 Canary Technologies Director of Sales & GTM EMEA
  3. 2020–2023 Cloudbeds Director, Inside Sales & CSM (Global)
  4. 2019–2020 SiteMinder Senior Regional Sales Manager, Spain
  5. 2015–2019 Triptease Account Executive to Head of Sales EMEA

Education

  1. 2024–2025 Harvard Business School Executive Education: Program for Leadership Development
  2. 2011–2015 EHL Lausanne BSc International Hospitality Management
  3. 2010 Cornell University Diploma in Hospitality & Revenue Management

Also

  • Advisor to Canary Technologies, RoomPriceGenie, LobbyAI and Snapfix
  • Strategic advisor to the Hotel Association Zanzibar
  • Founder of Astia Web

02 — Principles

How I work.

  1. 01

    Tried before advised

    I recommend only what I have run, sold, built or tested. When I have not tried something, I say so, and offer to try it.

  2. 02

    Disclose first

    Where an advisory company’s product may be relevant to a client, I disclose the relationship at the outset.

  3. 03

    Keep information apart

    Client information never reaches advisory companies, and advisory information never reaches clients.

  4. 04

    Same criteria for every vendor

    A portfolio company in an evaluation is scored against the same rubric as every other vendor.

  5. 05

    Fixed scope, fixed fee

    You know the cost before work starts, and scope changes are agreed in writing.

  6. 06

    A person checks every AI output

    AI drafts. A person who knows hotels reviews everything before it is delivered.

  7. 07

    You own the result

    Deliverables, prompts and workflows stay with you. Nothing is held back to create dependence.

  8. 08

    Care with data

    Your material is used only for the engagement, and only in tools with appropriate data protection.

  9. 09

    Say no when it is not a fit

    A clear no protects the reputation that brings the next yes.

  10. 10

    Share what I learn

    Field Notes show what I tried and what it taught, so you can see the thinking behind the result.

For event organisers and press.

Approved bios in the third person. Pick a length and copy it.

Marco Rosso is a hospitality operator, hotel technology advisor and builder.

Bring the question.

The first conversation is unbilled and takes about thirty minutes. The shape of the work comes later.

Start a conversation

Or write to marco@rossoconsulting.ch