Former Marriott International Vice-President leads Glion MSc in Real Estate, Finance and Hotel Development into new era

Nicole Philips, formerly VP International Hotel Development Planning at Marriott International, is the new Program Director of the MSc in Real Estate, Finance and Hotel Development at Glion Institute of Higher Education in London.

Having first joined Glion as a lecturer in September 2018, Nicole brings over 25 years’ experience in hospitality and real estate industries across Europe, Middle East and Africa to her new role as Program Director. She worked for Marriott International for 16 years during which time she supported the expansion of the company in the region.

Amongst her areas of responsibility were the scheduling of all feasibility projects, departmental training and appraisals, and preparing facility recommendations and financial projections for proposed hotels. Before that, Nicole worked for HVS International in both London and Singapore, having previously been engaged with a number of hotel operations departments in Europe and the USA. Nicole holds an MBA in Hospitality Management from IMHI (Cornell University – Essec School of Management).

Under Nicole’s leadership, the MSc in Real Estate, Finance and Hotel Development prepares students for careers in international hotel development and asset management, real estate investment, and investment strategies and financing. Modules covers areas such as business and financial analytics, mergers and acquisitions, portfolio valuations and private equity. Graduates from the program, which launched two years ago, have subsequently gone into positions at Altus Group (analyst), CBRE Global Investment Partners (investment analyst), Xenium Advisors (associate finance advisory) and Zoku Hotels (finance administrator).

“Through my time in industry I have seen so many real life examples of how these roles and areas of expertise add enormous value to the sector and this is the perfect time to be pursuing a career in hotel development, investment and asset management,” Nicole said. “For prospective students considering our program, there is no other specialist hospitality degree with these key elements of the investment and asset management world, and it is exclusive to Glion’s London campus. I am delighted to be leading the program and supported by Faculty industry experts. In the role I am personal tutor specifically to real estate students and also personally advise all our MSc students on career opportunities. Jobs are out there, and consultancies will always scan the market and pick up talent.”