Philippe Bourguignon

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Philippe Bourguignon. Vice Chairman, Revolution Resorts

• Philippe Bourguignon is Vice Chairman of Revolution Resorts, a company that is creating a new model for travel and tourism that promotes and encourages a healthy lifestyle and establishes a consumer brand that reflects those values. Revolution views resorts as opportunities to create unique, authentic experiences that can become treasured memories that last a lifetime – and build large businesses in the process. Revolution’s focus is on creating resort experiences that truly reflect the uniqueness of their surroundings and the innate desire of people to connect – and disconnect – while encouraging health and wellness of the planet.

• Prior to joining Revolution Resorts, Philippe was the chairman of Aegis Media France from 2004 to 2005 and before Aegis, Philippe was co-CEO of the Davos-based World Economic Forum in 2003.

• As Chairman and CEO of Club Mėditerranėe, beginning in 1997, Philippe is widely credited with a comprehensive turnaround of the company in 2000. The change included refocusing the brand, revamping operations and restoring competitiveness, implementing an innovative pricing policy and completely overhauling the management culture.

• Beginning in 1988, Philippe worked with Disney in several capacities including Executive Vice President of Disney Europe, and Chairman and CEO or Euro Disney. In his capacity as the head of Euro Disney, Philippe led a far-reaching corporate restructuring which restored the company on solid financial footing and achieved operating results far ahead of market expectations.

• Previously he spent 14 years with the Accor group, one of the largest hotel groups in the world. He served initially as the Vice President of Development for Asia/Middle East and Executive Vice President for North America. He was eventually promoted to President of Accor for the Asia/Pacific region.

• Philippe was educated at the International school, rejoining the French system in 1965. He has a Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Aix-en-Provence and holds a post-graduate diploma from the Institut d’Administration des Enterprises (IAE) in Paris.

• Philippe currently sits on the boards of eBay, the world’s online marketplace and Dexia BIL, a leading European bank.

• Philippe has been named Chevalier of the Legion of Honor and Officer in the Ordre National du Mérite, and received the Moroccan Wissam Al Alaoui Order.

Details: Philippe Bourguignon

French entrepreneur,born in 1948 in Salins, France, Philippe Bourguignon spent his boyhood in Morocco, then as a teen moved to Aix en Provence. From the age of 20, he travelled to the United States practically every year. His personal discovery of America was as a student, a Hertz car dispatcher, a wine steward in a restaurant, and holder of other odd jobs. Crisscrossing the U.S., he was stunned by the beauty of the West and impressed by the warm hospitality of the people he met, many of whom have remained close friends. Everything was fascinating and sometimes bewildering as well.

He began his marketing career in the early Seventies by helping to conduct a study on the feasibility of establishing hotels in Africa and Antilles on behalf of a German company. His aim at this point in his career was to travel, explore, discover.

Then, in 1974, he went to work for Accor during a period when the company was building one of the largest hospitality companies in the world through extensive new brand development, acquisitions, and joint ventures. He was entrusted with expanding the company’s presence in the Middle East and Asia, and in 1975 closed eight deals in a single year.

Then Bourguignon set his sights on the challenging North American market, under the direction of Paul Dubrule, Accor co-founder and a legend in the lodging industry. He proposed to Dubrule that he relocate to the U.S., where he could help develop the Sofitel and Novotel brands. Bourguignon arrived in New York in 1978, shortly after Accor acquired Sofitel Minneapolis—a hotel that set records for sky-high occupancy rates. He went on to develop the brand in Houston, Miami, Toledo, San Francisco and Chicago. He was privileged to maintain a close working relationship with Accor co-founders and co-chairmen Paul Dubrule and Gerard Pelisson, men of uncommon vision and energy.

Working in the U.S. and Asia, Bourguignon realized that everyone must be something of a pioneer! And he certainly learned to compete. In New York, Bourguignon found himself in an intensively competitive environment. He quickly became the moving force behind the creation of Novotel New York. Construction began in 1981, and -- after miles of red tape and countless construction problems, the hotel opened in 1984. It was truly a saga!

In 1984, he worked on the merger of Novotel/Sofitel, and then was assigned to Los Angeles as President, Asia/Pacific, with responsibility for revitalizing Accor’s operations in that dynamic market. Given the intense challenges of working in the Asia/Pacific region, and the difficult decisions that awaited him at every turn, patience turned out to be a key virtue. Working in the Asia/Pacific region, he faced some of the toughest challenges of the tourist industry—creating and creating resorts in destinations like Phuket and Tahiti; grasping all the ins and outs of tour operation; and managing leisure facilities.

While still in the U.S., Philippe Bourguignon was recruited by The Walt Disney Company. It was a bittersweet moment: leaving Accor was like leaving home, but at the same time Philippe felt immense exhilaration about the future. After joining Disney, he spent two years in California before relocating to Paris in October 1992.

After years of working in the U.S. and Asia, Bourguignon was accustomed to making difficult cultural adjustments. But at Disney, he found a truly unique, intensely creative society.

His first impression of Disney: a complex, fascinating culture. And the centrepiece of that culture was a product he had admired since his early days in New York when he had taken his children to Disneyland, and one that he continued to enjoy as a resident of California, where his family became regular visitors to the Magic Kingdom. Just as his children had grown up with Disney, Bourguignon found that, as a professional, he grew by leaps and bounds with the company. He served as Chairman and CEO of Euro Disney S.A., the parent company of Disneyland Paris. He also served as Executive Vice President of the Walt Disney Company (Europe) S.A, overseeing all the Walt Disney company activities in Europe—including television, movies, home videos, and consumer products.

While at Euro Disney, Bourguignon directed a comprehensive corporate restructuring. Completed in 1994, his plan enabled the company to break even a year ahead of plan, with operating results well ahead of market expectations. Disneyland Paris is now established as Europe’s leading short holiday destination. His experience at Disney left Bourguignon more committed than ever to Einstein’s axiom – that in almost any endeavour, imagination is more important than knowledge.

Then, in 1997, came the opportunity of a lifetime—appointment as Chairman and CEO of Club Méditerranée. Under the leadership of Philippe Bourguignon, Club Med is entering a new era among the leaders of the leisure and entertainment industry. The new vision he brought to the company restored Club Med’s growth and earning power, as well as its image. Club Med’s core business was strengthened with the opening of eight new villages and the renovation of 70 others. Bourguignon’s innovative style and background in developing brands enabled him to revive Club Med’s culture, operations, and image.

In 2003, Philippe became Co-CEO of the World Economic Forum (known as Davos), where he reorganised the membership system, and tested a few innovations at Davos 04 like the ‘CEO breakfasts’ or the ‘Ideas Bazaar’, an open Forum where any subject could be raised.

Since January 2006, Philippe relocated to Washington DC as Vice Chairman of Revolution Resorts, a company part of Revolution, founded by Steve Case that is creating a new model for travel and tourism that promotes and encourages a healthy lifestyle and establishes a consumer brand that reflects those values. Revolution views resorts as opportunities to create unique, authentic experiences that can become treasured memories that last a lifetime – and build large businesses in the process. Revolution’s focus is on creating resort experiences that truly reflect the uniqueness of their surroundings and the innate desire of people to connect – and disconnect – while encouraging health and wellness of the planet.

On a personal note -- Philippe Bourguignon is married, and the father of two children. He is a man of many passions – a dedicated racer of yachts who, with Bruno Peyron, set a record in 1996 for crossing the English Channel, but was unfortunately unsuccessful in setting the Atlantic record which he attempted three times. He loves antique cars, reading, and model-making.

Philippe sits the Boards of eBay, the world’s largest online market place, of Meetic (France. He used to be member of the board of French newspaper ‘Libération’ and the Aspen-France Institute. He was also Chairman, of the "Scientific Committee of Law and Economics," at the French Ministry of Justice after being an adviser to the French Minister of foreign affairs.

He has been named Chevalier of the Legion of Honor and Officer in the Ordre National du Mérite in France, and received the Moroccan Wissam Al Alaoui Order.

He loves all kinds of music – from classical to country, from rock to opera.

His favorite authors: Ernest Hemingway, John Kessel, and Pierre Loti, a French author who wrote wonderfully evocative poems about his exotic travels.

He is also a real movie buff. His favourite movies are westerns and on-the-road adventure films – and he has a soft spot for « Thelma and Louise. »

He prides himself on being a man who can change with the times. Among the quotations he values is one by Thiers: « I’m neither a philosopher nor a dogmatist: when events change, I change with them. »