Don Landry Hospitality Industry Advisor
Don Landry, CHA, is the owner of Top Ten, an independent hospitality industry advisory company that provides networking, marketing and development services to industry owners, operators, developers and suppliers . He serves as lead independant director and chairman of the acquisition committee on the board of Hersha Hospitality Trust (NYSE:HT), a real estate investment trust, and on the advisory boards of Unifocus, Campo Architects Revenue Performance, Windsor Capital Group and VOILA' Hotel Rewards.
A 40+ year veteran of the lodging industry, Landry served as president of some of the largest hotel management, real estate and franchise companies in the world. He is the former vice chairman of the board and CEO of Sunburst Hospitality Corporation (NYSE:SNB), a hotel real estate and management company with ownership in 75 hotels with over 10,000 rooms in 25 states. He was president of Choice Hotels International (NYSE: CHH), a company with over 4000 franchised hotels in 30 countries. During his tenure at Choice, he launched MainStay Suites and Choice Picks food courts. Prior to Choice, Landry served as president of Manor Care’s hotel division and assisted living division.
Landry also served as EVP and COO of Richfield Hotel Management, Inc. where he was responsible for the management of 171 hotels and president of MHM, Inc. a hotel management company acquired by Richfield.
Landry began his career at Sonesta Hotels in New Orleans while studying at the University of New Orleans. He holds a Bachelor of Science from UNO where he was 1999 Alumnus of the year. He currently serves on the board of the UNO hotel school and the Chancellor’s advisory council.
Landry is a former board member of Friendly Hotels in the UK, HotelTools, Revpac and Choice Hotels Canada. He has served as the vice chairman of the Educational Institute of AHLA, chair of the Johnson and Wales University advisory council, chairman of the Society of Hotel Management Companies, President of the Dallas Hotel Assn., and on the board of the Texas Hotel Association.
Landry is a frequent speaker at Hotel industry conferences and universities and is author of the "F -words" for Success.
