Hospitality · Tourism · Partnerships · Social Impact

Turning strategy into programmes,
partnerships and measurable impact.

I help hospitality, tourism and purpose-driven organisations turn sustainability, workforce and stakeholder ambitions into practical action at scale.

International perspective · Private-sector credibility · Practical implementation.

Let's talk → See practice
Geneva · Madrid · Global
2,000+
People supported · 2026
USD 900K+
Raised · funds doubled
60+
Member orgs engaged
Led · Partnered · Advised
Marriott
Hyatt
Amadeus
Expedia Group
TUI Care
GIZ
IOM
UN Tourism
WSHA
ISTO
Les Roches
Segittur
Who I work with

If you're building strategy, partnerships or programmes that have to reach the people — this is for you.

Hospitality & destinations

Hospitality groups & destination organisations

Operating brands, DMOs and tourism boards building programmes, partnerships and capability across the value chain.

Luxury & premium

Luxury and premium experience brands

From boutique operators to global luxury groups — strategy, sustainability narrative, learning, partnerships and inclusive growth.

Associations & bodies

Associations and member organisations

Governance, member programmes, coalition design, policy influence, financial models and member-engagement strategy.

Education & academies

Executive education & sector academies

Programme design, curriculum architecture, industry-endorsed upskilling, Train-the-Trainers models and academic-industry bridges.

Foundations & impact

Foundations & mission-driven private sector

Programme strategy, donor pipelines, monitoring & evaluation, scale-readiness across emerging markets and corporate-philanthropy bridges.

Governments & IGOs

Ministries, agencies & UN bodies

National tourism strategies, workforce policy, ethical-recruitment corridors, KPI design, Smart Destinations and multi-stakeholder mandates.

01 The Story
Isabel Novoa speaking at a panel

Isabel Novoa

Senior hospitality & tourism strategist  ·  Partnerships · Programmes · Impact

Spanish-Swiss executive. Twenty-plus years across private-sector tourism, luxury, international alliances, governments and IGOs — turning strategy into programmes that ship in the real economy.

Built in business. Scaled in strategy.

I built my track record inside real businesses, not advisory rooms. A decade at Novojet Chile — turning a family-owned tour operator into the country's first sustainability-certified operator — followed by a consultancy branch managing nine destination projects across Chile. Before that, senior design leadership at SUÁREZ and Carrera y Carrera, two of Spain's most prestigious luxury houses.

From there to the international stage: youngest president in ISTO's 60-year history, leading the Brussels Addendum (first operational definition of Social Sustainability in Tourism), restructuring governance, growing membership 19% and securing financial viability through 2025.

Today I lead the World Academy for Sustainable Hospitality and the Employability Programme at WSHA — driving sector-wide capability and workforce-development partnerships with Marriott, Hyatt, Amadeus, Expedia Group, TUI Care Foundation, GIZ and IOM.

The throughline: turn ambition into programmes that actually ship. Across countries, partners, languages and capital structures — built on private-sector credibility, not theory.

  1. Feb 2025 – Present
    Head of Global Social Empowerment · WSHA
    Leading the Alliance's social-impact and inclusion strategy. Scaling the Employability Programme across India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Egypt and Africa. Designing the first international ethical recruitment corridor with the IOM.
    WSHA
  2. Jul 2020 – Feb 2025
    President · International Social Tourism Organization (ISTO)
    Youngest president in ISTO's 60-year history. Designed and negotiated the Brussels Addendum — first operational definition of Social Sustainability in Tourism. New governance model, 19% membership growth in 2023, financial viability secured through 2025.
    ISTO
  3. 2024 – Feb 2025
    Consultant · Impulsa Igualdad · Tour4All · Segittur
    Accessibility-focused sustainability strategy for 286 entities representing 1.5M members. KPIs for social sustainability in Spain's Smart Destinations model (Ministry of Tourism).
    SEG
  4. 2013 – 2024
    Manager Corporate Affairs & Sustainability · Novojet Chile
    Led social-tourism and inclusive-development strategy for Chile's leading family-owned sustainable tourism group. Designed capacity-building for micro and small tourism businesses. Public–private partnerships that improved access to credit. Novojet became the first Chilean tour operator to obtain the Sustainability Certificate.
    NOV
  5. 2013 – 2018
    Head of Consultancy · Alianza Creativa
    Managed nine sustainable destination projects across Chile. Project teams, budgets, multi-stakeholder workshops, government roadmaps.
    AC
  6. 2010 – 2013
    Head of Corporate Affairs & Development · Iberojet
    Reputation-building and loyalty programmes for suppliers and large clients in the Orizonia Tourism Group. Collaboration agreements for social-tourism impact studies.
    IB
  7. 2003 – 2010
    Senior Design Leadership · SUÁREZ · Carrera y Carrera
    Senior design leadership in two of Spain's most prestigious luxury jewelry houses. International launches, team leadership, cross-department collaboration.
    ★
Isabel doing fieldwork in the Andes with local communities
Andes · Community fieldwork
Isabel delivering a keynote in Valencia
Valencia · Keynote
02 Practice

Four practices. One operating principle: turn ambition into implementation.

I↗
Strategy & Programme Design

From concept to operating model — built to deliver.

I help organisations design programmes that are practical, scalable and built to ship. Operating architecture, KPI design, monitoring & evaluation, donor pipelines — the chain that connects strategy to outcomes.

Operating models Programme architecture M&E frameworks
II↗
Partnerships, Coalitions & Stakeholder Alignment

Move complex initiatives forward — together.

I bring together companies, institutions, associations and implementation partners to move multi-stakeholder initiatives from intention to delivery. Coalition design, partnership architecture, policy alignment, governance.

Coalition design Corporate partnerships Policy alignment
III↗
Learning, Workforce & Sector Capability

Practical learning that responds to real sector needs.

I design and scale learning, employability and workforce initiatives — curriculum, Train-the-Trainers models, industry-endorsed upskilling, academies. From individual capability to sector-wide capacity.

Academy design Employability programmes Workforce development
IV↗
Social Sustainability & Inclusive Growth

Inclusion as credible, measurable action.

I help organisations turn inclusion, workforce and impact commitments into credible, measurable action. Ethical recruitment corridors (IOM), accessibility frameworks, Smart Destinations KPIs and inclusive value chains.

Ethical recruitment Accessibility Inclusive value chains
03 Impact

From ambition to measurable delivery.

I help organisations turn social-sustainability objectives into meaningful indicators, practical implementation tools and technology-enabled tracking systems that support accountability, learning and decision making. Strategy, partnerships, data, learning and operational delivery — connected end to end.

2,000+
People supported in 2026
Employability Programme · scaled across India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Egypt & Africa
USD 900K+
Raised · funds doubled
Donor pipeline architected for global social-impact expansion
60+
Member organisations engaged
Social Impact & Equity community circles
7
Tier-1 corporate partners
Amadeus · Marriott · Hyatt · Expedia · TUI Care · GIZ · IOM
19%
ISTO membership growth
Under her presidency, 2023 — governance, financing and member-engagement redesign
1st
Chilean operator certified
Novojet · Sustainability Certificate
Strategy → KPIs → implementation

Practical KPIs, reporting frameworks and technology-enabled tracking — so impact is visible, measurable and actionable.

01
Meaningful indicators
Designing social-sustainability KPIs that are practical, relevant and connected to real operational change.
02
Reporting & monitoring
Building reporting frameworks, monitoring systems and dashboards that turn data into decisions.
03
Technology-enabled delivery
Digital learning platforms, programme data and tracking tools that make accountability and learning visible.
04
Implementation that holds
From ambition to operational change: programme architecture, capability building and governance that sustains progress.
04 Voices

What people who've worked with me actually say.

International delivery · WSHA
Isabel is incredibly professional and deeply passionate about helping colleagues and WSHA members alike. Her commitment goes beyond expectations — she genuinely cares about making a meaningful impact and driving progress across the Academy and Employability programmes.
Bradley Stamper
Sales & Marketing Lead · Parliamnt
Responsible tourism
Desde el primer momento, me impactaron dos cosas: su forma de comunicar y su convicción profunda de que cuidar a las personas es el centro de todo.
María de Andrés González
Trabajo por un turismo más sostenible, accesible y responsable
Human leadership
Her leadership style brings out the best in people. She leads with professionalism, kindness and encouragement, creating an environment where people feel valued and supported.
Shiksha Khemani
Regional Manager · Global Accelerator Programmes · World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance
Catalyst for change
Isabel's expertise in sustainability, innovation and human development is evident and impactful. Her ability to empathise with diverse people and groups makes her a catalyst for change.
Pablo Suazo Villalón
Academic Director of Projects
05 Featured Videos

On net-positive tourism, KPIs and the work behind real impact.

TUR4all Talks · Ep. 1

Measuring Social Sustainability in Tourism

The DNA of ISTO — how to turn social-sustainability ambitions into measurable indicators.

ISTO · Approach

A Net-Positive Approach to Tourism

Moving the sector from doing less harm to creating positive social and environmental value.

AAVV · Training 2025

The Role of Travel Agencies in Social & Local Sustainability

Practical training session on how travel agencies operationalise social and local sustainability.

06 How I contribute

Four ways I add value.

Programme strategy & implementation

From operating model to programmes that ship.

Sector mandates · Multi-year

Architecting strategies and programmes that are practical, scalable and built to deliver — from concept to operating cadence, with the KPIs, partners and capital structures to sustain them.

  • Diagnostic & strategy
  • Operating model & KPI design
  • Programme launch and scale-up
Strategy → delivery Get in touch →
Partnerships & coalition building

Bring partners together — and move things forward.

Multi-stakeholder mandates

Aligning companies, institutions, associations, governments and communities around operational definitions and shared roadmaps. Decisions that hold under scrutiny — and partners that show up to deliver.

  • Coalition design & negotiation
  • Corporate & donor partnerships
  • Governance & communication design
Coalition-led Get in touch →
Learning & workforce development

Build the capability the sector actually needs.

Academies · Curriculum · Employability

Designing and scaling learning, employability and workforce initiatives. Curriculum, Train-the-Trainers models, industry-endorsed upskilling, academies — from individual capability to sector-wide capacity.

  • Academy & curriculum architecture
  • Employability programmes
  • Train-the-Trainers licensing
Capability-led Get in touch →
Speaking, teaching & facilitation

Convene the room — keynotes, classrooms, boards.

Single sessions · Recurring programmes

Boardrooms, conferences, executive education and university programmes. Strategy, partnerships, learning, social sustainability, the future of hospitality and tourism — and the politics of multi-stakeholder delivery.

  • Keynote: 45–60 min
  • Workshop & facilitation: half / full day
  • Available globally
Voice-led Get in touch →
Let's talk

Building something that needs to move from ambition to implementation?

If you are building a programme, partnership, learning initiative or sector strategy and need someone who can move from ambition to delivery — let's talk.

Email Isabel → LinkedIn
Geneva · Madrid · Global