Elisabetta Fabri, Presidente e AD Starhotels

Florentine, mother of twins, Elisabetta Fabri has lived her life between her hometown of Florence, Rome, Washington and New York.
After attaining a diploma at the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at John Cabot University in Rome, she entered the family business to gain experience in hotel management. A cosmopolitan background combined with a long apprenticeship "in the field" from an early age enabled her to develop a thorough understanding of hospitality.

In 1992 she made her official debut as an entrepreneur creating Starhotels International and purchasing the "deluxe" hotel, The Michelangelo, in midtown Manhattan, New York.
In 2000, she was appointed CEO and Vice President of Starhotels SpA, eleven years later, she became President while maintaining her position as CEO.

Under her guidance the company continued to expand with the acquisition of hotels in Paris and London, as well as redeveloping the Italian range through major investments in restructuring and with new hotels. Dedication and passion inherited from her father Ferruccio, who established Starhotels in 1980, are the pillars that guide the family group, the only Italian hotel chain with an international presence whose ownership and management have been held by the same family without interruption for over thirty years.

Each Starhotels has its own personality and hospitality style that is all Italian.
"In our hotels we have put all our love for our country and its riches, choosing to interpret the hotel as an expression of the city where it is located, its style, beauty and gastronomic specialties. In hotels in Paris, London and New York, we want to be a reference point for lovers of Italian style, embodying Italy’s hospitality, elegance and quality of life."

The Fondazione Marisa Bellisario awarded her the 2001 Golden Apple Award “for exporting Italian style in the hospitality world.” In 2007, she was awarded the Premio Excellent for representing the essence of Italy in international hôtellerie.
In 2012, she was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the Trade & Services category "For having created a chain of 4-5 star hotels, one of a kind, capable of expressing all the elegance and style of Made in Italy hospitality in the world, combining high service with results consistently above the industry standard." In 2014 she received the Premio Excellent once more for the innovative Starhotels E.C.H.O. program, which has created a case history for the sustainable hospitality industry.
In 2017, she was awarded with the Supreme European Family Business Award for the outstanding growth and profits achieved in 2016 among the most prominent business families in Europe.
Under her leadership, Starhotels has distinguished itself with a strong commitment to supporting art and culture and promoting Italian historical and artistic heritage. A supporter of the Friends of the Uffizi and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, several monuments have benefited through restoration by the company’s sponsorship: from the 28 Statues of Illustrious Figures in the Loggia of the Uffizi Gallery, to the Maschio Angioino, to Raffaello’s Madonna con il Velo, a 16th century copy attributed to the school of this renowned artist, and the recent donation for the restoration of Piazzale Michelangelo’s terrace in Florence.
In addition to her work for the family business, in recent years she has held key positions in other organisations and companies: in 2014 she was elected a member of the Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze and from 2014 to 2017 she has been a board member of the Italian Postal Service; in 2015 she was appointed a member of the Toscana Airports Board.
She is a member of AIDDA (Italian Association of Women Entrepreneurs and Corporate Executives), the Young Presidents' Organisation (YPO) and AIDAF (Italian Association of Family Businesses).

The company has a strong commitment to empowering women and recognizing their critical role in today’s business world. At Starhotels women make up 55% of its human resources. Elisabetta Fabri has a very clear objective: portfolio enhancement, with a constant improvement in terms of refurbishment as well as economic performance, and the increase of the brand’s penetration in Italian and foreign markets through management contracts.

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