'Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore! Dream! Discover!'

– Mark Twain

No business makes it through a century without constant innovation, and that is especially true in the world of travel. The drive to innovate must be endless, which is why I keep an old roll of film front and centre on my desk. This serves as a constant reminder to me – while Kodak made the best film, they failed to innovate as times changed, and ten years after the invention of digital cameras they went bankrupt.

As part of the third generation of this family business, I have learned a great deal about innovation from my grandfather, my uncle, and my father, who have brought together TTC’s amazing family of brands. Another constant source of inspiration for me is the late Steve Jobs, whose attitude and vision is summed up in the quote in my office here in Geneva:

'Some people say give the customers what they want, but that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, '‘If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would’ve told me a faster horse.’' People don’t know what they want until you show it to them. That’s why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.'

True innovation, I believe, takes listening, teamwork, and courage. My job is to listen to our guests, to my team, and to people I trust – both for what is said and what remains unsaid, for the challenge of an innovator is to give people what they want, even before they know it. When it comes to turning dreams into reality, teamwork is absolutely essential. I am incredibly fortunate to work with an extraordinary group of individuals, in all facets of our business, who never focus on can’t but rather on the why and the how it takes to get things done. As for courage, as everyone on my team knows, I believe we must dream big and take bold steps in order to push beyond existing boundaries and change the world.