Insights From the C-Suite: Laura Hodges Bethge, President, Celebrity Cruises

As part of a new, members-only series, Women Leading Travel & Hospitality is asking industry executives about their professional journeys, mentorship, how they stay up-to-date on the latest industry technology and trends, how they take care of themselves, and so much more. This week, insight comes from Laura Hodges Bethge, president of Celebrity Cruises.

Women Leading Travel & Hospitality: How do you define and communicate your long-term vision for both your personal leadership journey and the success of your organization?
Laura Hodges Bethge: I’m a big believer in the importance of articulating a clear and compelling vision. This involves defining the strategic objectives and core values that will guide the efforts, alongside my leadership team. Communication is key. I strive to ensure that our collective vision is not only understood but also embraced by the entire brand. Then, I use every avenue — team meetings, town halls, one-on-one discussions — to reinforce a sense of shared purpose and direction to ensure we’re staying aligned and on-track. This is a team sport, and doing it together is what makes all the difference.

WLT&H: Describe a situation where you encouraged innovation or took a calculated risk in your leadership role.
LHB: We’re constantly innovating at Celebrity Cruises and are currently in development for the final ship in our Edge Series, Xcel. In that process, we use consumer insights and our guest feedback to guide our way. The challenge is to deliver on all our guests’ passion points, and then to take it a step further and elevate those passion points to a level that they couldn’t dream up themselves. We’re in the midst of that now with our exemplary product development team and are rewarding them every step of the way for pushing the boundaries and reaching out of their comfort zone to deliver another game changer for the brand.

I lead by example, sharing instances where I’ve taken calculated risks and learned from the outcomes. I strive to foster a culture that embraces creativity and risk by recognizing and rewarding innovative ideas that are rooted in consumer insights, providing resources for experimentation, and creating a space where team members feel empowered to share and implement their creative solutions. 

WLT&H: Share an example of a successful cross-functional collaboration you led. How do you build and sustain effective relationships with peers and stakeholders across the organization?
LHB: I recently boarded a Celebrity Cruises ship for a week-long sailing with my entire management team where we experienced every aspect of the ship together from both the guest and crew perspective. We were servers, cleaners, concierges, bar servers, room attendants, hotel management, and guests of all ages. We worked and played in new ways on the ship, and then, back at the office, we used our shared experiences to set a course for both improving the guest and crew experience and dreaming about new experiences we could create that our guests would covet and love. Building and sustaining effective relationships with colleagues at all levels is really important for cross-functional success. You have to be able to actively listen, understand perspectives, find common ground, and then propel the work forward together. 

WLT&H: What steps do you take to champion diversity and inclusion within your organization, and how do you ensure that your leadership team reflects a broad range of perspectives and backgrounds? How do you measure those efforts?
LHB: Diversity and inclusion are in our DNA at the Royal Caribbean Group. We employ more than 100,000 people from 60-plus nationalities. And then, of course, we welcome aboard guests from all around the world, too. Starting from a base of great diversity, we’re able to carry this through all aspects of our operations. I’m especially proud of the efforts our company has taken to bring more women into our marine engineering and operations. We actively champion these principles through inclusive hiring practices, creating welcoming work environments, and supporting affinity groups within the organization. We have a mantra of continuous improvement throughout every aspect of our business and we regularly review, refine and enhance our work to remain a leader in this area. 

Are you a C-suite woman in the travel and hospitality industry? We’d love to feature you! Reach us at wlt@skift.com.