Public speaking is an extension of our work, not a performance of it. We participate in global hospitality forums, academic institutions, and private leadership gatherings to explore how culture, human behavior, and commercial reality intersect in hotels and restaurants. These conversations are grounded in lived experience from operating floors to boardrooms and focus on what actually shapes relevance, performance, and longevity. We often curate and share the stage with industry leaders, designers, hoteliers, and cultural voices, creating dialogue rather than monologue. The intent is not to instruct, but to provoke clarity, challenge assumptions, and contribute meaningfully to how hospitality evolves.
Prague · International Luxury Hotel Association — Inspiré Conference
In Prague, Abdul Baaghil spoke at the International Luxury Hotel Association’s Inspiré Conference on the evolving meaning of personalization in luxury hospitality arguing that humanization, not customization, is the true next frontier.
The session challenged the industry’s reliance on scripted service, data-led gestures, and cosmetic differentiation, proposing instead that emotional clarity, cultural coherence, and behavioral intelligence are what guests actually feel and remember.
Drawing from lived operational experience across hotels, restaurants, and advisory work, the conversation focused on how leadership, service culture, and decision-making upstream shape performance downstream. The emphasis was not on trends, but on responsibility: how luxury brands must move beyond surface-level gestures and rebuild trust through authenticity, consistency, and human presence.
The dialogue formed part of a broader exchange with global owners, operators, designers, and educators contributing to a collective rethinking of how luxury evolves when people, not performance, are placed at the center.
Podcast with Josiah Mackenzie
San Francisco · Hospitality Daily
In San Francisco, our conversation extended into a recorded dialogue with Josiah Mackenzie on Hospitality Daily a platform focused on the people, ideas, and cultural forces shaping modern hospitality.
The discussion explored luxury through a human lens: why emotional clarity matters more than polish, why some of the most impactful hospitality leaders come from creative disciplines, and how culture not cosmetics ultimately defines relevance, performance, and longevity.
Like our work on stage, the intent was not to promote, but to reflect. To examine how hospitality evolves when it is led by people, not posture — and when conversation becomes a tool for shared understanding rather than amplification
Helsinki, Finland — Independent vs. Global Hotels: The Fight for Authenticity & Culture
Abdul Baaghil, Co-Founder & Principal of Harvest Cotton Tale, joined host Sam-Erik Ruttmann on his podcast to discuss the shifting landscape of luxury and lifestyle hospitality. In this candid conversation, Abdul reflects on his journey from working with global brands such as The Ritz-Carlton and Campbell Gray Hotels to independently developing hospitality concepts rooted in cultural identity, human behavior, and authenticity.
As major groups like Accor and Marriott continue to acquire boutique brands, the discussion explores the real challenges of preserving cultural integrity, guest relevance, and the soul of hospitality within scaled systems. The episode examines why human capital, clarity of intent, and upstream thinking are critical to maintaining meaning and performance in an increasingly consolidated industry.
Bluche, Switzerland
At Les Roches Global Hospitality Education, Abdul Baaghil was invited as guest speaker for the Winter Graduation Ceremony, addressing undergraduate students at the transition point between education and professional life.
His address reframed hospitality as a human discipline before a commercial one emphasizing character, curiosity, and responsibility over titles or brand prestige. Drawing from lived operational experience, Abdul encouraged students to seek exposure before authority, understanding before status, and purpose before scale. The session reflected a shared belief between Les Roches and Harvest Cotton Tale: that hospitality education should shape independent thinkers and grounded leaders not just future managers in an industry that remains, at its core, profoundly human.
Bluche, Switzerland
Harvest Cotton Tale Leadership Series in partnership with Les Roches Global Hospitality Education
In August 2018, Harvest Cotton Tale hosted a leadership symposium in Bluche, Switzerland, in collaboration with Les Roches Global Hospitality Education, bringing together global hospitality leaders and emerging talent.
The series featured keynote contributions from Ted Teng, President & Chief Executive Officer of The Leading Hotels of the World, and Tony Chi, Founder of Tony Chi & Associates (New York), with an open dialogue and Q&A led by Rami Sayess, Regional Vice President and General Manager at Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts.
The event was supported by Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, The Leading Hotels of the World, and Veuve Clicquot, reinforcing a shared commitment to leadership, cultural integrity, and the future of luxury hospitality.
Discussions explored leadership responsibility, brand culture, and the human dimension of hospitality offering students an unfiltered exchange between industry leaders and the next generation of hoteliers..
Harvest Cotton Tale — in partnership with Les Roches Global Hospitality Education
Harvest Cotton Tale, in partnership with Les Roches Global Hospitality Education (Switzerland) and Forbes Travel Guide, hosted a Leadership Series focused on Quality, Standards, and Digitalization in Luxury Hospitality.
The session featured Filip Boyen, Chief Executive Officer of Forbes Travel Guide, who shared insights on the evolution of service excellence, the role of standards in a digital age, and why human judgment remains central to meaningful luxury experiences.
The discussion explored how hospitality brands can maintain rigor and consistency while adapting to changing guest expectations reinforcing the balance between cultural integrity, operational discipline, and innovation.
Bluche, Switzerland. Les Roches Global Hospitality Education — Winter Graduation Ceremony (December 2015)
At Les Roches Global Hospitality Education in Bluche, Abdul Baaghil was invited as guest speaker for the Winter Graduation Ceremony, addressing undergraduate students at a defining moment between education and professional life.
The address focused on hospitality as a human discipline before it is a commercial one reminding graduates that titles, brands, and systems evolve, but character, curiosity, and responsibility endure. Speaking from lived experience, Abdul challenged the next generation to resist imitation and instead build careers grounded in integrity, cultural awareness, and emotional intelligence.
Students were encouraged to seek understanding before authority, exposure before status, and meaning before scale and to remember that the future of hospitality will be shaped not by those who follow formulas, but by those who are willing to think independently, listen deeply, and lead with purpose.
The session reflected a shared belief between Les Roches and Harvest Cotton Tale: that hospitality education is not about producing managers, but about shaping thoughtful leaders for an industry that remains fundamentally human.
Geneva, Switzerland. Glion Institute of Higher Education & Les Roches Global Hospitality Education – Alumni in Conversation
Glion Institute of Higher Education and Les Roches Global Hospitality Education hosted an “Alumni in Conversation” session in Geneva featuring Abdul Baaghil, Founder & Principal of Harvest Cotton Tale, alongside Jean-Luc Naret, former Chief Executive Officer of La Réserve Hotels & Resorts and former Chief Executive Officer of the MICHELIN Guide.
The conversation explored leadership, cultural clarity, and the responsibility of hospitality brands to remain human, relevant, and commercially grounded offering students and alumni perspectives shaped by lived experience across global hospitality markets.
Paris — Hotel Metropole, Pavillon de l’Arsenal
Abdul Baaghil and Bruno Contreras, Founders of Harvest Cotton Tale, participated in Hotels of Tomorrow, a future-focused exposition examining how culture, architecture, and human behavior will shape the next generation of hospitality.
Held at Pavillon de l’Arsenal on 6 December 2019, the event convened leading architects, designers, and hospitality thinkers to move beyond trend-led development toward projects grounded in meaning, longevity, and human relevance.
Among the participants was Ciguë, the Paris-based design and architecture studio internationally recognized for its culturally grounded hospitality work. Pictured is Hugo Haas, one of Ciguë’s six founders, alongside Abdul Baaghil and Bruno Contreras at the Ciguë design studio in Paris.
