Eric D’Ignazio is a seasoned hospitality professional based in Tokyo, Japan. Fluent in Japanese, he has worked for Japanese, foreign, and joint venture firms during his tenure in the country. Most recently he was the Representative Director for Accor Hotels in Japan, where he successfully led the company for ten years. He opened up the market for Accor, quadrupled their hotel network and turned the business unit profitable within two years of commencement. Upon his departure in mid-2020, Accor Hotels Japan had grown to $110M USD annual turnover and 350 employees.

Prior to Accor, D’Ignazio worked for IHG ANA, the joint venture of InterContinental Hotels and All Nippon Airways. He assisted in the re-branding projects for many of the ANA hotels as they converted to the IHG brand and integrated into the global chain’s network.

Before IHG ANA, he was the International Division Manager for Plan Do See, a Japanese hospitality company focused on restaurants and hotels. D’Ignazio was tasked with opening their first foreign office and operations in New York City. He led a team to open two restaurants in TriBeCa, one of which received a Michelin Star ranking one year after opening.

Eric has been working in hospitality his whole life. From a young age he would spend summer vacations working in his grandfather’s historic Italian restaurant on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first came to Japan on a work-study partnership program between his university, Michigan State University, and Shiga Prefecture. After nine months studying in Japan, he realized his aspiration to return to Japan and continue on the path of learning the language and business culture.

His experience has shown that his passion for developing interpersonal relationships and understanding cultural differences can be used as a conduit for creating business opportunities.