Since joining her family business Dorsett Hospitality International as president and executive director in 2010, Winnie Chiu has grown the company’s portfolio from 11 hotels in seven cities to over 60 hotels in 30 cities.

Despite the challenges faced by the hospitality industry throughout the world, Chiu has steered Dorsett through the pandemic, looking after over half a million quarantine guests, medical frontliners and refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine at their hotels globally. In the summer of 2022, the group launched its brand-new aparthotel concept, Dao by Dorsett, in Singapore and West London which offers a new way to travel with a focus on sustainability, community and flexibility in a world where working remotely and mixing business with leisure has become the new normal.

With the re-opening of the world and a pent-up demand for travel, it is an exciting time for the group and they’re ready to hit the ground running with the rollout of Guest Service Robots and other AI solutions as well as four more properties set to open in 2023: a new Hong Kong flagship Dorsett Kai Tak, Dorsett Melbourne, Dorsett Canary Wharf and Dao by Dorsett Hornsey, London.

A firm supporter of the Hong Kong community, Chiu is invested in providing opportunities for the next generation. Most recently, she has sponsored the opening of The Innovation & Technology Co-Creation Centre powered by Dorsett Hospitality International with the Vocational Training Council. As part of this, students can participate in an annual Innovation Award & Seed Fund Scheme where selected blue ocean innovation projects will receive funding for further research and development.

Chiu is also the chairman of Agora Hospitality Group and a Justice of the Peace appointed by the Hong Kong government. The hotelier often speaks of her passion for the arts and is the chairman of Hong Kong Art School and joint vice-president of the Society of the Academy for Performing Arts.