Profile

Simon Vincent

Area President, Europe
Hilton Worldwide

Simon Vincent is Area President Europe for Hilton Worldwide. Based in London, Vincent is responsible for more than 230 hotels across six brands with more than 35,000 team members in 31 European countries.

In 2011 and 2012, Hilton Worldwide has opened an additional 37 hotels in the region, and grown its European pipeline to more than 120 hotels under development and expected to open by 2014.

A 20-year veteran of the leisure and travel industry, Vincent was previously CEO of Opodo, the pan-European online travel agency. He also spent 13 years at the Thomas Cook Group, latterly as Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of Tour Operating and Retail distribution. 

Vincent has extensive international experience having held a number of pan-European roles and has also worked in North America and Japan. He spent the early part of his career in International Banking with HSBC.

He is Chairman of the Hilton in the Community Foundation, Chair of the Hospitality Guild, on the Executive Committee of the British Hospitality Association and is also a Trustee of the Jigsaw School, an independent day school for children on the autistic spectrum.

An enthusiastic all-round sportsman, Vincent enjoys golf, tennis, sailing and is a keen runner – taking part in the annual Galvin’s Chance Mayfair and Park Tower Race to raise money for the Hilton in the Community Foundation.