Dorothy Dowling

Managing Director, Scottsdale, USA

Dorothy Dowling is a highly regarded growth advisor with a proven track record in business and commercial development.


Bio

She recently joined the HTL Group as Managing Director, where she draws on her expertise to assist global hospitality industry clients with go-to-market strategies, with a focus on enhancing scale, revenue, and profitability. Her services include repositioning, commercial business planning, and activation.

Dowling brings over 40 years of experience in the hospitality industry to her role at HTL Group. She spent the last 18 years as Chief Marketing Officer at Best Western. In her role at the company, she was responsible for overseeing all marketing and commercial strategies, including loyalty programs, digital transformation, advertising, public relations, consumer and distribution partnerships, and the global sales organization.

A highly sought-after speaker and panelist at industry conferences, Dowling is recognized for her ability to provide insightful connections on evolving industry trends, customer expectations, and investor needs.

Her exceptional contributions to the industry have been recognized with Lifetime Achievement awards from the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) for her commercial leadership, the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference for her innovation and business performance, and GBTA WINiT for her advocacy for women in leadership.

Dowling holds an Honours BA and an MA from the University of Waterloo in Canada. She has also completed executive education programs at Harvard and MIT and recently earned post-graduate certifications in Diversity & Inclusion and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) from Cornell University. Additionally, she is a certified board director through the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Expert insights

Cutting edge analysis.

Viewpoint

Local roots, global scale: five key drivers of management company consolidation

The post COVID recovery did more than repair the U.S. hotel industry – it reshaped where value is being created and who is best positioned to capture it. Nowhere is that clearer than in the Sunbelt and its collar markets, where demographic shifts, corporate relocations and “year round leisure” have combined to produce outsized and often resilient hotel performance.

Bryan Younge
Bryan Younge
Managing Partner, USA
Viewpoint

Five drivers of hotel management company M&A in the Caribbean & Latin America (CALA) region

Independent hotel management companies are experiencing a period of accelerated growth across the Caribbean and Latin America (CALA), including Mexico. What was once a fragmented landscape of small, entrepreneurial operators is evolving into a dynamic ecosystem of increasingly sophisticated regional platforms — and capital providers are taking notice. For owners, investors, and lenders, the trend is not simply about operational preference. It reflects deeper structural forces reshaping the region’s hospitality sector: the need for local expertise, the pursuit of scale, the rapid modernization of technology and processes, and the growing demand for transparency, professionalism, and liquidity. Together, these drivers are creating a compelling case for independent operators as credible, aligned, and value‑enhancing partners for capital.

Dr. Clay B. Dickinson
Dr. Clay B. Dickinson
Managing Director, USA
Viewpoint

A unified vision for tourism readiness ahead of the World Cup

In 2026, the world will turn its eyes toward North America. For a month, the FIFA World Cup will become more than a global sporting competition – it will be a defining measure of how cities, nations, and industries craft human experience at scale.

Bryan Younge
Bryan Younge
Managing Partner, USA
Viewpoint

The campus as destination

How universities can use hospitality discipline to strengthen enrollment, revenue, and long-term resilience A university campus is one of the most complex real estate products in most markets. It is a learning environment, an employer, a cultural institution, a civic landmark, a landlord, a transportation network, a public realm, and in many towns, the closest thing to a year-round destination resort. Yet most universities still manage the campus experience as a set of separate functions rather than as a single, intentional “arrival-to-departure” journey.

Bryan Younge
Bryan Younge
Managing Partner, USA
Viewpoint

Beyond hotels – luxury rentals rewrite travel playbooks

Luxury travel is evolving, and the traditional divide between five-star hotels and private residences is quickly disappearing. In destinations such as Park City, Utah, travellers now expect the comfort and scale of a home combined with the seamless service of a luxury hotel. At the same time, hotels are embracing a more residential feel – prioritising space, privacy, and thoughtful design. In a new article for Branded Residential, Bryan Younge explores these themes.

Bryan Younge
Bryan Younge
Managing Partner, USA
Viewpoint

Unlocking hidden value through creative asset management in hospitality

In today’s hospitality landscape, asset managers face a triple squeeze: rising construction costs, escalating labor expenses and flattening ADRs. At the same time, hotel guests demand more personalized, differentiated experiences. In this climate, underutilized spaces — breakfast rooms, lobbies, parking lots — aren’t just dead weight. They’re latent assets waiting to be activated.

Jessica Santos
Jessica Santos
Analyst, USA