The few people who can turn a brand’s character into a source of growth are the ones that were able to survive in an industry characterized by frequent changes and fierce competition. Natalia Zubareva is one such individual among them. Her career has been a journey through some of the hardest conditions in the hospitality world where good management is not merely theory but rather a practical test against real market pressures, deadlines for opening new establishments, and changing guests’ expectations.
She was shaped by her leadership roles at the global hospitality giants such as Accor, Marriott International, and Emaar Hospitality Group. She has been working at the intersection of the two worlds, that is, brand purpose and bottom line. The activities taking place under her leadership vary from establishing new facilities to executing complex rebranding initiatives and in all of them she has been treating sales and marketing as the drivers of long-term value instead of simply short-term revenue.
At this moment, she is the Cluster Director of Sales & Marketing at Mövenpick Hotel & Apartments and in this role, she possesses a very modern approach to commercial leadership. Her work is deeply rooted in the idea of making decisions based on data and the human side of the story that touches the heart of the travelers today. However, along with the numbers and strategy there is a customer-centric mentality, one that considers a strong workforce, real alliances, and people who are both personal and fulfilling in their needs as the focal points.
Her career path is a perfect illustration of the leadership mindset that believes in moderation: between the past and the future, between profit and responsibility, between the figures and the emotional connection. It is this very balance that determines her influence in the ever-changing hospitality industry.
Building Strategy from the Ground Up
Natalia Zubareva commercial philosophy has been forged across some of the industry’s most competitive battlegrounds. Her experience spans leadership roles with global powerhouses including Accor, Marriott International, and Emaar Hospitality Group, where she led pre-openings and rebranding projects that required building strategy from foundation to execution.
“Strong commercial success comes from data-led decision-making combined with creativity, agility, and close collaboration across departments,” she explains. Her approach challenges the traditional siloed structure that often characterizes hotel operations, instead advocating for what she calls a “unified commercial ecosystem.”
This ecosystem thinking proved particularly valuable during periods of transformation. Whether launching new properties, repositioning existing assets, or navigating evolving market dynamics, she discovered that sustainable results emerge when leaders invest equally in people, innovation, and market intelligence.
“Commercial excellence is not just about numbers. It’s about building strong teams, meaningful partnerships, and strategies that create long-term value for the business and the brand,” she emphasizes.
The Art of Balancing Heritage with Innovation
One of Natalia Zubareva most nuanced challenges involves maintaining brand consistency across the Mövenpick portfolio while allowing each property to express its distinct market positioning. She approaches this balance by identifying what remains non-negotiable—Mövenpick’s core DNA of heartfelt hospitality, culinary craftsmanship, and strong sense of place while creating flexibility where it adds value.
“A city-centric business hotel and a leisure-focused property will naturally require different storytelling, partnerships, and channel strategies, even though they sit under the same brand umbrella,” she notes. This differentiation happens through close collaboration with on-property teams, shared performance metrics, and flexible execution that respects local relevance while protecting brand integrity.
Her approach to modernizing brand narratives follows similar principles. Rather than changing what Mövenpick stands for, she focuses on evolving how the story gets told. She translates heritage values into contemporary experiences through data, digital innovation, and storytelling that connects with today’s audiences.
“Strong brands are built on authenticity. These pillars must remain constant even as consumer expectations shift,” she observes. The key lies in using elevated visual content, targeted digital campaigns, and partnerships that align with brand positioning while remaining culturally connected and inclusive.
From Revenue Generation to Experience Design
Natalia Zubareva views the evolution of sales and marketing roles as one of hospitality’s most significant shifts. Today’s commercial leaders function as brand storytellers and experience designers, not merely revenue generators.
“Our responsibility goes far beyond filling rooms or selling even space. It’s about shaping how guests perceive, engage with, and emotionally connect with the brand at every touchpoint,” she explains.
This expanded mandate requires translating brand values into meaningful experiences across the entire guest journey from first digital interaction to post-stay engagement. Through data-driven insights, digital platforms, and content-led storytelling, her teams influence not only demand generation but also expectations, experiences, and loyalty.
The approach demands unprecedented collaboration. Successful brand storytelling and experience design happen when sales and marketing teams work closely with operations, food and beverage, and guest-facing teams to create cohesive narratives and memorable moments. When commercial strategy, storytelling, and guest experience are aligned properly hotels start building trust, emotional loyalty, and long-term brand equity.
Data as Strategic Lens, Not Reporting Tool
Natalia Zubareva relationship with data exemplifies her broader leadership philosophy. She uses analytics and market intelligence as a strategic lens to understand demand patterns, anticipate market shifts, and optimize performance not simply as a reporting mechanism.
Her pricing and forecasting approach monitor forward-looking indicators including booking pace, pickup trends, lead times, and segmentation performance alongside external market intelligence. This dual perspective allows dynamic pricing adjustments that protect rate integrity while forecasting demand with greater accuracy.
On the marketing side, analytics guide both creative and channel decisions. Performance data from digital platforms helps refining targeting, optimize spending, and tailor messaging to specific segments and booking windows. Every campaign gets continuously measured through conversion, ROI, and contribution to RevPAR, ensuring accountability and real-time optimization.
“By sharing insights across sales, revenue, marketing, and operations, data becomes actionable rather than being sold,” she notes. This integrated approach ensures that pricing, demand generation, and guest experience work in harmony.
Strategic Partnerships as Brand Extensions
Natalia Zubareva views partnerships not as simple distribution channels but as strategic brand extensions that amplify reach, credibility, and demand across diverse segments. Her partnership strategy encompasses corporate relationships, travel trade connections, and digital platforms, each serving distinct but complementary roles.
Corporate and MICE partnerships provide stability and predictable base business, particularly in competitive urban markets. By building long-term, value-driven relationships rather than transactional agreements, her properties secure consistent demand while positioning themselves as trusted partners.
Travel trade partnerships expand market penetration across key feeder markets, especially for leisure and long-stay segments. Strong collaboration with tour operators, destination management companies, and wholesalers allows alignment of product positioning, pricing, and storytelling to different market expectations.
Digital platforms play a dual role in distribution and brand visibility. When leveraged strategically, they provide powerful insights into consumer behavior, booking patterns, and content performance. She optimizes presence across these platforms while aligning them with direct and brand channels to ensure balanced growth and long-term brand equity.
Embedding Responsibility into Strategy
Sustainability and responsible hospitality represent more than ethical imperatives in Natalia’s approach, they function as core commercial differentiators. She integrates these principles authentically and measurably into sales and marketing strategies.
The Mövenpick properties under her leadership hold notable credentials including Green Globe Certification Platinum, the Dubai Sustainable Tourism Stamp Bronze, and IBCCES Certified Autism Center status. Rather than treating these as standalone achievements, she is actively incorporating them into sales presentations, proposals, and partner conversations.
“These credentials demonstrate our long-term commitment to responsible operations, inclusion, and measurable impact,” she explains. From a marketing perspective, she ensures these certifications remain prominently visible across websites, online travel agencies, and digital platforms, allowing guests to identify sustainability and accessibility credentials at the point of consideration and booking.
Real actions speak louder than claims. The properties’ on-site sustainability garden, responsible sourcing practices, and community-driven initiatives like Kilo of Kindness reflect commitment to social responsibility beyond hotel walls. By aligning sustainability with brand storytelling and guest experience, she creates meaningful differentiation while reinforcing trust and long-term loyalty.
Building Revenue Resilience
Navigating market disruptions, seasonal volatility, and shifting traveler expectations requires what Natalia Zubareva calls “agility, data discipline, and a long-term mindset.” Her approach to revenue resilience prioritizes diversification across corporate, MICE, leisure, long-stay, and partnership segments, reducing exposure to volatility in any single market.
Continuous monitoring of booking pace, pickup trends, lead times, and market signals enables accurate forecasting and real-time adjustments to pricing, inventory, and campaign focus. This ensures protection of both occupancy and rate without relying on discount-led tactics.
“Today’s guests value flexibility, authenticity, sustainability, and meaningful experiences,” she observes. Aligning commercial strategy with refreshed facilities, experiential offerings, and responsible hospitality initiatives maintains relevance while strengthening perceived value.
Looking Towards Tomorrow
When Natalia Zubareva considers the next five years in hospitality, she sees competitive advantage emerging from how effectively brands combine technology, authenticity, and experience. Data-led personalization will evolve from broad segmentation to real-time, behavior-driven engagement. Hotels that can intelligently use data to anticipate guest needs while respecting privacy will deliver more relevant offers, stronger loyalty, and higher lifetime value.
Experiential storytelling will become a key differentiator as guests increasingly choose brands that reflect their values and offer meaningful, memorable experiences. Sustainability, inclusivity, and community connection will influence booking decisions, making responsible hospitality a core competitive asset.
“The future belongs to brands that are technologically smart, emotionally connected, and operationally aligned,” she concludes.
Advice for Aspiring Leaders
For those aiming to build impactful careers in hospitality sales, marketing, and brand leadership, Natalia Zubareva offers guidance rooted in both commercial discipline and human connection. She encourages developing strong foundations in data, revenue strategy, and digital marketing while remaining curious about guest behavior and evolving trends.
Seeking exposure to diverse experiences builds resilience, adaptability, and perspective. Challenging environments including pre-openings, rebranding, or turnaround projects often provide the most valuable leadership lessons.
“Success in hospitality comes from collaboration, trust, and empowering teams to perform at their best. Lead with integrity, listen actively, and create environments where others can grow,” she emphasizes.
Most importantly, she advocates staying authentic to core values. In an industry built on service, how leaders conduct themselves matters as much as they achieve. When ambition gets guided by purpose and strategy gets supported by empathy, careers become not only successful but truly impactful.
Natalia Zubareva leadership demonstrates that the future of hospitality belongs to those who can balance analytical precision with authentic storytelling, strategic focus with collaborative execution, and commercial excellence with genuine human connection. Her approach offers a blueprint for sustainable success in an industry where numbers matter, but people and purpose matter more.
