plazzo tournabuoni

Thought Leaders -- The Multicultural, Luxury Dimension: A Interview With Luca Franco

Luca Franco is well-known in hotel and hospitality circles as one whose reputation has been forged in the luxury, multi-cultural realm. He is fluent in five languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, and, Latin and is working on Portuguese. Luca's multi-cultural hospitality experience also is as varied as his linguistic expertise, as it ranges from working with the Ferragamo Group, Bulgari Hotels, to the Four Seasons Hotels and Residences and Marriott Vacation Clubs, to name a few.

Early on, his reputation became solidified as the person who brought the Palazzo Tornabuoni in Florence,Italy, to the fractional interest market, taking the first steps to allow the historic 15th century Medici palace to become what it is today: a multi-awarded contemporary mixed use private residence club. I wrote about this club in a Luxist column, earlier this year. The Palazzo has won many awards, with most recent being from the Urban Land Institute, the Award for Excellence in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It was selected from 43 entries across 17 countries, yet the Palazzo stood out ( see below) for the "meticulous level of renovation and restoration demonstrated throughout."

Luca has also had success in the company he founded, Luxury Leisure Properties International, where he and his team have created similar alliances with other hotels, including the renowned Strategic Hotels. In all, they work to create successful high end mixed use projects,with luxury fractional, condo-hotel, wholly owned residences, within existing hotels. At present, his projects range from working at the Baglioni Marrakech Hotel and Residences in Morocco, the Copthorne Hotel in Dubai, to a fractional offering at Rio Quente in Brazil, the San Gimignano Golf Country Resort in Tuscany, and the Ritz Carlton Hotel and esidences in Herzliya, israel. Recently, I interviewed him about his latest projects, and how he sees the future of the luxury mixed use hotel/residence industry

Tags: luca franco, luxury leisure properties international, plazzo tournabuoni