Peter Yesawich ’72, MS ’74, PhD ‘76 accepts award
Peter C. Yesawich is Chairman of Yesawich Holding, LLC and Co-founder of MMGY Global, the world’s largest integrated marketing communications company serving travel, leisure, and entertainment industry clients from offices across the Americas, Europe and the Middle East.
Widely regarded as one of the most respected sources of insight into the evolving habits, preferences, and intentions of travelers, Yesawich is a frequent commentator on travel trends in both domestic and international media. He has served some of the industry’s most popular destinations and brands including the Bahamas, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Hilton International, Leading Hotels of The World, Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Sandals Resorts, Trump Hotel Collection, Atlantis Paradise Island, BahaMar, the Breakers, the Broadmoor, Gaylord Hotels, La Costa, New York Palace, Wynn Las Vegas, Colonial Williamsburg, Universal Orlando Resort, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, .travel, and the US Olympic Committee.
From Hospitality to Healthcare
With the launch of MMGY Global in 2010, Yesawich became interested in the application of principles of hospitality to the delivery of healthcare following his appointment to the national board of directors of Cancer Treatment Center of America (CTCA). This privately held company operated five “destination” hospitals and 10 outpatient clinics serving patients being treated for complex or advanced-stage cancer. Among the first cancer care providers in the country to publish its treatment results to help patients make more informed choices about their care, the patient experience at CTCA consistently ranked within the top five percent of all cancer care providers tracked and measured in national patient surveys.
Yesawich served as Chief Growth Officer (CGO) from 2010 to 2020. It became the most recognized national cancer treatment provider in the U.S. and third most positively perceived hospital system in the country (after Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Medicine) during his tenure as CGO.
Author,National and International Commentator
Throughout his career, Yesawich has been a professional speaker and frequent media resource on service marketing trends in such media outlets as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, Time, Newsweek, on National Public Radio (NPR), and on the CNN, CNBC, MSNBC and BBC World television networks. He has also contributed numerous articles to both trade and professional journals. In 1986, the Cornell Quarterly named Yesawich Author of the Year.
Peter was a co-author of the fourth edition of the textbook, Marketing Leadership in Hospitality and Tourism. A more recent book inspired by his experience in healthcare was published in 2023: Hospitable Healthcare: Just What the Patient Ordered!
From co-author and fellow Cornellian, Stowe Shoemaker, PhD’95:
I first met Peter back in the early 1980s attending a seminar he gave in Burlington, Vermont. Listening to Peter, I realized I wanted to do exactly what Peter was doing. He shared with me his background and I realized the path I needed to take – work experience, a master’s degree, more work experience, and then a PhD. In 1995 I earned my PhD from Cornell University. I have since had the pleasure to work with Peter on two books – one on hospitality marketing, and the most recent on bringing hospitality principles into healthcare.
Peter has inspired many students in his years lecturing at Cornell, just as he inspired me.
Stowe Shoemaker, PhD ’95
Dean, Harrah College of Hospitality 2013 – 2023
Cornell Executive Education Faculty 1996 – 2010
As Told by Peter Yesawich
The Path to Cornell: This is a very interesting story. My grandmother was a faculty member (taught Spanish in A&S) and a good friend of Jan Beck (wife of then dean, Bob Beck). My parents and I attended a dinner at her house in Ithaca one evening, at which the Becks were also in attendance. During the course of the evening, Dean Beck inquired about the subject I was interested in studying in college, to which I replied, “Probably some aspect of business.” He then described the curriculum offered by the Hotel School and I thought, “WOW…this could be it!” So, I applied, was admitted, enrolled, and never looked back.
P.S. I also had the pleasure of meeting the legendary Harrison “Stork” Sanford (coach of numerous Cornell national champion crews) at one of my grandmother’s dinners and ended up rowing on the heavyweight crew for four years!
Early Entrepreneurship: During the summer between my sophomore and junior years, fellow SHA classmate John Burns and I opened a pop-up retail fruit market for three months in Milwaukee. Remarkably, we made enough money to buy cars we then drove back to Ithaca that fall!
Acquiring the firm, Needham and Grohmann: In the early 90’s, I had the privilege of working with Howard Heinsius ’50 for several years after we acquired his agency, Needham and Grohmann (Victor Grohmann ’28, co-founder and HoF inaugural Class 2022). He ran our New York office and managed several high-profile client relationships on our behalf, including Rockresorts and Helmsley Hotels. Howard was the consummate professional and I was honored to introduce him as a colleague and member of our leadership team.
Overcoming Setbacks: On two occasions, we lost an account that represented about 50% of our then current billings. Rather than share this potentially devastating news with our dedicated staff, my partner and I hustled day and night to replace the lost income during our “notice” period with the departing clients. Miraculously, we succeeded on both occasions. We then told our staff we were “moving on to bigger and better assignments” and celebrated the new wins without missing a beat.
Prominent and Proud Cornellian
Peter received three degrees from Cornell: BS ’72, MS ’74, and PhD ‘76, including a doctorate in psychology. It was during his master’s studies under the guidance of Dr. Stanley Davis that his interest in developing a better understanding of marketing science through coursework in the graduate schools of psychology and business began. While pursuing his doctoral degree, he served as principal investigator on a consulting assignment that would eventually define the direction of his career in hospitality marketing: a groundbreaking study of why so few Americans were visiting the 28 member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS). His doctoral dissertation tested the application of “complexity theory” in experimental psychology to the performance of print advertising. He has continued his exploration of the role of psychology in marketing science through additional graduate studies at Yale and Stanford.
Yesawich was listed among the 90 influential Hotelies profiled in the 90th anniversary issue of Hotelie magazine.
Peter also served as a visiting associate professor at the School of Hotel Administration for nine years, during which he co-taught a popular course for both undergraduate and graduate students entitled The Psychology of Advertising.
In 1997, Yesawich established the Yesawich Family Scholarship at the School of Hotel Administration.
Yesawich currently serves on the Advisory Board of Cornell’s Institute for Healthy Futures.
Industry Awards
Yesawich is the recipient of the World Travel Award from the American Association of Travel Editors, the Albert E. Koehl Award for Lifetime Achievement in Marketing from the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI), the Silver Medal from the American Advertising Federation, and the Spirit of Hospitality Award from the Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI). He was named one of the “25 Most Extraordinary Marketing Minds” by HSMAI and is a former member of the board of directors of the Travel Industry Association of America.
Family Life
Yesawich and his wife, Paris, reside in Boca Raton, FL, and Healdsburg, CA. Both are grateful for the opportunity to have “seen much of the world” as a result of his agency’s specialization in serving hospitality, travel, and entertainment industry clients. They have three sons, one of whom also graduated from the School of Hotel Administration (Paul Avi, ’06).
Peter and Paris – Crossing Abbey Road in London
At the Great Wall of China
Yesawich Family Reunion – Colonial Williamsburg
biographical content and photographs courtesy of Peter Yesawich
