David McMillan
CEO, International Hotel & Restaurant Association

David McMillan is Chief Executive Officer of the International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA), the only global business organization representing the hospitality industry worldwide. Prior to joining the IH&RA, British-born McMillan had many years of international hotel and resort management & development experience in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, Canada and the United States with Hilton Hotels Corp & Hilton International, Hyatt International, Commonwealth Hospitality, Holiday Inn Hotels, Four Seasons Hotels, several independent properties including the Hotel Meurice in Paris, the Waldorf Astoria in New York and most recently with Cirque du Soleil as Vice President Complexe Cirque - Hotels, F&B, Spas.

As President of Axis Hospitality, a Canadian-based hotel & resort consultant group, David has led the development, acquisition, disposition, repositioning, launch and the operation of many international projects in China, Malaysia, India, Israel, the Ukraine, St Kitts, Vieques, Cuba, the UK, Canada and the USA.
At Cirque du Soleil, McMillan was leading the conceptualisation and global development of a new initiative involving the development of a group of luxury hotels and theatre Complexes that would incorporate a permanent Cirque du Soleil show, as well as a reinvented Cirque version of an upscale boutique hotel, spa, food & beverage & retail components. These Complexes were to be located in London, Hong Kong, New York and other major cities and resorts around the world.

McMillan has also held several positions with Canada's largest hotel management company where, as Senior Vice President Operations & Development, he was responsible for the operation of 46 Hotels under various brands and the growth of the company. Prior to this position, he opened and operated a number of first class hotels in Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Middle East.

He was elected to three terms as Chairman of the Board of the Hotel Association of Canada, is a former Director of The Canadian Restaurant & Foodservice Association, a former member of the Certification Commission of the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Motel Association on whose Board of Directors he also served. He has also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the McLenaghan Centre for Hospitality Training of Hocking College and the Waldorf Astoria's Distinguished Alumni Award.