Everything counts!

Head of Financing & Member of the Executive Board, Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Hotelkredit SGH

SHL alumnus Giles Zollinger found his passion during his education at SHL:  Everything that evolved around debits and credits, financing and budgeting was of burning interest to him, and so financial management quickly became his favourite subject.

After SHL, Giles' career in the hotel industry really took off. And yet he decided relatively quickly to take a different path: as a business customer advisor at the Graubündner Kantonalbank, where he was able to deepen his financial knowledge and put his talent for customer care to perfect use. But what was the missing link? The connection to his roots, the hotel business.

Giles has been working for the Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Hotelkredit- SGH for short - since August 2011. He has been part of the Executive Board and Head of Financing there since January 2021. «My goal is to help ensure that as many exciting and economically viable projects as possible can be implemented in the accommodation industry,» says Giles. Thus, he has found the perfect balance between finance and the hotel industry - and he has not lost his connection to SHL either. For several years, he has been passing on his knowledge to the next hospitality generation as a lecturer in the subjects «Controlling» and «Corporate Finance». All’s well that ends well!


Giles in the media eye:

 

Keyword Interview

  • SHL

    First SHL day
    That was in November 1999 (!). I came to SHL wearing jeans and a T-shirt and I still regret that mistake even today.

    The SHL is
    a launch pad (for many things)

    Most beautiful moment
    There too many to mention...

    I will never forget it!
    After hearing we had passed our exams; we went to the Hotel Gütsch and we hung up sheets over the letters. It was written: UFS 05

    What I miss
    My companions - unfortunately, the contact with many of them has been lost.

  • Life

    What I like most about where I live - Zurich - is the
    Infrastructure and the Olé Olé bar.

    Always in the fridge
    Pickled gherkins.

    Relaxing after a hard day of
    Jogging and my bathtub

    When I'm not working...
    I love to be in the mountains hiking or on a ski tour

  • Career

    Milestone(s)
    SHL, MAS, Lecturer SHL & my current job at SGH

    My job in three words
    Challenging, varied & meaningful

    Daily routine
    Coffee, mails, coffee, meetings and/or clients

    Current projects
    Assistance in the revision of the Federal Act on the Promotion of the Accommodation Industry

     I still want to achieve
    An exciting board mandate

  • Hospitality

    Favourite restaurant
    Hatecke Zurich

    Favourite hotel
    LluLlu Llama Mountain Lodge in Ecuador

    Me as a guest
    Uncomplicated

    I appreciate
    Purism & no frills (F&B as well as in accommodation)

    No-Go
    Hand dryer

    This should change
    Appreciation of employees

  • Inspiration

    Makes me laugh
    My parents' dogs

    Last holiday destination
    Puglia

    Dream holiday destination
    Patagonia

    Earworm
    Don't stop me now (Queen)

    Discovery
    Sound healing

    I wish I could...
    sing

Impressions