In Her Own Words: Denise Dupré of Champagne Hospitality is the ultimate hotelier
Childhood influences often make a permanent mark on career choices. Denise Dupré’s family owned a resort in Pennsylvania. She followed suit on an even grander scale.
I can’t remember a time when hospitality was not an integral part of my life. It is a foundational element that shaped my journey from childhood to the present.
As a child, I was immersed in the operations of my family’s business, The Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Pennsylvania. Those formative years watching my family’s hard work and unwavering dedication to hospitality gave me a profound appreciation for the how done right, it can improve people’s lives, contribute to the creation of memorable moments and lasting connections to life-changing destinations.
After high school, I left home to pursue higher education at Dartmouth College and later at Cornell University. Though I studied hospitality management—I wanted to try something different after college. I moved to Chicago to work in advertising. But as fate would have it, I was assigned to represent a major restaurant chain. The experience solidified my dedication to hospitality and further fueled my passion for working in the industry.
Thereafter I took on role in the hotel consulting firm, Lavenenthol and Horwath in New York but ultimately found myself drawn to academia, where I taught hospitality management and inspired the next generation of industry leaders at some of the country’s most prestigious universities, including Boston University and Harvard.
