Former Explora Hotels CEO Launches New Hospitality Company

Jesús Parrilla, the former CEO of Explora Hotels, has founded a new travel venture: Experiential Hospitality Group. 

The company just launched and will soon operate boutique eco-lodges, guided journeys, and experiential destinations – all based on Parrilla’s observation that great travel experiences start by tuning in to how a guest arrives.  

“Intentional hospitality begins with paying attention,” Parrilla said. “Paying attention to how somebody arrives. How emotional fatigue or state of mind changes behavior. How silence affects people. How weather affects mood. How movement changes perspective.” 

Aside from leading Explora Hotels, Parrilla was previously a partner and strategic advisor at Luxury Frontiers, as well as strategic advisor to the ownership group behind Paradero Hotels. The Spain native is also on the board of Smartrip, a Chilean B Corp focused on channeling tourism toward positive social and environmental impact. 

With Experiential Hospitality Group, Parrilla takes 25 years of hospitality experience and ensures that extra care is shown for guests’ emotional state during the transitional periods of travel. More information about specific brands is forthcoming in the next few months – with the first hotel opening expected in Q4 of 2027. 

“I never really set out to build hotels,” Parrilla said. “I set out to create environments that help people reconnect with something deeper. Nature, silence, movement, culture, other people, and often parts of themselves they had slowly stopped paying attention to.”