Tom Botts, P '26
Chief Commercial Officer
Uplift
Cornell Nolan School affiliations:
Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship Advisory Board
Cornell Nolan School affiliations:
Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship Advisory Board
Tom Botts is a senior executive, investor and advisor in the travel industry. He brings extensive expertise in e-commerce, revenue management and technology across the airline, hotel and online intermediary industries.
He is currently the Chief Commercial Officer at Uplift, the leading Buy Now, Pay Later solution for the travel industry. Uplift was acquired by Upgrade, a multi-billion dollar fintech focused on consumer lending in July 2023. Serving the world’s top enterprise level travel brands, Uplift’s complete range of flexible payment options drive higher conversion and loyalty for partners, while giving customers a simple, surprise-free way to pay over time with no late fees or prepayment penalties.
Tom joined Uplift from Miraval Group, a rapidly expanding wellness brand, where he served as SVP and CMO. Private equity firm KSL Capital Partners recruited Tom to Miraval where he was a key member of the leadership team which successfully sold the brand and resorts to Hyatt Hotels in early 2017. Prior to joining Miraval, he served as Denihan Hospitality’s Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer.
Earlier, Tom was a co-founder and managing partner of New York City-based Hudson Crossing, LLC, a leading business and technology advisory firm serving the travel, financial services and related industries. He also served as Vice President – Global Travel Industry Sales and Strategy for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. where he led a sales and marketing team responsible for $2 billion in revenue generation across multiple distribution channels. Tom later led product and supplier relations for Hotwire, which was successfully sold to Expedia Group.
Tom began his career with Delta Air Lines and held roles of increasing responsibility in customer service, technology, revenue management and e-commerce.
Tom sits on the board of directors or advisory boards of several companies, including Duetto Research, Hudson Crossing, Rocketmiles (acquired by Booking Holdings) and Vacatia.com. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Logistics and Marketing from the University of Missouri.