Jessica Tracey brings expertise on sustainable tourism to Nolan School
Jessica V. Tracey | Lecturer | Nolan School
Meet Jessica V. Tracey ’05, MBA ’17, one of our newest faculty members to join the Cornell University SC Johnson College of Business. She holds degrees from both the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration and the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management.
Tracey is a lecturer of services management at the Nolan School, teaching courses in accounting and hotel development. Prior to Nolan, Jessica was a visiting lecturer at the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, teaching graduate-level courses in accounting and finance. She also facilitated short courses for eCornell from 2008 to 2024, specializing in hospitality, real estate, and financial management. Tracey is the founder and principal of JVT Hospitality, which provides financial, strategic, and operational advisory services to hotel operators, developers and investors. Her nearly 20-year career has provided her with clear insights into development and generating long-term strategic value, but more importantly has fostered in her a greater sense of purpose and a call to action to cultivate the very hospitality experiences that she loves. Tracey aims to combine her passions for service, travel and culture, design, and learning through the lens of the triple bottom line to derive, implement, and manage creative and sustainable solutions that address industry challenges. She is excited to help foster her same passion for hospitality in the next generation of industry leaders.
What is a business accomplishment of yours that is important to you, your work, or the world at large?
“I was part of a talented team of collaborators in the development of W Nashville, a next-generation luxury lifestyle hotel project. Immersed in every facet of the project from inception to disposition, my role extended beyond financial expertise to include programming, pre-opening activities, vendor procurement, technical services, operator selection and transition, and owner asset management. The hotel’s successful opening on the heels of a global pandemic in October 2021 and subsequent disposition for a market record-breaking transaction price of $950,000 per room exemplified the team’s skill and adaptiveness during a very challenging and ambiguous time. This project cemented my understanding of the hotel development cycle through an owner’s lens.”
What is a current issue in business or business education that you are interested in, and why is it important to you and your work?
“My educational interests lie in sustainable hotel development and sustainable tourism. Hotels have above average carbon footprints, and more people are traveling globally than ever, leading to overtourism in remote destinations and established tourist cities alike. Sustainable travel is fast becoming a priority among business and leisure travelers, but barriers such as competing priorities of management, lack of organizational systems and metrics, and lack of capital, persist. I want to educate Nolan’s students on the importance of sustainable practices in site selection, development and management to preserve the natural settings and destinations that we all love.”