Hya Valdez

Head of Business Development of Capital One Travel

A little bit about Hya…

Hya Valdez is an accomplished travel and hospitality industry executive, dedicated to creating exceptional experiences, fostering innovation, and leading high performing teams. During her 20+ year career, she has worked with some of the world's leading lifestyle visionaries in crafting iconic and award winning new brands that elevated the luxury hospitality space to new heights.

At Capital One, Hya leads business development and strategic partnerships for the luxury travel team. She co-led the creation and launch of their luxury travel programs, the Capital One Premier Collection and Lifestyle Collection, and spearheaded the curation of participating hotels.

Prior to Capital One, Hya held the Head of Sales & Marketing role at Proper Hospitality, as well as Vice President, Business Development & Partnerships role at Sydell Group. In these roles, she was responsible for overseeing all strategic partnerships, sales initiatives and respective teams, while cultivating a culture that inspired customers to become brand evangelists. She also led the planning and execution of experience-driven sales strategies to promote the hotels and restaurants across the portfolio.

In 2017, she was nominated as Executive of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal Women’s Summit for her contribution to the Los Angeles community by forging strong international partnerships that helped drive growth and shape the future of meetings, conventions, and tourism in LA.

In her spare time, Hya loves to travel and enjoys surfing, scuba diving, camping in the wilderness and epic road trips. She recently relocated with her husband Matthew, their 3 kids, and a pup named Sunny, from Venice Beach, CA to Palma Sola, FL where they are currently renovating their home, planting fruit trees and building their own food forest.