Jo Bailes

Jo Bailes is the Chief Executive Officer of Singita, a nature-based hospitality brand operating across some of Africa’s most extraordinary wilderness destinations. He began his career in retail before spending several years in senior hospitality roles across Asia, where he gained experience within large-scale, globally complex organizations. Bailes returned to Africa in 2019 to join family-run Singita, progressing through senior leadership roles across operations and the executive team, including Chief Operating Officer, before being appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2023. His leadership is grounded in a deep belief in Africa, its people, its landscapes and its relevance to the world, and in the power of nature not only to be protected, but to be felt, experienced and reconnected with on a human level.