Ridgemont Hospitality (hotel and lodging)
Sima Patel is the chief executive officer of Ridgemont Hospitality.
Patel was born in Surat, India, and moved to the United States in 1979. With no prior training or formal education, she immediately began working in a family lodging business. In 1985, Patel and her husband, Pravin Patel, developed their first lodging property. They currently own and operate several branded and boutique hotels in the San Francisco Bay Area and continue to develop great hotel brands.
Patel’s commitment to the community can be seen in the number of organizations in which she participates. In 2007, she received the Richard L. Speece Destination Oakland Award presented by the Oakland Convention and Visitors Bureau. She has maintained close ties with industry and government leaders in her city, county, and state. Because of those relationships, she was instrumental in securing funding for the Oakland Convention and Visitors Bureau through a voter referendum and assisted with forming a Tourism Improvement District in Oakland. Patel advocates for the economic value of tourism to her city and state lawmakers and is a true champion for tourism in Oakland.
Patel is the past chair of the Oakland Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors. Her other community commitments include membership in the Oakland Rotary Club and the Oakland Airport Area Business Association.
She was the first Indian woman in the country to chair a state lodging association when she became the chairperson of the California Lodging Industry Association (CLIA) in 2004.
In 2006, Patel was elected by her industry to serve on the California Travel and Tourism Commission (Visit California). After serving two elected terms, she was appointed again to the Visit California Board by Governor Jerry Brown. In October 2016, she became Visit California’s first industry-elected chair of its Board of Directors.
In 2017, Patel was named one of the “100 Most Influential Women in Business” by the San Francisco Business Journal, followed by the 2018 ASCEND Executive Leadership Award, and in 2023, one of the 100 most influential leaders in hospitality.
Patel is the founder of Saaheli, a nonprofit whose mission is to educate, empower, and engage women globally.
She has served on the California Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors since January 2019, is a former at-large member of the Executive Committee and current chair of the CalChamber Council for International Trade.