Registration, coffee and networking

Welcome

By Ingunn Hofseth, President & CEO, HSMAI Region Europe

The moderator for the day is Enzo Aita, Vice President Marketing at RateGain – Hospitality

Enzo Aita has over 14 years of hands-on experience in the Hotel, Travel and Hospitality industries creating insightful business development strategies and utilizing an industry-wide reputation as a Revenue, Sales and Marketing Management expertise.

Lessons on how chatbots can become more than just talk but revenue drivers.

Chatbots and AI technologies have increasing become popular after global brands started adopting them for automation purpose. However, the value of chatbot technology extends beyond improved customer service. Learn how other hotels are Leveraging the digital technology to enhance the guest experience and drive revenue at the same time.

By Akemi Tsunagawa, Founder & CEO of Bespoke Inc in Tokyo.

Akemi founded Bespoke in 2015 to create a new digital experience for travelers. Its AI concierge solution, Bebot, is world’s most used multilingual chatbot that replaces concierge desks to enhance guest experiences. Bebot is currently servicing wide range of clients from Narita International Airport to Sofitel Hotels.
Prior to Bespoke, Akemi worked in institutional product development roles at Fidelity International, management consulting at Deloitte, and investment banking at Macquarie Capital.

The current state of hotel rate parity in Europe, a deep dive into parity performance.

Lunch and networking

14:15-14:50

Best practices on brand segmentation, repositioning, efficiency and transformation

By Fernando Vives, Chief Commercial Officer, NH Hotel Group

With close to 20 years’ experience in the hospitality industry, Fernando leads NH Hotel Group´s global commercial team and is a member of the Management Committee.

As Chief Commercial Officer his responsibilities include sales, revenue management, trade marketing, distribution, B2B Digital Sales, business development and groups / transient Worldwide Central Reservation Offices, including customer care.

He is an expert on Revenue Management, Commercial practices and distribution with experience both in the urban and resort arena and operating hotels in all continents.

Hotel marketing requires a strategy that recognizes the need for a strong presence. Philipp will in his presentation share his thoughts about hard and soft branding and the Pros and Cons of the choices

By Philipp Weghmann, Executive Vice President of Europe, Preferred Hotels & Resorts

As Executive Vice President of Europe, Philipp Weghmann oversees the company’s growth and evolution in the region, as well as ensuring the retention of nearly 200 member properties across 25 countries in Europe.

With more than 15 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Philipp has an impressive record for supporting hotel owners and operators to achieve their sales, marketing, public relations and development goals. Philipp first joined Preferred Hotels & Resorts in 2006 in the role of Regional Director for the Iberian Peninsula and Mediterranean, and grew the region’s membership from seven to more than 50 member hotels in less than five years. He then took on the role of Area Managing Director for Latin America and Caribbean for the next three years, and, during this time, he was recognized for generating significant awareness of the Preferred Hotels & Resorts brand, as well as increasing the company’s portfolio of luxury hotels & resorts across the region.

Coffee break and networking

Influencing the Traveller Path to Purchase

74% of travellers who book accommodations make TripAdvisor a part of their online journey. Join us at this session to learn how you can influence and maximise your reach to these booking-ready travellers.

• Get data-driven insights on traveller behaviour and purchase patterns
• Discover how you can influence booking decisions on TripAdvisor
• Access valuable tips and best practices used by hoteliers

By Mercedes Sánchez, Senior Key Accounts Manager at TripAdvisor

Revenue vs. Marketing

How Revenue Managers and Marketers can achieve greatness

• Time
• Quantity
• Value

By Enzo Aita, Vice President Marketing at RateGain – Hospitality

The changing skills and competencies of future commercial leaders

Debate with industry leaders and the delegates

Moderator: Simone Puorto, Travel Tech Journalist, tnooz

• What are the top issues facing your discipline and the industry as a whole today?
• If your business’ priorities have changed in the last year, what have they shifted away from, and to?
• What components and competences need HSMAI’s attention?
• What is the next thing coming at us? Is it an opportunity, or a challenge?

Simone Puorto is a travel tech journalist for tnooz, MBA Lecturer Professor for Business Schools such as ESSEC, ESG and LUISS, Advisory Board Member for BWG Strategy, CEO & Founder of his own consulting firm, co-founder of the startup “Tell the Hotel”, public speaker, panel moderator, and writer for blogs and magazines such as HOTELSMag, HotelTechReport and BookingBlog. He is a passionate marketing geek with twenty years of experience in the industry. Over the last two decades, he has worked with hundreds of hotels, web agencies, startups and travel-tech providers worldwide, and all these experiences ended up in two best-selling books and hundreds of articles.

• Fernando Vives, Chief Commercial Officer, NH Hotel Group

• Philipp Weghmann, Executive Vice President of Europe, Preferred Hotels & Resorts

HSMAI & Customer Alliance Guest Experience Award

We will end this productive day by handing out the HSMAI & Customer Alliance Guest Experience Award in co-operation with the German company Customer Alliance. The award is based on customer satisfaction data and reviews from different portals, such as TripAdvisor, booking.com, Hotels.com, Google, Facebook and more.

Drinks and networking