Topics of the 7th ITB Hospitality Day: brands, distribution, security, junior staff
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The "ITB Hospitality Day" is one of the best attended conferences at ITB. |
Berlin (February 3, 2012). Brand chaos, distribution chaos, holiday chaos. The current development in the world of travels gives rise to many questions in the hotel industry – about the sense of multi brands, after power shifts in distribution, and security on holidays. The 7th "ITB Hospitality Day", the hotel conference of the world's largest tourism fair, will address these subjects on Thursday, March 8. In addition, the CEOs of Dusit Hotels and Motel One are present with their sons. The next generation talks. The "war of talents" is tough as another talk shows.
For the seventh time, hospitalityInside.com is the exclusive media partner of the conference, and again, Editor-in-Chief Maria Pütz-Willems was able to attract experts and heads of leading international companies who, with their knowledge and experience in the industry, will point out possible approaches to solutions. Last year, 1,900 trade fair visitors joined the Hospitality Day. Starting from today, you will find up-to-date information and announcements about the ITB Hospitality Day – readable for everyone – on the homepage and under the "Network" button at www.hospitalityInside.com.
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Cassidy Morgan. |
The date is fixed: Thursday, March 8, Hall 7.1b/Auditorium London, 10:30 am to 5:30 pm. All trade fair visitors are invited to gather know-how for "zero euros". The trade fair's marketing slogan states that the visit of the ITB Hospitality Day is included in the ITB ticket.
The subjects are already known. The opening will be "Brands Everywhere". For 90 minutes, experts will discuss the sense and the necessary volume of brands. Cassidy Morgen, Chief Executive Officer Central and Eastern Europe of the world's largest brand consultancy Interbrand, outlines the unlimited power of brands in his 30-minute keynote about "Brand Power Unlimited".
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Gerhard Fuchs. |
The expert is sure that strong brands are able to create higher values: "They have the power to change the world," says Morgan convincingly. However, he also cautions: brands have to be managed like a living asset! Without question: the influence of the digital world on brands is high. The audience can expect a fascinating keynote.
But what is a strong brand? This core question develops into more and more facets; light will be shed on these in the next panel starting at 11:15 am. "How Many Brands Make Sense?" asks host Gerhard Fuchs, President of marketingfuechse, a renowned agency for marketing, communications and media from Munich. Tourism and the hotel industry is its main business field.
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Osama Hirzalla. |
Fuchs, known for his distinctive sentences will ask the right questions and pose them, for example, to Osama Hirzalla, Vice President Brand Marketing and eCommerce Europe at Marriott International. With 18 brands in various categories and target groups, Marriott is the hotel chain with the most brands in the world.
The American and Asian perspective
Why do more and more hotels invent more and more new brands? Travellers are often irritated if the name on the roof changes but the concept remains more or less the same. What does a hotel chain expect by inventing new brands under the same roof, which is associated with a lot of time and money – are these brands then not competitors in the same business?
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Bernold |
Insiders know some of the answers but it will also be interesting knowing details about measurable customer loyalty, pricing and distribution channels. Cassidy Morgan will surely push the discussion concerning this subject as well as Bernold Schroeder, Chief Executive Officer of Jin Jiang International Hotels. Since August, the German has managed the largest hotel chain of China, a consortium of more than 700 hotels with nearly 100,000 rooms. Currently, he is establishing a new brand framework and he has an ambitious aim: soon, Jin Jiang is to belong to the world's top 10 hotel chains and will therefore be serious competition for Marriott, Hilton, InterConti & Co. Apart from that, the Chinese have their own relationship to brands and brand prestige.
The perspective from the Far East in contrast to the experiences from the West, spiced with neutral views of a brand consultant. These promise to be 90 exciting minutes. You will find the entire conference programme at this link. / kn
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POWER SHIFTS IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY Berlin (February 3, 2012). Safety at hotels, the shortfall in staff in the hotel industry and the consolidation trend among hotel portals: these are items on the agenda at this year’s ITB Hospitality Day at the ITB Berlin Convention. On Thursday, 8 March 2012 experts and CEOs representing the hotel and tourism industries will be discussing the latest topics. Now in its seventh year, the forum has developed into one of the industry’s leading events. Maria Puetz-Willems, editor-in-chief of hospitalityInside.com, is responsible for its content.
Cassidy Morgan, CEO Central and Eastern Europe, Interbrand, will kick off the event with his keynote entitled "Unlimited brand power". The first discussion round will take up this subject, asking: ”Brands everywhere: how many brands make sense?". Bernold Schroeder, CEO, Jin Jiang International Hotels, China, and Osama Hirzalla, vice president, Brand Marketing and eCommerce Europe of Marriott International – the chain with more brands than anyone worldwide - will discuss whether many different brands offer travellers a better service or whether they are simply clever marketing strategies. The wave of consolidation among hotel booking portals and new economic dependencies in the hotel distribution will be the main topics of the discussion round entitled ”Distribution: less providers with more power?". Arne Erichsen, director of Market Management Germany, Expedia Partner Services Group; Monique Jaspers-Wijn, vice president, Business Development, EMEA of iSabre Hospitality Solutions; Tobias Ragge, managing director of HRS, and Ognjen Zeric, founder and managing director of the startup Justbook Mobile will debate the most recent shifts in the market and their impact. Two discussion rounds at the ITB Hospitality Day will highlight issues concerning staff and senior executives. Taking as its slogan "the next generation", the CEO panel will feature two well known CEOs and their sons. Chanin Donavanik, managing director and CEO of the luxury hotel group Dusit Hotels & Resorts, Thailand; Siradej Donavanik, manager, Investment and Development, Dusit Hotels; Daniel Müller, director, Operations, of the budget design chain Motel One Hotels & Resorts, and Dieter Müller, chairman of the board of One Hotels & Resorts, will talk to Maria Pütz-Willems about how the two generations view the hotel industry today and what challenges exist in business dealings between fathers and sons. The discussion round entitled ”The War for Talents: the mass exodus from the hotel industry" will also address the topic of this sector’s future workforce. Manuel Konen, chairman of Konen & Lorenzen Recruitment Consultants; Katrin Melle, director, Human Resources, Hyatt International, and Robert F. Wetterauer, president of EUROCHRIE/European Council on Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Education, will debate what the hotel industry must undertake to keep its trainees and future workforce and what incentives the industry needs to offer young graduates. Rounding off the ITB Hospitality Day, the travel journalist and author Peter Hinze and his fellow panel members will discuss how hotels can protect their guests in the event of unexpected political unrest, crises and bombings. Mayar Abdel Aziz, tourism and marketing expert from El Gouna; Ed Fuller, the long-standing and experienced president and managing director of Marriott International, and Michael-W. Hartmann, senior vice president and head of Market Development Board Hospitality, Siemens AG will be debating the topic of "Safety: when a holiday turns into chaos". The 7th ITB Hospitality Day will take place on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds in Hall 7.1b, the London Room, on Thursday, 8 March 2012 from 10.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. The online trade magazine hospitalityInside.com is the media partner of the event. A trade visitor pass is valid for admission to the ITB Berlin Convention. About ITB Berlin and the ITB Berlin Convention ITB Berlin 2012 will be taking place from Wednesday, 7 to Sunday, 11 March, and from Wednesday to Friday will be open to trade visitors only. Parallel with the trade show, the ITB Berlin Convention, the largest travel industry event of its kind in the world, will be held from Wednesday, 7 to Friday, 9 March 2012. Studiosus and TV5MONDE are sponsors of the ITB Berlin Convention 2012. More details are available at www.itb-kongress.com. ITB Berlin is the world’s leading travel trade show. In 2011 a total of 11,163 companies from 188 countries displayed their products and services to 170,000 visitors, who included 110,791 trade visitors. Join the ITB Press Network at www.xing.com. |
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