9th ITB Hotel Conference with subjects that greatly influence the industry
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| 2,140 attendees made the Hospitality Day 2013 one of the top ITB conferences. |
Berlin (January 31, 2014). The American data octopus, NSA, has also reached the hospitality industry over recent months, online portals are defending themselves against federal cartel offices and hoteliers have regained strength while they continue to defend themselves against Peer-to-Peer. Eco & luxury are beginning to reconcile, the "new" Chinese asks for individuality and in the meantime, many bloggers have joined the reservation-determining hotel review portals. The 9th "ITB Hospitality" Day at ITB Berlin 2014 takes up the major social subjects that have been greatly influencing the hotel industry. On Thursday, March 6 from 10:30 in Hall 7.1 B / London Auditorium at the Messe Berlin Exhibition Centre. Entry is free to all trade show visitors. Moreover, the ITB Hospitality Day will be broadcast LIVE on the Internet.
As an organiser of the ITB Hotel Conference for the 9th time, hospitalityInside will bring insiders as well as outsiders, experts and newcomers to the stage. The 26 participants in the six talk rounds this year come from seven different countries and with this, will also reflect the increasing globalisation of the subjects.
The conference day will begin with a prickly, due to its non-transparency, subject: Data security. The KPMG Auditing Company in Essen disposes of in-house specialists on the subject who know a great deal about data attacks and cyber holes, also within the hotel industry. KPMG Partner, Uwe Bernd-Striebeck, has therefore set his keynote speech under the motto: "You can check out any time you like, but your data can never leave" (beginning at 10:30). He will describe the concrete menaces specific to the hotel industry and indicate possible ways to take countermeasures.
Data leaks and data transactions
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| Key note 2014: Data expert Uwe Bernd- Striebeck of KPMG. |
Unknown third parties are also playing with sovereignty in the poker game surrounding online distribution. In this case, the federal cartel offices and courts intend to bring the one-sided terms and conditions that are disadvantageous to travellers under the magnifying glass. The discussion over online distribution continues to brew in the meantime: Hotels, hotel chains and online travel agents are arguing over commissions and profits. Distribution expert, Carolin Brauer, a proven moderator on the ITB Panels, asks "How much business does your website generate?" (beginning at 11:30).
Joining in the discussion with her will be Michael Buller, Chairman Association for Travel Distribution, along with Alexander Pyhan, Sr. Director Global eCommerce Channels as the representative of the mega chain, Marriott International and as a representative of the US portal, Roomkey. Sitting across from them will be Susanne Weiss, Managing Director for Ringhotels, as a representative of the private hotel industry as well as Dr. Mark Friesen from Quinta Consulting – a pricing consultant with an airline background.
The demanding Chinese
For the first time in 2013, over one billion people worldwide travelled. The "emerging markets" contributed to this tremendously, particularly China. However, new tones from the gigantic empire have also been registered: "Quality the Chinese Way" is the talk round headlining the second travel wave and will describe the new challenges for hoteliers (12:15-13:15).
The moderator of this round is the well-known expert on China, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, Director of CONTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute. His panel guests are two hoteliers, a Chinese tour operator and a luxury department store: Darren Gearing, Regional Vice President Europe with Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts and General Manager of the Shangri-La London At the Shard (as a representative of an Asian hotel group); Luis del Olmo, Executive Vice President Asia-Pacific of the Spanish chain, Meliá Hotels International (as a representative of a European hotel group with a Chinese joint-venture), in addition to Yufei Gu, Manager Hotel Procurement with the tour operator specialising in China, Caissa Touristic (Group) AG.
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| Sustainability with fun: Ross Harding. |
Eco for 1,000 Euro per night & the opinion of others
Sustainability, as well as its contradictions, remains to be a long-runner in tourism. Therefore, two worlds will meet with the so-named "CEO-Panel", even if only one of the guests is the leader of a hotel group. From 14:00 to 15:00, the question will be posed "Luxury & Eco – Contradiction or Entitlement? Walking Barefoot for 1,000 Euros per night." This conversation moderated by Maria Puetz-Willems, hospitalityInside, with a sustainable luxury hotelier and an "Infinity Finder", points to Six Senses as a global and plausible pioneer in the world of eco luxury tourism – represented by its President Bernhard Bohnenberger - and the engineer Ross Harding, Founder & Executive Director of Finding Infinity. As a tourist and funky cross-over entrant, he attempts to provide hoteliers with fun in sustainability. A scintillating conversation!
Guest opinions have a huge influence on reservations these days. Hotel reviews have grown out of their baby shoes and the blogger has thrust into the opinion profession anew. Therefore, this talk round asks "A Different Perspective: How Do Bloggers And Hotel Review Platform Analysts View The Hotel Industry? Is the industry changing or its evaluators?" (15:15-16:15) and will be moderated by Axel Jockwer, Professor for Tourism Management and Marketing at the EBC College Stuttgart. He will be talking with Benjamin Jost, Co-founder and Managing Director of the meta-search machine, TrustYou, with Tom Breckwoldt, Territory Manager Business Listings Germany, Austria, Switzerland for the review portal TripAdvisor, with the experienced online marketing and PR expert, Marion Schumacher, Vice President PR & Communication with Moevenpick Hotels & Resorts, and with travel blogger, Yvonne Zagermann from justtravelous.com.
Protests against Peer-2-Peer
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| Successful: Housetrip CEO Arnaud Bertrand. |
The last talk round may once again become extremely prickly: The hotel industry has received new competitors in the private room mediators and is fighting against this worldwide. There are discussions and arguments almost everywhere; regulations and laws are already in existence or are threatening. But the consumer trend is speaking another language. Are we talking about "Social Tourism or Gray Market?" (16:30-17:30). The power of the so-called Peer-2-Peer providers is great. Can cities and industry associations hinder the boom of private room mediators with their protests and regulations?
Prof. Macy Marvel, Advisor Lausanne Hospitality Consulting has analysed the market thoroughly and is therefore pleased about his panelists: Arnaud Bertrand, Chief Executive Officer of the luxury property mediator, HouseTrip and Wimdu Co-founder, Christopher Oster as well as Roman Bach, Chief Marketing Officer of the private room mediator, 9flats.com, all represent the provider´s side. Standing on the behalf of the hotel industry are Ramón Estalella Halffter, Secretary General of the Spanish Confederation Hotels (CEHAT), and Thomas Allemann, Management Board Member with in the Swiss industry association, hotelleriesuisse.
The programme overview on the ITB website can be found here (please go to "Hospitality Day").
hospitalityInside.com is an exclusive media partner of this conference and will report on the individual sessions on their website – accessible to all users. Moreover, the ITB Hospitality Day will be broadcast LIVE on the Internet. Those interested can click on www.itb-convention. com on Thursday, March 6, 2014, from 10:30 to 17:30 h. / map
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