Paul Kapiris

Head of Cross-Border Hotel Investment Properties, EMEA, CBRE

Paul Kapiris is a Director in the CBRE Hotels EMEA Brokerage team, where his focus is transacting Pan-European and EMEA Hotel assets that are attractive to a global audience. He is actively involved in the entire sale process from start to finish. He works with key senior clients to ensure that CBRE Hotels are providing best in class service to vendors, as well as the wider global investor market.

His major focus is large single asset and portfolio transactions that will appeal to global capital, as well as managing complex processes for institutional investors.

He has have been with CBRE Hotels for 9 years. Previously, he was practicing as a solicitor focusing in business law, commercial disputes, and contract negotiation with a particular focus in management and franchise agreements.

Paul has a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce with a Major in Finance, and spent time studying in Australia, as well as France.

Keith Evans

Chief Investment & Development Officer, Ennismore

Keith Evans leads the global investment and development team for Ennismore. This includes new acquisitions, as well as expanding the management platform and Hoxton brand with partners around the world. Prior to joining Ennismore, Keith was SVP of European Hotel Acquisitions at Starwood Capital. He has transacted on >$2B of hotel real estate across the globe in his numerous institutional investment roles. Previous experience includes hotel investment & asset management with Invesco in Europe and Kingdom Hotels in Asia Pacific & Africa. He started his career in operations management for Four Seasons in the US and received his MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain.

Christopher Heath

Partner, Dentons

Chris is a partner in the Corporate practice of Dentons’ London office focusing exclusively on hotels and leisure, and related asset classes.

With extensive experience and knowledge from within the sector, Chris provides clients with strategic counsel and perspective on complex transactions and challenging issues across diverse legal systems and cultures. He has particular experience in the acquisition, development, financing and operation of hotels and leisure assets throughout the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. 

In particular, he advises on operator management agreements, franchising, development agreements, serviced residences and other mixed-use real estate, portfolio transactions, acquisitions, sale and lease/manage-back, joint ventures, financing, restructurings, F&B developments and licensing, hotel operations, brand development, corporate communications, crisis management, disputes, investigations, compliance governance and other day-to-day operational issues.

Jochen Schaefer-Suren

CEO Hotels and Leisure Division, Principal Real Estate Europe

Jochen joined Principal Real Estate Europe ( formerly Internos Global Investors) in 2011 to create and lead our Hotel & Leisure Division (“HLD”) which has grown to a team of 7 hotel real estate experts responsible for hotel transactions, financings, asset management and portfolio management. As of 30^th September 2019 the HLD manages two dedicated hotel real estate funds with hotel properties worth ca. US$ 600 million and with over US$ 400 million of new capital to invest in hotel real estate according to different investment strategies, coming to a total of over US$ 1 billion of capital invested or available for hotel real estate.

Prior to 2011 Jochen held a similar position at Invesco Real Estate where he created and led the hotel real estate fund management team and was also a member of Invesco Real Estate’s Global Executive Committee and Investment Committee. While at Invesco he designed, raised capital for and managed Invesco’s first hotel real estate fund for institutional investors including Generali and Allianz. Accordingly he was responsible for the acquisition, financing and asset management of this hotel fund with a diversified pan European hotel portfolio worth US$ 900 million. From 2006 to 2010 this fund realised excellent results achieving target dividends every year and stable NAV. While at Invesco, Jochen also managed separate sales, financing or investment management mandates including one of €300 million for Generali dedicated to hotel real estate investments.

Previously, from 1995 – 2000, Jochen was at Lazard in charge of M&A in hotels and leisure, where he was involved in transactions totalling over £1 billion including 8 hotels of Trusthouse Forte’s Exclusive Hotel collection (such as George V Paris, Hyde Park London and Plaza Athenee hotels in Paris and New York), 61 Holiday Inn hotels in the US and Taj hotels in the USA. At Lazard he also acted as strategic advisor to the Tata group (owner of Taj Hotels) on their hotel expansion in India. In addition, he acted as a strategic advisor to the board of Club Med World on their expansion in urban resorts as well as being a member of the strategy committee of Fonciere des Regions ( today known as Covivio), a French REIT focused on hotel and leisure real estate.

From 1987-1995 Jochen held several senior positions with hotel groups such as: Head of Global Hotel Development for Forte Hotels where he was responsible for the acquisition of Meridien Hotels for £200 million; Vice President Development, Hilton Hotels, responsible for the Americas and Western Europe; and Vice President and Assistant Vice President Development of Meridien Hotels in New York and Paris.

Jochen holds a Masters in Hotel Business Administration from Cornell University, New York and read Law at the University of Heidelberg, Germany.

Michelle Weiss

Special Property Finance - Head of Hotel Properties , Aareal Bank

Michelle Weiss is Head of Hotel Properties at Aareal Bank AG, one of the leading debt financing providers within the hospitality industry. The bank currently holds a portfolio of over €8 billion ofhotel financing and is active in more than 25 countries across Europe, North America, and Asia. Aareal Bank’s hotel team, which consists of eight hospitality professionals, focuses primarily on lending to first-class hotels in prime locations as well as portfolio transactions.
Prior to that, Michelle Weiss was a Senior Associate at HVS Hodges Ward Elliott, focusing on the sale and financing of hotels as well as operator selections. She joined the team from HVS Madrid in 2007, where she conducted feasibility and market studies and performed hotel valuations for major hotel clients. Ms. Weiss is a graduate from Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne
and holds a Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality Management.

Ben Godon

Head of Hospitality Asset Management, Colliers

As Co-Head of the Hospitality Asset Management division, Ben helps to develop the business nationally and internationally based upon his extensive knowledge and experience within the hospitality sector.
Over a career that spans more than 30 years Ben has developed his expertise within the sector from the ground-up, working in a variety of management roles in a diverse range of hotel properties and brands. This has provided him with the experience and hands-on knowledge to provide Collier’s clients with the insightful support and advice they require that helps to make their investments and properties a success.
The invaluable experience and expertise that Ben gained over his time in these management roles has provided him with the knowledge to advise our clients on a broad range of relevant subjects.
Ben and his team have significant experience in the implementation of strategic plans as well as maximising the return on investment for our clients. He has responsibility for the asset management of our expanding portfolio of Central and Eastern European properties, as well as our luxury properties across Western Europe.
His team is tasked with driving improved performance of these properties and investigating opportunities for generating additional cash flow and revenue. Through the identification of operational strengths and weaknesses they have achieved outstanding results for our clients and continue to help grow and support their investments.
Combining strategic thinking with operational expertise, Ben offers the insight that our clients are looking for, whether that be on brand, people, resources, management or operations.

Alex Campbell

Partner, Fieldfisher

Alex is a Partner in Fieldfisher's Financial Markets and Products Group in London. Alex specialises in real estate finance in the hotel and leisure sector. His clients include equity investors, owners, debt providers and operators. Alex advises on the financing arrangements for the acquisition, development and refurbishment of hotel properties. He has advised on both European and international transactions, including on recent projects in the UK, Iraq and Sri Lanka. His experience includes advising on the origination of corporate and real estate loans, Intercreditor arrangements, securitisation and debt/equity restructuring matters.
Alex also advises owners and operators on hotel and resort management agreements, franchise agreements and other operating contracts. He is experienced with advising on both the establishment of management arrangements and ongoing day-to-day operating matters.

Andrea Genfeld

Director of Acquisitions & Asset Management, PPHE

Andrea Genfeld is Director of Acquisitions & Asset Management at PPHE Hotel Group (PPHE), responsible for the creation and implementation of PPHE’s international asset management strategy. This includes the maximisation of hotel asset values, sourcing of new asset opportunities and feasibility studies to achieve optimal return on investment and effective deployment of the group’s assets. Andrea works closely with the Corporate Finance and Acquisition & Development teams, applying over ten years of hospitality and real estate experience.  Andrea holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Hotel Management Business Administration from Hotelschool The Hague.

PPHE is an international hospitality real estate group with a £1.7 billion portfolio of primarily prime freehold and long leasehold assets, enlisted for the FTSE 250 and FTSE All Shares Indices of the London Stock Exchange. PPHE owns, co-owns, develops, leases, operates and franchises hospitality real estate. Its primary focus is full-service upscale, upper upscale and lifestyle hotels in major gateway cities and regional centres. PPHE’s property portfolio comprises 37 hotels and resorts with approximately 8,800 rooms, along with a development pipeline.

Thorsten Purkus

Head of Asset Management - Hospitality, Union Investment Real Estate

Thorsten Purkus leads Union Investment Real Estate GmbH’s international hotel asset management. The 2.5 billion EUR portfolio consists of 34 assets spanning 8 countries. Most recently, Mr. Purkus served as Managing Partner at PVP Hospitality LLC, an advisory firm with expertise in asset management and hotel development in Africa. He also has experience as Head of Hotel Asset Management with Munich Hotel Partners GmbH. Mr. Purkus is a 15-year veteran of Hyatt Hotels Corporation where he was most recently the Vice President of Feasibility & Development Finance for Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Southwest Asia. During his tenure he appraised and valued with his team some 200 projects annually with a sales volume of 3 billion EUR.

Billy Skelli-Cohen

CEO, Lore Group

Billy Skelli-Cohen is a seasoned hospitality industry professional, with experience investing and asset managing hotels in most major European markets for the past 15 years.

Billy started his hospitality career with Great Hotels Organisation as a consultant. In 2007, Billy joined the hotel investment team at BNP Paribas Real Estate where he advised on M&A deals exceeding €1billion. Billy subsequently joined Voyager Partners; a hotel investment fund focused on five star properties.

Billy joined Global Holdings in the fall of 2010 as the Head of the Hotels team and has subsequently become CEO of the Lore Group, the hotel arm of Global Holdings. The Lore Group is an international hospitality company operating in the United States and Europe. The Lore Collection is comprised of properties in key cities that are independently designed, transformed, managed, and operated. The Lore Group also oversees properties created and managed by some of the leading brands in our industry.

Billy holds a marketing degree from Florida International University and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Cass Business School University of London.

Sarah Miller

Founder and CEO, Sarah Miller and Partners

Sarah Miller, Luxury Brand Ambassador of The Wall Street Journal, runs Sarah Miller and Partners (www.sarahmillerandpartners.com), an independent agency that creates brand strategies, place-making, curation, storytelling, content and experiences for a range of cultural, luxury and lifestyle brands from The Beaumont, London and The Datai Langkawi, Malaysia to 67 Pall Mall Private Members Club, Bicester Village and Ian Schrager.
Projects include the strategy, brand identity, guest experience and curation of programming in private members clubs, hotels, restaurants and retail as well as all forms of content from websites and video to print.
She employs 4 people in her office and partners with a variety of graphic designers, Art Directors, Photographers, Web designers, film makers and other partners according to the nature of each project.
She was founding Editor-in-Chief of Condé Nast Traveller UK, and also launched Condé Nast Traveller in Mumbai and China. On leaving Condé Nast she was appointed European Editor of Travel + Leisure. She is well connected in the sectors of visual arts, film, fashion, architecture and design as well as hotels, restaurants and the world of luxury in general.
She is a trustee of The Whitechapel Gallery, London and sits on the International Advisory Board of the Ecole Hôteliere de Lausanne. She is also an Honorary Fellow of The Royal College of Art is London, having been a governor for 15 years.
She has had a career in journalism which spans helping to found Blueprint, the leading architecture and design magazine; editing arts and design for Elle, being Assistant Editor of The Sunday Times (launching Style magazine) and Associate Editor and Arts Editor of the Daily Telegraph.

Mark Adams

Senior Property Development Manager, McAleer & Rushe Property

Mark is a highly experienced property professional and Chartered Surveyor with 24 years experience in commercial real estate development across the UK & Ireland specialising in the hotel and mixed-use sectors working across the various brands.
Mark is part of McAleer & Rushe, one of the UK’s largest property development & construction companies which specialises in hotel development. Established over 50 years the company has delivered of in excess of 25,000 hotel bed rooms for all major operators including Premier Inn, Accor, Dalata, Hilton, Travelodge, IHG and Starwood.
Property acquisitions, deal structuring, planning, complex large-scale developments, multi-faceted contract negotiations, forward funding and construction are Mark’s acknowledged areas of expertise.

Harry Harris

Managing Director, SUSD

Peter “Harry” Harris is a champion of co-experience, from living to working, members clubs to community engagement. An architect by training, he is the developer behind The Curtain, a hotel, restaurant, music venue and members’ club in Shoreditch, and the Devonshire Club, a members’ club with bars, lounges, a brasserie, gardens, wellness centre and bedrooms in the City of London. Most recently, he gained planning consent to convert an historic house on the banks of the Thames in Berkshire into a hotel and members’ club, and his company, SUSD, is currently acting as development consultant and project monitor on The Collective Canary Wharf, the world’s largest co-living development.

With over 25 years’ experience delivering complex real estate projects in and around London, Harry has developed a systematic, locally-sensitive and financially-sound approach that has seen his projects through from initial design to successful launch and management. He is a “thinker” as well as a “do-er”, offering enthusiastic contributions as a conference speaker, writer and a judge of national and international award schemes. Right now, he is actively researching the next level of wellbeing within our designed environments.

Asli Kutlucan

Chief Development Officer, Cycas Hospitality BV

Asli brings over 20 years of working in hospitality to Cycas, as well as a range of skills and experiences developed in places as far afield as Turkey, the United States of America, Europe and Africa. This geographical spread combines with a rich and varied range of expertise to create the kind of skill set required by Cycas. Specifically this involves the ability to specialise in full service and extended stay hotel operations as well as development and acquisition.

Before joining Cycas, Asli spent two years as a lecturer at the Akilah Institution for Women in Rwanda, teaching hospitality and entrepreneurship. She also established her own consultancy, working with private investors interested in the food, beverage and hotel sector, whilst she developed and opened Rwanda’s first boutique hotel, as well as a European cuisine inspired catering company. She also found time to be part of the Rwanda Development Board’s advisory group; a governmental think tank to develop tourism in the country.

Moving to London, Asli became general manager for Frasers Hospitality. This entailed being responsible for Frasers Suites Kensington and five other London properties, and opening and managing two country house hotels in Warwickshire.

Whilst in the United States, Asli was part of the management team at the Vanderbilt Hall, a luxury boutique hotel with an award-winning restaurant in Newport, Rhode Island.

Asli blends all of this hands-on experience with a Harvard University Real Estate Management education coupled with a Finance MBA from Liverpool University and a finance certificate from Cornell University. She also speaks English, French and Turkish fluently.

Her responsibilities at Cycas include acquisition, negotiation and the execution of deals across the UK and continental Europe, whilst also overseeing the hotel openings and technical services team.

Yasmine Mahmoudieh

Architect and interior designer

Yasmine Mahmoudieh is a London-based Architect and visionary designer/project enabler, working globally. She opened an office in Los Angeles at age 26 after graduating from UCLA and had scaled her business to 4 offices in Europe. She has a holistic approach to design, which merges from human psychology and cutting-edge technology.

Experience:

•Expert on hotel projects

•Visiting professor for 9 years at the EHL Hotel School in Lausanne and Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon

•Worldwide guest lecturer on hotels and mixed use projects, own projects and future vision of design and architecture
•Nominated for Brit List 2018, most important personalities in the hospitality sector in the UK.

•Worked on Airbus A380, Deutsche Bank, Kempinski Hotels in Moscow, Bad Saarow, Intercontinental Hotels, Berchtesgaden and St Petersburg, Radisson SAS Hotel, Copenhagen and Berlin, Nevai Verbier, Switzerland, Saalbach Hinterglemm, Film festival Berlinale, Augeo in Rimini, Italy, the latest project Strandhotel Atlantic & Villa Meeresstrand, Usedom
•Office, shopping centers, museums and mixed use projects in Russia, USA,UK, Eastern Europe

•Development of Lifestyle Hotel brands

•Selected for the second time to design a sleep set at Sleep+Eat 2018 in London.  

Other activities

•Board member of BLLA (Boutique, Lifestyle and Lodging Association)

• One out of 5 European design office to be included in ‘Leading by design’ by Leading Hotels of the World

• Visiting professor at EHL ( Hotel Ecolière de Lausanne) for 9 years and at the Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon

• Foundation of myKidsy, a tech company.

• Knowledge of 6 languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Farsi).

Selection of awards

• European Spa Award for Augeo , Rimini . Italy

• Euroshop Award, best Stand design for HI-MACS®

• Nevai Hotel Verbier Hospitality Design award

• Resort Intercontinental Berchtesgaden European Hotel Design Award and 5 times winner of the World Travel Award

• Radisson Hotel Copenhagen European Design Award
• Radisson SAS Berlin Innovation Award

Alessandro Tedesco

COO, febc International

Alessandro is a strong leader, great communicator and negotiator and an analytical mind. As Global COO he is responsible for leading all global procurement efforts across global offices. Implementing daily operations, aligned with the company’s strategies and policies. His individual role is to maintain control of diverse business operations. Driving supply analysis, drafting operational strategy, setting suppliers identification, sourcing execution (“tendering”), contract negotiation. Managing delivery process from planning to monitoring, purchase execution, until ongoing performance management and the overall improvement. Alessandro is the company’s second-in-command and responsible for the efficiency of business. Collaborating with the CEO in setting and driving company's vision, operational strategy, and hiring decisions. Also he oversees company operations and employee productivity, building a highly inclusive culture ensuring team members thrive and other organizational outcomes are met.

Rob Sykes

Director of Strategy, WATG

Rob Sykes is an experienced real estate economist with extensive advisory experience. Rob has delivered a broad range of projects including hotels and resorts, branded & unbranded residential real estate, golf clubs, spas and visitor attractions. Knowledge of global markets is a key strength, with recent consulting experience in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America and the Caribbean.

Through his comprehensive experience and market research capability, Rob equips developers, investors, hospitality operators and other stakeholders with the tools needed for effective project planning.

Rob holds an MA in Real Estate Management from the University of the West of England, with core modules in Valuation and Appraisal, Strategic Estate Management, Property Economics and Real Estate Investment. He also achieved a first class BSc in Business and Tourism Management from the University of Surrey.

Daniel von Barloewen

Regional Senior Director - Mixed Use Development Europe, Marriott

Julio Delgado

CEO, Ombria Resorts

Julio Delgado has a degree in Business and Economy by Seville University and a master degree in Hotels Management, by Madrid Polytechnic University. He also has a Master in Golf Management by Wales University/EADE, a General Manager Program in Cornell University New York and another Master in Real Estate Management, by Law and Economy Institute of Barcelona, among other courses. Julio has particular expertise on five star resorts management, standing out as CEO/GM at: Ombria 5 star Resort in Algarve, Portugal, PGA Catalunya Resort***** ; Donnafugata Golf Resort & Spa***** in Italy ; La Manga Club Golf Resort***** in Cartagena ; La Cala Resort***** in Malaga, Resort Barceló Envía Golf & Spa***** in Almeria, among several other professional experiences on luxury tourism sector.

Miguel Espada

Founder & CEO, Propriétés & Co

Founder & CEO at Propriétés & Co, based in Paris, successful Resort Investor & Entrepreneur, graduated from Paris-Dauphine University and ESCP Europe, 15 years of experience in the Hotel & Resort industry, currently investor & developer of LUX* La Baraquette, the first seafront vineyard branded resort ***** in Europe (250 keys including hotel & branded residences, GDV 170M€) www.la-baraquette.com and others resorts www.proprietes.co.uk

Jeff Tisdall

Senior Vice President Development, Residential and Extended Stay, Accor

Jeff Tisdall is the Senior Vice President Development, Residential and Extended Stay for Accor. Accor is a global leader in the extended stay and branded residence segments, offering a comprehensive suite of serviced apartment and private residence solutions. Working closely with the investment partners, Tisdall oversees the global development 15 serviced apartment brands, including Novotel Living, Swissôtel Living and Pullman Living. The company also operates and is developing branded private residences under most of its premium and luxury brands – including Raffles, Orient Express, Banyan Tree, Fairmont and Sofitel. 

Prior to joining Accor (via FRHI Hotels and Resorts), Tisdall was the Managing Director of Singapore-based LIFT, where he served as branded residential advisor to FRHI and the Jumeirah Group. Previously, Tisdall worked with Wyndham Worldwide in Dubai, holding the position of Managing Director with responsibility for the company’s RCI and Registry Collection brands in the Middle East and North Africa region. He was also Vice President of Real Estate at Kingdom Hotel Investments, where he managed the company’s residential and commercial real estate portfolio. Earlier in his career, Tisdall spent 13 years with Intrawest, leaving as a Senior Vice President at the company’s premium vacation ownership division.  

Tisdall holds a degree from McGill University in Canada and lives in Singapore with his family.

Ursula Kriegl

Associate Partner, EY

Ursula oversees hotels & hospitality real estate services in the German speaking region.

From 2002 to 2016, she worked for JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group with responsibility for this firm`s hotels practice in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for many years. Previously, she also was with Arthur Andersen and a tourism consulting practice in Austria. Moreover, she gained operational hotel experience in the US, in Egypt and in Austria.

She is in the advisory board of the World Tourism Forum Lucerne and a regular speaker at conferences. Ursula is a graduate (B.Sc., MMH) of Cornell`s School of Hotel Administration and a Chartered Surveyor (MRICS).

Princess Haifa Bint Mohammed Al Saud

Vice President, Saudi Tourism Commission

Princess Haifa is currently the Vice President of the Saudi Tourism Commission, and was recently appointed as a member of the board of directors of the General Authority of Civil Aviation. She has developed the National Tourism Strategy to open up the Kingdom’s doors to the world. She is now responsible for the full spectrum of implementation of this strategy by creating regulations, policies and processes that will support the sector and enhance the ease of doing business for investors as well as raise the standards and quality for travelers. 

She had previously occupied the role of Secretary General of Formula E, where she was in charge of putting together the largest global Formula E event and the first ever in the region, with over 60,000 attendees and 113 million media impressions. 
 

As she is a sports enthusiast, with a specific passion for fencing, she is currently the Chairman of Arabic Fencing women’s federation and the Vice Chairman of the Saudi fencing federation, where she has put forth a strategy that started with zero women on the official Saudi team to over 200 women today. 
 

Within the world of sports, she had also occupied the role of Managing Director of Sports economy at the General Sports Authority, where she created projects that supported the development of SMEs within the ecosystem. She was also one of the founding members of a nonprofit organization back in 2014 (The Empowerment Hub) which created women health and activity awareness with the participation of over 3000 women and generating more that 1 million SAR in donations to support local charities.  

Her career began in banking, in equity sales, both in the UK and Saudi, where she worked right after graduating from her undergrad from the University of New Haven and finally a Master’s degree from London Business School. 
 

Imad Barrakad

CEO, Moroccan Agency for Tourism Development – SMIT

Mr. Imad BARRAKAD serves as CEO of the Moroccan Agency for Tourism Development – SMIT Since 2011. Mr. BARRAKAD has worked actively during this period on the development of the tourism product in Morocco both by raising investment capital as well as conducting strategic studies to launch several large scale tourism development projects. Mr. BARRAKAD coordinates with various stakeholders involved in these developments and attends several high profile international events dedicated to the promotion of tourism investment with the aim to boost and maintain attractiveness of Morocco. Mr. BARRAKAD also holds several positions as Director and Board Member of various development entities involved in tourism projects around the country. Prior to joining SMIT, Mr. BARRAKAD held several key positions in different government entities.

Mr. BARRAKAD is an Industrial Engineer and holds a Master’s Degree in Project Management.

Mr. BARRAKAD is married and has two daughters.

Javier Coll

EVP of Strategy and Global Development , Apple Leisure Group

Javier Coll is Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Apple Leisure Group®, Co-founder of the group’s luxury resort brand management company, AMResorts®, and its elite benefits program, Unlimited Vacation Club® (UVC). Javier has played a pivotal role in the development of both businesses and is also responsible for ALG business operations in Europe.

The multidisciplinary executive applies more than 25 years of international hospitality operations and finance experience to skillfully direct the group’s growth, development, mergers and acquisitions. Under Javier’s leadership, AMResorts has become the largest Resort Brand Management company in Mexico and the Caribbean.
 

Since the inception of AMResorts in 2001 and prior to his appointment as Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer of Apple Leisure Group, Javier held diverse leadership roles in AMResorts, including Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, and was directly involved in negotiating contracts, analyzing and selecting existing hotels for rebranding, plus supervising the development and construction of new hotels. While defining the signature attributes of AMResorts’ six luxurious brands, Javier also developed and implemented new operating procedures for each brand’s finance, administration, auditing, IT and legal departments.  Javier has been responsible and instrumental in developing strategies that would expand AMResorts’ world-class portfolio. Before joining AMResorts, Javier was the Deputy Managing Director of MAC Hotels, based in Palma de Mallorca, where he oversaw sales, marketing, operations and administration for the hotel chain. Javier was also Head of International Development (Spain), Managing Director (USA), and Director of Administration for Spain’s Barceló Group. He began his career as an economist, developing viability studies of the transition from traditional European-plan hotels to the all-inclusive format.
 

Originally from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Javier is a Wharton GMP Graduate from the University of Pennsylvania. He has an M.B.A. with specialty in Taxation and he graduated in Economics with a major in Marketing from the University of Barcelona, Spain.  

​Rita Marques

Secretary of State for Tourism, Portugal

Rita Marques holds a degree (1998) and a master’s degree (2000) in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Porto’s School of Engineering and has an MBA (2007) from the University of Southern California. She has also completed several executive leadership programmes held at the Instituto de Empresa Business School (2018), London Business School (2017) and the University of Texas at Austin (2016).

She was the CEO of Portugal Ventures (2018-2019), Executive Director of Porto Business School’s MBA and Post Graduate programmes (2016-2018), Coordinator of the University of Porto’s Project Unit (2008-2016) and Manager of the Asia-Pacific Market and of the Technology and Tourism sectors at Agência Portuguesa para o Investimento (2003-2006). She was also Senior Consultant at Microsoft Corporation (2006-2007), in the United States, and specialist at ANACOM (2001-2003).
Additionally, she was the Chair of the Portuguese Youth Foundation Supervisory Board up to 2019 and provided consultancy services to several public and private entities related to innovation, public financing, internationalisation and foreign direct investment.
Rita Marques is presently the Secretary of State for Tourism of the XXII Portuguese Government, nominated since 26th October 2019.

Savvas Perdios

Minister of Tourism, Republic of Cyprus

Samih Sawiris

Chairman, Orascom Development AG

Dorothee Grobosch

Director Deal Advisory, KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

Dorothee Grobosch joined KPMG’s deal advisory practice in 2001 and is focused on both sell-side and buy-side Financial Due Diligences. She has been advising clients on worldwide Due Diligences, both for OpCos and PropCos. In addition she is part of the KPMG Venture Service leadership team focusing on young and innovative companies. This service also supports clients in the acquisition and integration of these companies in well-established organizations.

She holds a Master degree of European Business School (EBS)- Schloss Reichardshausen am Rhein, Paris, London.

Lio Chen

Managing Director, Travel and Hospitality Center of Innovation, Plug and Play

Lio Chen is Managing Director of the Travel and Hospitality Center of Innovation at Plug and Play. In his current role, Chen is responsible for managing and growing the overall travel ecosystem, connecting emerging tech startups with established travel and hospitality corporations. 
 

In the past 10+ years, Chen devoted his career to two different B2B SaaS companies. He joined Nor1 as one of the founding members and later co-founded LodgIQ. Chen’s extensive experience entails leading customer success and growth, delivering sales support & professional services as well as overseeing business operations with a special focus on strategic initiatives and product engineering. Chen holds a M.S. in Hospitality Management from Purdue University.

Art Norins

Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Highgate Ventures

Art Norins is a father, passionate philanthropist and proven serial entrepreneur, who has successfully built multiple businesses from concept to reality.

He currently serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Highgate Ventures (www.highgate.com), where he supports many of their technology investments in the travel and hospitality space. His focus is to harnesses the power of big data / artificial intelligence(AI) / deep domain experience to transform data analytics and predictive pricing initially in the hospitality industry.
 

He is also a passionate philanthropist (Founder, Chairman and CEO of HartHub, Inc.) who deeply cares about the future of planet earth and all its inhabitants.  At the beginning of 2017 Art transitioned out of his venture backed high tech company, Nor1, Inc., to focus his time, energy and capital on social impact work.  He specifically gravitated to quality early childhood and parent development, because it goes upstream to the source of societies major challenges (homelessness, poverty, physical/mental health issues, substance abuse, incarceration, etc.) and attempts to prevent them.  Art found if society invests a $1 early in life (prevention), society can save $7-$17 downstream with reduced homelessness, incarceration, poverty, heath issues, etc.
 

Prior to HartHub, Art founded Nor1, Inc., a venture backed travel and hospitality internet company.  There he served as its Founder, Chairman and CEO.  Travel suppliers leverage Nor1’s innovative and patented solutions (business intelligence and analytics) to increase revenue while simultaneously enhancing their guest’s travel experience.  Nor1 has a global footprint with headquarters in Silicon Valley, California, offices in Asia/Australia/Europe and revenues in 70+ countries and 30+ currencies.  Nor1’s investors include SAP (Concur) Goldman Sachs, Accel Partners (major Facebook investor) to name a few.  Some of Nor1’s customers include Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International, InterContinental, Caesars, Wynn and Accor.
 

Prior to creating Nor1, Art founded Sandium, Inc, a B2B commercial heating ventilation and air conditioning system equipment supplier which provides engineered solutions for mission critical applications such as bio-tech facilities.  Sandium also has initiatives in the high-end residential market along with partner manufacturing facilities in Germany and China.  Art continues his role as Chairman of Sandium.
 

In his free time Art is passionate about supporting fellow entrepreneurs; whether that be via angel investment, mentoring / board / advisory board roles or speaking engagements/TED talks at major institutions like:  Berkeley, Cornell University, Erasmus (Rotterdam), Harvard, MIT, Purdue, Stanford, etc...  His philanthropic initiatives include work in Sub-Saharan Africa, where he served on the Board of the Indiana Institute of Global Health and worked with the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula.  He also serves on the DocuSign Advisory Board and Purdue University's Strategic Alliance Council.  Art has traveled extensively (visited over 100 countries spanning six continents) and has lived internationally.  He is a proud father, patent holder and earned an engineering degree from Purdue University.

David Turnbull

Hospitality Advisor & Entrepreneur

Based in Berlin, David is an established hospitality, travel and technology leader, supporting a variety of media and technology companies as an investor and advisor.
 

Having been involved with hotel revenue management, distribution and data analytics for more than 20 years, David has worked to develop from grassroots some of the most forward thinking hotels and hotel companies such as designhotels, citizenM and 25hours to name a few.  This work led to the founding of SnapShot, the hotel industry’s first independent data platform, acquired by Shiji Group in 2018.
 

In addition to speaking at events around the world, David’s passion for education has led him to work with various universities including ESSEC, University of Surrey and Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) as well as take an active role with industry associations including HEDNA (Co-Chair Hotel Analytics Workgroup) and HSMAI (Revenue Management Advisory Board).
Originally from Glasgow, David was appointed as a Global Scot in October 2018, in co-ordination with Scotands’ newly launched investment & innovation hub in Berlin, contributing to a worldwide network of entrepreneurial and inspirational business leaders, dedicated to supporting Scotland’s most ambitious companies.

Georgios Filiopoulos

CEO, Enterprise Greece

Georgios Filiopoulos is the CEO at Enterprise Greece, Greece's  national trade and investment promotion agency. Before devoting his work to the public sector, Mr. Filiopoulos worked as business executive for  companies and organizations in the US and Greece.

He received his MBA from HEC Paris and he holds an M.A. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, an MA in Journalism from The University of Memphis and a B.A. in Advertising from Kansas State University.

Natalie Weisz

Senior Manager, Research & Analysis, STR

Erik Meijer

Senior Vice President - Europe, Mach49

Erik Meijer is Senior Vice President for Europe at Mach49, bringing his long standing career in innovation strategies and building new business at the two sides of the house: in startup capacity and at global 1000 companies. He has extensive digital strategy and transformation experience and executed new (platform) business models. He has been managing client accounts and driving growth and development of staff(agile work methods, Design Thinking and SCRUM PSM and PSPO certified), where by expanding and securing new business and managing project portfolios.

Before joining Mach49, Erik was at Deutsche Telekom’s Board Area Technology & Innovation, responsible for digital transformation for the global Service Delivery Platform (SDP); at the heart of Deutsche Telekom’s new ‘Easy to Partner’ and highly successful‘Un-Carrier’ Strategies.
Furthermore, he was involved in rolling out the group wide Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning efforts; which were ranging from hybrid bots for customer service to decision strategies for e.g. procurement, network optimization, real estate, customer finance and revenue management.
He started his career in a high-profile MIT start-up, followed by two Consulting-IT mergers, subsequently founded his own company with delivery of multi-year high profile projects for global clients in EMEA, Asia and the US, before joining Deutsche Telekom.

Erik is an active supporter of TED,TMForum Advisory Board Member, guest lecturer at IMD Business School (Lausanne,Switzerland) and a frequent global keynote speaker. He holds a BA and MSc, completed with education at IMD, Harvard, MIT, CEIBS and in Finance. He is fluent in four languages.

Jordan Hollander

CEO, Hotel Tech Report

Marius Donhauser

Founder & CEO, hotelkit GmbH

Marius Donhauser is Founder & CEO of the software company hotelkit. In addition, he runs the 4 star boutique hotel "Der Salzburger Hof" in Salzburg. Marius studied International Economics in Innsbruck (Austria) and Prague (Czech Republic). During his studies, he founded his first web- and software business and gained extensive experience in cooperating with international clients. When Marius took over the hotel in 2011 the idea of 'Simplifying Hotel Operations' was born. Meanwhile hotelkit is an award-winning software provider used by more than 60.000 employees in 1.200 hotels of all categories, sizes & types worldwide.

Adam Harris

CEO, Cloudbeds

Adam Harris is the Co-founder and CEO of Cloudbeds, the all-in-one hospitality management suite. Together with Co-founder Richard Castle, Adam has led Cloudbeds from a small startup to an award-winning company that powers tens of thousands ofproperties in over 148 countries worldwide.
 Adam started his career as an investment banker until his love of entrepreneurship and travel pulled him from Wall Street to some of the most remote corners of the planet. He has many years of experience in consulting, has built and sold multiple companies, and has traveled to more than 51 countries over the course of his areer. Adam believes that travel
and food are the keys to understanding the world and that, in particular, unique properties give travelers the best opportunity to explore and experience local culture.
Adam’s entrepreneurial spirit and community work have landed him exposure in The New York Times, Forbes, Fortune, Inc. Magazine, Time magazine, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, TechCrunch, and many other prominent media outlets worldwide. He establishedthe nonprofit La Jolla Community Fireworks Foundation in 2009 and raised $50,000 in 48 hours to save his hometowns’ Fourth of July tradition. The same year, Adam invented a dog collar company called Bark4Beer with a close college friend. The overnight sensation garnered over 100 million website impressions within the first month of online sales and put Adam and his co-founder in the national spotlight.
Adam is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in San Diego with his wife Kelly and his two dogs Maggie and Dillan.

Peter Heule

CEO, Short Stay Group & Yays

Ait Voncke

Global Senior Vice President, Lodging and Activities, Expedia Group

Ait studied engineering in Belgium and the UK, and an MBA in the US. He lived in 10 countries across the world, starting his career as an engineer, in the microchip industry in South Korea. He then moved to consulting, helping internet and telecom companies to innovate and accelerate, across the world for 13 years. Before joining Expedia, Ait joined a Berlin based start-up incubator (Rocket Internet), where he build up the travel business for Groupon, across the EMEA region, with what was known to be the most talented travel team ever seen in the region. He joined Expedia in 2014, as Vice President for Market Management in EMEA, and became the Global Account Management Senior Vice President in 2018. In this role he travels the world every week, working with independent hoteliers and other supply partners, to make them successful on the Expedia Group platform and stay ahead of digital innovation.  

With the combined experience in engineering, process optimization, and sales, Ait also takes on the ambition to make his team one of the highest performing travel teams the world has ever experienced by fostering a culture where individuals can be their best self.  His work philosophy is that it should feel like a challenging team sport and he encourages individuals to follow the formulae of setting your goal, raising the bar and challenge the status quo to re-define the rules in travel. Ait has a habit of starting every day with a little adventure, in the form of a 5k outdoor run where-ever he is in the world. Ait lives in Switzerland with his wife and 2 kids, with whom he shares a passion for adventures, and water and mountaineering sports.

Margarida Almeida

CEO, Amazing Evolution

Margarida Almeida has been Managing Partner of Amazing Evolution Asset Management since 2012. Previously she was Board Member – Grupo Imocom (2005-2011), Director of the Legal and Commercial Departments at Grupo Imocom (2001-2004) and Lawyer –Dr. Augusto Ferreira do Amaral - Lawyers’ Office (1996-2000).

She has a Law degree - commercial and legal sectors from University Lusíada de Lisboa, and Post-Graduate Degrees in business management and administrative law from Univ. Nova Lisboa

Luís Araújo

President, Turismo de Portugal

Luis Araújo is the President of Turismo de Portugal (Portuguese National Tourism Authority) since february 2016. Previously was a Board Member at Group Pestana responsible for the Hispanic America hotels operations (Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia and Cuba). He was also Head of Development for the same Continent and Head of Sustainability since the creation of the department in 2009. He has a degree in Law. Luís Araújo began his career in the Group Pestana in the Law Department, in 1996. From 2001 to 2005 he worked for the Brazilian branch of the company where he was successively Board’s Associate for New Projects in Brazil, Board Member and Vice President for the Group Pestana in South America, with responsibility for New Business Development and Area Operations. He served the Portuguese Government as Head of the Cabinet of the Portuguese Secretary of State for Tourism between 2005 and 2007. He returned to the Group Pestana as Board Member, where he was responsible for Human Resources, Communication and Marketing, IT and Central Purchases as well as New Projects in South America until 2011.

Alex Robinson

Senior Manager, Industry Partners – STR

Alex leads STR's AM:PM platform and is focused on scaling the product across STR’s global supply and pipeline databases. He began his career in New York, gaining experience in fixed income with Lazard, Merrill Lynch, and Scotia Capital. He then moved into the hospitality industry when he joined Expedia’s sales and development team, working in both their New York and San Francisco offices. Alex subsequently moved to London for HotelTonight, with responsibility of managing partnerships with global brands and industry organizations. He joined STR in August 2016.

Mark Essex

Director, KPMG

Mark  has a strategy background but now applies his unique brand of critical thinking and an analytical approach to come at questions from a different angle.  He refuses to accept difficult trade-offs until he’s explored the possibility of using a disruptive approach.

As Director of Public Policy, Mark analyses Brexit, domestic politics and global megatrends and translates the impact for clients.

Mark is an experienced writer, thinker, keynote speaker, and live broadcast panellist and presenter. He covers Brexit, policy, megatrends and corporate strategy and acts as Editor in Chief on a number of KPMG programmes.

Miguel Martins

Director Development Eastern Europe and Turkey, IHG

Miguel is responsible for developing IHG’s brands in Eastern Europe & Turkey, including Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania. Working collaboratively with development partners is key to his success, whilst delivering value for both franchised and managed hotels.

With IHG since 2015, Miguel is responsible for the signing of over 30 new deals, the majority across Poland.

Miguel has extensive international experience in hotel development and has been involved in over 20 projects in Europe, including Portugal and Spain. He works across the entire IHG brand portfolio, including luxury, and is specialised in the diverse upscale and mainstream brands.
Prior to joining IHG, Miguel co-founded the Polish Hotel Company which was responsible for the roll out of some of IHG’s most well-known brands in Poland, such as the Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Crowne Plaza. Miguel oversaw among others the Holiday Inn Express Warsaw Airport from its conceptual design, financing, coordination with IHG and construction surveying, right through to its pre-opening and management. Miguel also worked as a Senior Consultant at an international hotel & asset management company based in Portugal where he was involved on various projects under local and international brands.

Frank Reul

Head of Development, Accor/ Orbis Eastern Europe

Frank is the current Head of Development for Accor/ Orbis Eastern Europe. He has extensive experience in hotel management and operations. He started his career in 1988 in Brussels and Bruges in Belgium in senior operational roles at Accor. He quickly got promoted to Director of Food and Beverage at the Novotel Sheremetyevo-2 in Moscow, Russia in 1992.

After spending three years in Moscow he moved back to London to and begun his ten years long career in the United Kingdom at Accor. He started at one of the busiest airport’s Novotel, at the Heathrow as an Operations Manager. He then held several General Manager positions across the United Kingdom: Novotel Preston, Novotel Southampton, Novotel Milton Keynes, Novotel Bristol Centre. In 2006 he moved to Turkey, where he directed and managed one of the key hotels in Istanbul, the Novotel Istanbul. He then spent two years as a General Manager at Novotel Trabzon.

After more than 20 years of service at AccorHotels he had been appointed to Area General Manager for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, then from 2014, to the Area General Manager for Romania, Bulgaria and Macedonia where he oversaw of operations and development including development in the Balkans and Croatia. From September 2017 he has been appointed to Head of Development Orbis/Accor for Eastern Europe.

He is fluent in Dutch, English, French and speaks German as well. He is an avid fan of history, wines and the Arsenal.

Dennis Spitra

Director of Business Development, Hotels, STR

Dennis Spitra is Director of Business Development, Hotels at STR in London. Having discovered his passion for hospitality early, Dennis earned his BA in Hospitality Management from Hotelschool The Hague in 2012 before working in the luxury hospitality industry across Europe.
He joined STR in 2013 as Sales Manager for Western Europe. He since took on the responsibility for STR’s Business Development efforts on the entire continent in 2017, driving participation in STR’s Benchmarking Program together with his team. In his role, Dennis closely works with domestic and international hotel chains, hotel associations and government bodies and also represents STR at international conferences and events.

Jakub Stanislav

Director – CEE Hotel Investment Properties, CBRE

Jakub Stanislav is a Director in the CEE Hotel Investment Properties team based in Prague, Czech Republic. Jakub was previously a director in Ernst & Young in charge of the Central Europe for Real-Estate & Hospitality team focusing on various real-estate and hotel services. Before that Jakub worked for C&W at the EMEA Hospitality Group, out of Prague, focusing primarily on hotel investments. Jakub has covered various projects across 16 different countries advising clients on investments, disposals, financing, operator selections and feasibilities. Jakub’s role is to advise clients on disposals, acquisitions, operating structures, and capital markets (debt and equity) activities within the Central European hospitality investment arena. Jakub further advises investors, developers, and property owners on capital agendas either on single asset or portfolio level.

Thomas Emanuel

Director, STR

Thomas Emanuel a Director at STR. He is based in London, and leads a team focused on driving business with Industry Partners.
He has spent his entire career in the hospitality industry, beginning in 2000 with Miki Travel, before joining Hyatt Hotel & Resorts, where he gained experience in corporate sales at both the worldwide sales office and at property level. Thomas then led the corporate sales function for Hazlitt’s Hotels, a group of independent boutique hotels in London.
In 2006, Thomas joined the Deloitte HotelBenchmark team, where he was responsible for creating and leading the department’s business development function. He held this role until the formation of STR in March 2008, and has since focused on overseeing STR’s rapid expansion outside North America. Throughout his time with STR, Thomas has gained a wealth of experience working with hotels, investors, developers, consultants, banks, governments, destination management companies and many others.
Thomas has been a guest lecturer at Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, and been invited and participated in the OECD's high level meetings on tourism policies.
Thomas has worked in over 45 countries across 6 continents and regularly speaks at major hospitality conferences around the world. He is also frequently interviewed for his insights on the hotel industry by news outlets including CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, as well as various tourism and hospitality publications.
Thomas holds a BA (Hons) in International Business.

Michael Grove

Director of intelligence and customer solutions, EMEA, HotStats

Michael has recently joined Hotstats as Director of Hotel Intelligence & Customer Solutions, EMEA. HotStats, is a benchmarking company focusing of monthly P&L benchmarking for the hotel industry. HotStats collects monthly detailed financial data from over 3000 hotels worldwide from over 100 brands and independent hotels, and provides over 100 different KPIs covering all operating revenues, payroll, expenses, cost of sales and ultimately departmental and total hotel profitability.
Prior to joining Hotstats, Michael held multiple Operational & Financial roles at Hotel and Corporate level, over 16 years.

Theodor Kubak

Managing Partner, Value One Arbireo Hospitality

Theodor Kubak is a Managing Partner at Arbireo Hotel Invest the Hotel Investment, Asset Management and Management arm of Arbireo Capital. In this role, he oversees the firm’s hospitality acquisition and asset management activities.
From 2007 onwards Theodor has been contributing at Union Investment Real Estate as a key player to establish a Hotel Investment and Asset Management strategy for a hotel portfolio of ca.21 assets at the time. Since 2015 he has been concentrating on hotel investments outside of Europe taking leadership in structuring hotel transactions with institutional lease agreements in the US. Upon his departure the portfolio had grown to 74 assets realizing hotel transactions globally in excess of. € 3bn.
In 1997, together with his wife he founded Servus International, a hospitality consulting group in Istanbul.
For over 15 years Theodor Kubak has held a series of operational hotel positions including Hotel General Manager in Austria, New Zealand, Georgia, Russia, and Kazakhstan.
Theodor initiated and co-founded HAMA Europe, a Non-Profit-Organization representing the interests of hotel owners, investors and asset managers and acting as its first President until 2017.

Christian Youens

Principal, Cedar Capital Partners and President HAMA Europe

Christian Youens is responsible for Cedar Capital’s hotel portfolio asset management activities. Prior to joining Cedar Capital in 2014, he worked for London and Regional Properties where he held the position of Head of Hotel Operations, Asset Management and Investments. During his time at London and Regional, Mr. Youens oversaw the operations and asset management of over 5,000 hotel rooms across 14 hotels worldwide. He implemented various multi-million capital investment programmes, negotiated lease contracts and hotel management agreements and acquired five further hotels. Mr. Youens was previously with various hotel operators and owners including Thistle Guoman Hotels, Hilwood Resorts, Lotus Investment Fund and others, where he held various positions in Finance, Feasibility and Development.
Mr. Youens holds a Diploma in Hotel Management from Les Roches School of Hotel Management and is President of Hospitality Asset Managers Association (HAMA) European chapter.

Ingo Schweder

Founder & CEO, GOCO Hospitality

As CEO and founder of GOCO, Ingo brings more than 20 years of experience from the fields of spa and hospitality.

Working with and managing some of the world’s most prestigious hotel groups, Ingo has been involved with the design, development, and worldwide operation of iconic hotels and wellness destinations. Under his guidance, Ananda in the Himalayas, the globally-recognized destination spa, was established.

During his tenure at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, he established from the ground up 15 resort spas on four continents whose strong holistic roots are credited to him. He earlier was Group Director of Hotel Operations for Oberoi Hotels & Resorts and Managing Director of Rafael Group Hoteliers, Southeast Asia.

Always engaging and willing to share his expertise, Ingo is a frequent speaker at Cornell University, ISPA events, Hospitality Finance Conferences globally, and other hospitality-related symposia around the world. He also sits on the Board of the Spa India Association and the China Spa Symposium.

Ingo has a true passion for photography and traveling off the beaten path, where he enjoys combining the discovery of new countries and their people with the practice of yoga, making time to practice with well-renowned yoga masters around the globe.

Christoph Härle

My vocation commenced with an apprenticeship at Inter-Continental Hotels as well as initial managerial positions in hotel operations in Germany at Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Hamburg and Steigenberger Hotels. This was followed by a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Surrey, England. Upon graduating, I joined JLL for what was to be a 25-year career, in the end as International Director in Global in the Capital Markets team. During my time at JLL I mainly covered management positions in the hotel department in London, Frankfurt, New York and Munich, until 2016 as CEO EMEA Hotels & Hospitality. In 2019, I proceeded to establish Härle Hotel Solutions, a venture dedicated to providing clients with a personalized service that banks on my global experience in both hotel operations and real estate.

With a global network of hotel investors, operators and financiers, I pledge to deliver successful solutions to my clients whilst maintaining an uncompromising level of quality.

My knowledge and experience combined with my passion for hotel real estate are key to creating win-win situations in all aspects of the business. I am a result-driven trusted advisor who will accompany your process from start to finish while keeping the interests of all parties in focus.

Neville Graham

Managing Director International Member Services, BWH Hotel Group

Neville joined Best Western Hotels & Resorts in 2006 with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the Hospitality Industry. Neville previously held a sales role in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin, Ireland as well as having brand experience with both Hyatt and Choice hotels in both sales and catering/convention services. In his current role as Managing Director of International Member Services for Best Western Hotels & Resorts, Neville oversees hoteliers and owners relationships in various international regions and is currently focussed on the current relaunch of the various Best Western brands for Spain and Portugal.

Claus-Dieter Jandel

Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer, Deutsche Hospitality

With over 30 years of experience within the hospitality industry, Claus-Dieter Jandel knows the business inside out.
In 1975, he started his hotel career at the Steigenberger Airport Hotel in Frankfurt, followed by several positions overseas. In 1985, after his first hotel opening as General Manager at the age of 28, he returned to Steigenberger Hotel Group in 1988 to be the General Manager of the Steigenberger Hotel & Golf Resort Bad Griesbach. Three years later, he was announced Regional Director, then Area Vice President, based at the company’s headquarters in Frankfurt.
Since 1998, Claus-Dieter Jandel holds the position of “Authorized Representative and SPV” later as
“Executive Vice President.” In 2004, he was appointed as Chief Human Resources Officer and in 2009, appointed as the “Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer.” As Chief Development Officer, he built up the Business Development department and continues today to be responsible for the growth strategy of the company.
He is also Chairman of the Joint Venture “THE GERMAN HOTEL GROUP, Beijing Ltd.,” a Chinese foreign company between Steigenberger Hotel Group and Shanghai based Gangtai Group that operates Steigenberger hotels in China.

Paul Pisani

Senior Vice President Hotel Development, Corinthia Hotels

As a member of the founding and owning family, Paul has spent his full career with Corinthia Hotels, joining the company straight from University in 1990. He rose through the ranks being promoted within a relatively short time to Group Marketing Manager, a position which he held for a 5 year period in the early 1990s. In the mid 1990s, Paul undertook intensive operations exposure which culminated with a move to Turkey where he was Regional Director for Operations and Development overseeing 5 Corinthia branded hotels, representing the Company on a daily basis in the relationships with the various Turkish Hotel Owners, while at the same time seeking to expand the brand in and around Turkey.

In the late 1990s, he returned back to Corinthia in Malta where he took a full time Development role in the capacity of Director of Business Development, spearheading the Company’s expansion drive in EMEA. In late 2006, he became Vice President Development and then, in 2010, Senior Vice President Development. Paul also sits on a number of Corinthia related boards.

Jonathan Humphries

Chairman, HoCoSo

Almost twenty years’ experience in the hotel and real estate sectors. For the last eleven years he covered Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), supporting the expansion of Marriott International’s fifteen brands, for hundreds of projects, across the region in the role of Vice President Development Planning, based out of the regional HQ in Zurich. During this time the company doubled its presence in Europe and become one of the largest hotel companies in the Middle East and Africa. He created the company’s first ever comprehensive development strategy, across 55 countries, for the African continent.
Personally, he was the lead for a two-year project which brought about the tailor-made extended-stay Residence Inn by Marriott concept to Europe in 2008. He was instrumental in the subsequent roll-out of the Residence Inn by Marriott portfolio across Europe and the Middle East, including the now open projects in Edinburgh, Munich, Sarajevo, Bahrain and Kuwait.
He has been engaged on major acquisitions, renovations, extensions, re-brandings, contract extensions and terminations and created strategic road maps for both countries and cities across EMEA.
A repeat speaker at international major conferences such as International Hotel Investment Forum and Serviced Apartment Summit. He was also on the Serviced Apartment Advisory Board of the British Hotel Association during 2014-15.
In the past two years, Jonathan was in charged with creating and delivering new industry focused courses in Hotel Asset Management and Hotel Planning and Development, as a Senior Lecturer, for École hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL). Over 1,000 students completed the first ever Hotel Asset Management course for Europe and courses in Hotel Development & Planning.

Horacio Alcalá

Chief Executive Officer, Alsotel

Horacio founded Alsotel, a specialist hotel real estate investment and operating firm, in early 2015, after 20 years of international hotel experience in various countries. Alsotel is investing in hotel assets across Spain & Portugal, including development, and operating them through third party franchises. He is an experienced and creative senior professional in the international hotel and real estate trade, having been involved in all sides of the business (investor, operator, consultant, developer, etc.). He could be defined as an entrepreneurial hotelier experienced in site finding, funding, development, pre-opening and operations, hence being able to add experience in all sides of the hotel life-cycle. Past experiences include Travelodge, Metrovacesa, Med Group and TRI Hospitality Consulting.

Jason Chong

Chief Executive Officer, Cornerstone Partners Group

As the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Cornerstone Partners Group, an integrated asset owner and developer focusing on hospitality investments, Jason Chong spearheads end-to-end leadership of the Group’s operations and effectively directs cross-functional teams in scaling the Group’s sustained advancement, with a clear vision to create shareholders’ value.

Jason has over 19 years of experience in the financial and construction industry, with international experience in real estate and financial management, particularly hospitality investments.
Since the Group’s humble inception in 2014, Jason has been instrumental in the acquisition and development of five of the Group’s hospitality assets across Asia Pacific. Jason’s experienced leadership, and the Group’s aggressive expansion strategy, has resulted in the Group’s growing reputation for repositioning underperforming assets into award-winning
hotels.
An invited speaker at several acclaimed events representing Cornerstone Partners Group, Jason has contributed his insights on investment environments and key success factors of hotel development.
A graduate from University of New South, Sydney, Australia, Jason is a member of good standing in several associations, including Entrepreneurs Organisation (Malaysian chapter), possesses a penchant for traveling but is a family man at heart.

Matt Livian

Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer, The Sydell Group

Matt Livian is a Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of The Sydell Group, an owner, developer and manager of unique hotels deeply rooted in their location and architecture.  Sydell Group’s diverse portfolio of award-winning properties includes NoMad New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas; the LINE LA, DC and Austin; Freehand New York, LA, Miami, and Chicago; The Ned, London; and Park MGM, Las Vegas.  Matt leads Sydell’s acquisitions efforts and has overseen the acquisition of over $1 billion worth of hotel real estate in major markets including New York, Los Angeles, Miami and London during his tenure with the Company in addition to overseeing the Company’s corporate finance function.  Prior to joining The Sydell Group, Matt served as the Vice President of Acquisitions & Development at the Ian Schrager Company.  The Ian Schrager Company is an owner, developer and manager of hotel & residential projects in gateway cities.  During his tenure, Matt was responsible for all transaction execution, origination, coordinating market & property due diligence, financial underwriting and various development initiatives.  Prior to joining The Ian Schrager Company, Matt started his career in the investment banking division at Bear Stearns focusing on mergers, acquisitions and financings for real estate, gaming and lodging companies.  Matt graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Michael Widmann

Managing Partner, PKF hotelexperts GmbH

Michael Widmann is the founder and Managing Director of the PKF hotelexperts group, a globally operating hospitality, tourism & leisure consulting firm with headquarters in Vienna. He heads a team of about 100 consultants and associates in 14 locations who provide strategic advice to clients in the hospitality, tourism & leisure and serviced living sectors.

As Chairman of PKF’s International Hospitality Consulting Committee, Michael coordinates PKF’s global hospitality, tourism & leisure activities. He is the co-founder of the AlpAdria & Eastern Europe Chapter of the Cornell Hotel Society.

Michael sits on the Advisory Board of the IMC University in Applied Sciences in Krems and the MODUL University Vienna, where he is also a lecturer.

He translated the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI) into German and (co-)authored various books and publications for the hospitality sector.

Blanche van Berckel

Founder and CEO, Vous Hotels & Retreats

Blanche van Berckel is one of the leading authorities in hotel management and one of the few female entrepreneurs in hospitality today, with more than 30 years’ experience in the sector. She is the Founder and CEO of Vous Hotels & Retreats.

Margarida Caldeira

Main Board Director - EMEA Chair, Broadway Malyan

Margarida is a Broadway Malyan Holdings Ltd Board Director and sits on the Executive Committee in her capacity as Chair of the EMEA Board. She also plays a pivotal role as a Director on the board for the Americas region. She launched the Lisbon studio with Stuart Rough in 1996 and subsequently the São Paulo studio in 2010. Margarida splits her time between Portugal and Brazil in order to lead teams in both regions.

During her time at the practice Margarida has designed high-profile leisure, hospitality and workplace schemes in Iberia, Africa and Latin America. She has a real expertise in and passion for the hospitality sector and was project leader for the refurbishment of the prestigious Tivoli Carvoeiro in Algarve and Tivoli Beira Hotel in Mozambique. She also led the firm’s award-winning refurbishment of Rossio station in Lisbon and is currently leading on the design of the first Moxy Hotel in Portugal.
In 2008 Margarida was nominated for the “Inspire Women Award” in the category of “International Woman of the Year” and in 2015 she won the Magazine Imobiliário Personality Merit Award recognising her contribution to the world of architecture. She is a regular speaker at conferences on topics including masterplanning, resorts, sustainability and regeneration.

Nicholas Northam

Executive Vice President, Interstate Hotels & Resorts

Nicholas Northam is Executive vice president for Interstate Hotels & Resorts in the United Kingdom. He is responsible for over 60 hotels in the UK, Ireland and Belgium. With more than 33 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Nicholas plays a pivotal role in the company’s growth, leading Interstate’s UK senior management and support teams to provide superior returns for hotel owners.

Before joining Interstate Nicholas spent 10 years as Vice President of Asset Management for Realstar Hotels UK Ltd, the asset management company responsible for the LRG UK portfolio of 73 hotels under IHG management. He was directly responsible for 38 assets including the central London hotels.
Prior to this he had spent 17 years at Whitbread where he was the UK Operations Director responsible for 70+ Marriott hotels as well as having been General Manager at a number of Marriott properties.

Abhay Bakaya

Vice President, Development, SH Hotels & Resorts

Abhay Bakaya has close to 15 years of experience in the hotel industry; having worked with Fairmont-Raffles and Starwood Hotels & Resorts / Marriott International prior to joining SH Hotels & Resorts in 2017. He has worked in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and North America and holds a Master’s degree from The Hotel School at Cornell University.
 

As Vice President, Development, Abhay is involved in the global expansion of the 1 Hotel, Treehouse and Baccarat Hotel brands. The company is building momentum beyond its properties in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and London with future openings in Hawaii, San Francisco, Nashville, Toronto, Los Cabos, London, Paris, Bordeaux, Haitang Bay and Melbourne.
 

Jacques-Olivier Chauvin

CEO, Fauchon Hospitality

Jacques-Olivier Chauvin has been President of Fauchon Hospitality since early 2018. His professional experience in the hotel and restaurant industry include Deputy GM of Taillevent Group (1992-1995), DG of the Relais & Châteaux chain (2000 to 2010), Chairman and founder of Colbert Management & Conseil (since 2013)
His professional experience in the luxury sector include Sales Manager at Louis Vuitton (1996-1999), Vice President at Van Cleef & Arpels (2011-2012) and Senior Advisor at Condé-Nast (2014-2018).
He is also Director of the Baths of Brides les Bains (Savoie France) and of the Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz.
He graduated from HEC in 1991.

Alexandra Mueller-Benz

CEO, Almodóvar GmbH and Holistic Travel GmbH

Alexandra Mueller-Benz, CEO of Almodóvar GmbH and Holistic Travel GmbH, founded her first academy for holistic healing 25 years ago, which she developed into the campus naturalis group of adult education academies, which already had a strong focus on awareness and sustainability decades ago. In 2012 she opened the Almodóvar Hotel with a clear vision of a place where travellers and business people would find consciousness in an oasis in the middle of vibrant Berlin. Guided by the idea of creating a place like home and convincing guests with the experience that a conscious and sustainable life is joyful and requires no sacrifices, she and an ambitious team designed a beautiful place where inspiring people from all over the world meet to share their vision of a better tomorrow.

Matthias Huettebraeuker

Hospitality & Brand Strategist

A Renaissance man by design and a strategist by profession, Matthias has created, accelerated and transformed brands for the last 20 years.

He held Managing Director positions at the much-awarded creative agencies Pixelpark and Scholz & Friends and is advising global heavyweights across all industries, from automotive to aviation, real estate to telecommunications, mobility, healthcare and more.

Matthias joined the world of hospitality 15 years ago as Director of Global Marketing and Product Development at Design Hotels, shaping the personality and appearance of the brand to this day. He has started his independent practice in 2007 and has since been behind some of the most exciting hotel projects of the last decade, including the experimental pop up hotel as well as some regulars in the world´s-best-hotels rankings, the individual nine-room gem as well as the billion-dollar-valued global hotel group.

Matthias is working on multiple levels of brand development, brand strategy and brand therapy, product innovation and customer experience. His radical-brand approach is always deeply consumer centric, often disruptive and never boring. He lives in Munich.

Fabrice Collet

CEO, B&B Hotels

Fabrice Collet joined B&B Hotels in 2012 where he
held various positions starting as Chief Financial
Officer before being appointed Vice President in
2016 and Group CEO in 2018. Fabrice has
strongly contributed to the Group’s expansion
strategy that propelled it to no. 1 independent
budget hotel operator in Europe backed by 580
million revenues and 500-plus hotels in August
2019.

Before joining B&B Hotels, Fabrice served in
several senior management roles within large
industry-leading multinational companies (From
2009 to 2011 at Deutsch Group, a leading
manufacturer of high-performance electrical
and fibre optic connectors (a Wendel Group company) and Neopost; from 2001 to 2009 at Polyconcept, the world’s largest
supplier of promotional products and from 1997 to 2000 at Elis, a multi-service
provider of textile, hygiene and facility services solutions for business).
For more than 15 years, he developed strong expertise in implementing group
performance management and reporting systems and M&A transactions Fabrice
began his career in 1993 as auditor with Arthur Andersen. He is graduated from the
École Centrale de Paris.

Dimitris Manikis

President and Managing Director for Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa (EMEA), Wyndham Hotels and Resorts

Dimitris Manikis was appointed President and Managing Director for EMEA in April 2018. In his role, he is responsible for the development of all of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ brands in the EMEA region as well as maximising the performance of all new and existing franchise and managed hotels. He focuses on driving the strategic objectives of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts including quality and technology solutions as well as loyalty, sales and marketing.
Dimitris Manikis has a long-standing career and deep knowledge of the hospitality industry. Prior to joining Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, he spent over 27 years with RCI, the worldwide leader in vacation exchange, across a number of senior roles, and most recently served as Vice President of Business Development for EMEA. Earlier in his career, he also held a number key positions in the region as Managing Director of RCI Greece and RCI South Africa.
A Greek national, Dimitris was born in Athens and holds a Bachelor degree in Tourism and Administration from the University of Patras in Greece, and an MSc Postgraduate degree in Tourism Marketing from the University of Surrey. His passion for people and work ethic comes from his father, who built up a grocery retail business in Athens where Dimitris learned the value of high customer service, positive outlook and hard work as being the foundations of success in both business and life.
He is based in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ London office.

Wytze Van den Berg

Managing Director EMEA, BWH Hotelgroup

Wytze is a hospitality veteran with over 20 years of experience in the International Hospitality industry. Wytze joined Best Western Hotels & Resorts in 2006. Prior to this he held different roles with Accor hospitality in corporate marketing and revenue management. Currently Wytze oversees the Best Western territories of Belgium and The Netherlands where he is responsible for all of the services provided by Best Western to 50 branded Hotels. Besides providing best in class services to the existing hotels, his other key focus is the development and growth of brand family in the territory.

Frederic Le Fichoux

Partner, Cushman & Wakefield

Anthony Say

Head of Hotels, Natwest

Anthony leads NatWest Corporate Banking’s hotel team, where he is responsible for managing banking relationships with some of the bank’s largest UK hotel connections. Anthony joined the hotels team in 2012 having worked for the RBS Group since 2001, operating across a number of industry sectors.

Based in London, his role is split between managing relationships with his existing portfolio of hotel investors, and developing new business opportunities across the UK. This encompasses the provision of acquisition funding, refinancing and development finance, as well as providing access to a full suite of banking and financial services geared to the hotel sector. He also consults and advises on hotel sector transactions for NatWest across the UK, in order to ensure a consistency of approach to lending, along with informing and influencing the bank’s policy and risk appetite in the sector.

Gwenaëlle Pouy

Head of Development, Covivio

Gwenaëlle Pouy has been Head of Development at Covivio since September 2015, where she manages and coordinates each investment project from sourcing to handover of the asset including business plan and internal presentations plus the whole acquisition process and contract negotiations.
Between 2011 and 2015 she was Development Project Manager at B&B Hotels Group, looking after hotels developments in France and abroad (Spain and Holland): hotels acquisitions (asset deals or share deals) and turnkey agreements for 10 deals from 2012 for a total amount of 38 million euros. Her role included sale & lease back deals, and management and coordination for each investment project: project search and location validation, business plan, acquisition due diligence, financial and legal negotiations (SPA, turnkey agreement) till contract signature, investor research (commitment to lease, rental agreements), investment files for B&B’s boards or potential investors.
From 2007 to 2011, she was Development Manager at Paris-Honotel Group, associated for hotels acquisitions with a French September edge fund. She created the position and implemented tools for development and a business network. She worked daily with Paris-Honotel’s president, general manager, and chief financial manager, and oversaw 16 acquisitions for a total cost of 60 million euros: networking management and targeting of hotels to buy (deal flow of more than 850 hotels); - management of each acquisition project; participation in business plan; due diligence for each acquisition project : management and report; redaction of all investment files for the investment committee; participation in negotiation and legal documentation process ; setting up of Group communication support.
Prior to that she was Financial auditor at Mazars, Paris.
Gwenaëlle holds an Executive Master Real Estate Finance from Paris Dauphine University, a Master’s degree from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Reims, and is a Graduate of René Descartes University, Paris 5, IUT of Managment, option Finance-Accounting.

Abbas A. Rangwala

Head - Mergers & Acquisitions, InterGlobe Enterprises

Abbas Rangwala is the Head of Mergers & Acquisitions at InterGlobe, the holding company of IndiGo Airlines and InterGlobe Hotels, and one of India's largest groups with businesses across hospitality, real estate, travel technology and business services. InterGlobe, in addition to its existing India portfolio of 30 hotels, has recently built a sizeable portfolio of 13 hotels internationally through successful acquisitions in key markets, particularly across Europe.  

Since joining InterGlobe in 2016, Abbas has been instrumental in their hospitality acquisitions and expansion globally and leads important strategic initiatives. He has been actively involved in ongoing hotel portfolio management and also managing the group's investments in the travel technology sector globally. He is a regular speaker at renowned industry conferences such as IHIF (Berlin) & HICAP (Hong Kong).
 

Abbas has over 20 years of strategy, business development and global investments experience. Abbas has previously held senior roles covering investment banking, capital markets and structured finance at Citigroup and Deutsche Bank, based in Hong Kong and Singapore.  

Abbas’ academic qualifications include commerce, economics, accountancy and software engineering. He has also completed the Advanced Hotel Real Estate executive program at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, New York.

Louise Wallace

Partner, CMS

Louise is a senior corporate partner in the Hotels Group at CMS. Louise covers all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, private equity, corporate finance, joint ventures, hotel management and franchise agreements, due diligence and post merger integration, outsourcings, corporate governance, advice to directors and a wide range of corporate restructurings and ancillary advice. Louise specialises in the hotels & leisure and the consumer and retail sectors. She is ranked in the top tier of Chambers 2017 for her work in the hotels & leisure sector and is recognised in Chambers for M&A (High End) GBP 250m+ deals.

Tom King

Head of Hospitality, Investment Properties, CBRE

Tom leads the UK Hospitality team within CBRE Operational Real Estate, taking responsibility for transactions across  platforms and net lease transactions, providing clients with innovative capital and asset management solutions.

Patrick Grant

Partner, Alpha Real Capital LLP

Patrick joined as a partner of Alpha Real Capital LLP in January 2015 and leads the Alpha origination team focusing primarily on growing the group’s institutional ground rent and other long income property businesses in the UK and Europe. Patrick has over 20 years’ experience in real estate, the majority which has been spent in transaction and advisory within the hotels and alternative asset sectors.

Michael Jung

Managing Partner, Continuum Capital Investment Management GmbH

Michael cofounded Continuum Capital in 2009 and has been a managing partner since. Between 2004 and 2008 Michael was initially CFO and subsequently CEO of Vivacon AG, a publicly listed real estate company in Germany. In that position Michael was instrumental to the introduction of commercial ground rent investments in the German real estate market and devised the first three capital market ground rent securitisations in Germany. Between 1996 and 2004 Michael worked in the investment banking divisions of Deutsche Bank and Rothschild, where he held director positions and focused on M&A and equity capital market transactions. Michael graduated as Diplom-Kaufmann (MBA) from University of Mannheim.

Vikki McKay

Partner, Proskauer

Vikki McKay is a partner in Proskauer’s Corporate Department and a member of our Private Equity Real Estate practice and Hospitality, Gaming & Leisure group.

Vikki has experience in all aspects of commercial real estate work, and acts for a broad range of clients including private equity firms, developers, landowners, and large international companies and ultra-high net worth off shore individuals.

She advises across a broad range of real estate investment classes, including logistics, office and leisure assets.

John Tew

Head of Single-tenant Credit and Special Situations, Europe, Eastdil Secured

John joined Eastdil Secured in 2012 and currently leads the European Credit and Special Situations Group, which focuses on delivering credit oriented real estate solutions and special situations advisory to corporate, private equity and hedge fund clients. Since joining Eastdil Secured in 2012, John has been directly involved with over $40 Billion in capital transactions spanning nearly all asset classes and transaction types. John started his career in the Financial Institutions Investment Banking Group at Wells Fargo Securities working on debt and equity issuances as well as M&A.

Kevin Vickers

Investment Director, M&G RE

Kevin is responsible for originating, structuring and executing transactions across the UK and the rest of Europe on behalf of M&G RE long income funds. Prior to joining M&G Real Estate, Kevin worked at Deloitte where he specialised in real estate finance, leading transactions, and advising corporate occupiers across a diverse range of financial structures and property asset classes. His previous experience also includes eight years as a partner in Cushman & Wakefield’s corporate finance team, where he led corporate occupier-led transactions in addition to originating, arranging, and executing sale and lease back deals. Prior to that he worked at EY in their real estate finance business. Kevin has a BSc (Hons) from the University College London and holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMC).

Alexi H. Khajavi

Managing Director EMEA, Questex LLC

Alexi Khajavi is Managing Director of the EMEA region and Chairs the Hospitality & Travel Group for Questex LLC. He is responsible for the overall management and development of the company’s global hospitality and destination communications properties and events including the Hotel Management Group, the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) Summit Series, Destination Develop and Destination Development Investment Services, HOTEC and other destination and hotel investment events in the UK, Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
Khajavi, who brings more than 17 years of travel, hospitality and marketing and sales experience to his position, joined Questex in 2014 as senior managing director of Destination Develop, a new digital media platform covering global tourism industry investment opportunities at the destination level, and Destination Develop Investment Services, an in-house agency that develops marketing and matchmaking campaigns and services for destinations and private-sector businesses in tourism looking for investment.
Prior to joining Questex, Khajavi was senior vice president, global strategy, for MercuryCSC, a creative agency specializing in the travel industry where he helped grow the firm’s billings four-fold and designed global marketing campaigns for travel companies, tourism boards and airlines. Prior to MercuryCSC, he was one of the founding team members of the travel consortium Nature Group located in Central America and helped guide the airline and hospitality portfolio in being the fastest growing travel company in Central America between 2003 and 2010.

Thanos Papasavvas, CFA

Founder and CIO, ABP Invest Ltd

Thanos is Founder & CIO of ABP Invest, established in 2015 to provide strategic outlook and research on markets, geopolitics, economics and FX. Previously he had been in asset management for 20 years with Credit Suisse Asset Management and Investec Asset Management across fixed income, emerging markets, currency management and multi-asset. Thanos managed portfolios for a number of FTSE, Dow and DAX pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, local authorities and family offices. His team was presented with the “Currency Manager of the Year" award twice, in 2004 and 2010. He began his career working as an Economist for the UK Government Economic Service coincidentally amidst the outset of the ERM Crisis of 1992. Thanos was also the Co-Founder and CIO of Equant-Analytics and Founding Partner and strategic advisor to EMFC Loans Syndication. He is a frequent guest on BBC, CNBC and Bloomberg as well as a regular speaker at business and investment conferences. Thanos has been awarded the CFA Charterholder designation and is a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House). He holds an MSc Economics from Birkbeck College, University of London. Born in Athens, he has been living in London for over 30 years.

Inmaculada Ranera

Managing Director - Spain & Portugal, Christie & Co

Inmaculada has been responsible for Christie & Co in Spain since they were established in the Spanish Market in 2000, being also the one that opened their offices in Spain while she was appointed as Director at Christie & Co.

With 20 years’ experience in the hotel industry and more than 30 years in the Real Estate sector, Inmaculada has been involved in numerous hotel transactions, valuations and operator searches, offering advice to both operators and investment funds during acquisition processes in Spain, Portugal, UK, France, Austria, Belgium, among other countries.

She also has an extensive experience in advising funds in the acquisition of debt portfolios with hotel collateral in Spain, and in assessing operators and investors during their exit strategies.

Inmaculada is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS) and she actively participates as a speaker in events in the hotel sector, both in a national and international level.

George Campanellas

Director General, Invest Cyprus

George Campanellas is the Director General of Invest Cyprus and the Vice President of the Cyprus Investment Funds Association (CIFA). He has nearly twenty years of professional experience in Cyprus and abroad, working with the DG Competition in Brussels and directly with the Cypriot Ministers of Health and Energy, Commerce, Industry & Tourism. Mr Campanellas has been actively involved with the development of the oil & gas sector in the Cyprus EEZ, dealing with licensing, exploration and exploitation activities, as well as promoting bilateral and multilateral cooperation at a regional level. Throughout his career, he also had an active role in drafting the regulatory framework and running the relevant licensing procedures for attracting FDI in sectors of strategic importance and large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the LNG terminal at Vasilikos Energy Center, Cyprus Techno Park, EuroAsia Interconnector and the City of Dreams Mediterranean, Europe’s largest integrated casino resort and Cyprus’ largest FDI project.

Richard Candey

Partner, Cushman & Wakefield

Richard is a Partner in Cushman & Wakefield’s Hospitality team with over 25 years of Hotel industry experience. Richard leads the business Investor & Development Services team across Europe and is responsible for promoting the business and coordinating hotel assignments across the region. Richard has in depth knowledge of the sector and has led multiple capital markets and advisory assignments, applying his skills in numerous markets and has a particularly close understanding of the hotel development and investment arena.
A leading advisor to the hospitality sector, Richard has led successful projects including Soho House White City, Pullman Liverpool and Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam. Most recently he was involved in the sale of 5 Strand, London which will become a new luxury hotel. He leads a dedicated Hospitality team that combines real estate knowledge with practical hotel expertise which adds value for hotel investors, owners, operators, developers and financiers.
The team covers the full spectrum of advice in the hotel space including Valuation, Development and Brokerage services. The team has extensive experience in all market segments covering full and limited service hotels, boutique/lifestyle hotels, conference centres and venues, spas, gaming, golf and destination resorts, extended stay, fractional ownership and timeshare properties. From budget properties to luxury hotels!

Susan Samuel

Partner, DLA Piper

Susan Samuel is a lawyer with specific expertise in the Hospitality & Leisure, Consumer and Senior Living sectors. Susan's clients include investors, developers and funders of real estate, global hotel operators, corporates in relation to their UK and global real estate, consumer and retail businesses and senior living organisations.

Nick Smart

Vice President Development - North and West Europe, Hilton

A graduate of Surrey University Hotel Management School, Nick has worked for Grand Metropolitan Hotels, DeVere Hotels and Radisson Edwardian Hotels in a number of sales, marketing, operations and development roles. 

In 2006, Nick joined Hilton as Vice President Development UK & Ireland. That role has since expanded to include North and West Europe, which extends to France, Benelux, the Nordics, Spain and Portugal. In that time Nick has overseen the signing and development of well over 250 hotels in the territory ranging from upscale brands including Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton, Tapestry Collection, Curio Collection and Canopy, to focused service brands including Hilton Garden Inn, Motto by Hilton and Hampton by Hilton.
 

Under Nick’s leadership, Hilton has overseen a period of accelerated growth and significantly increased market share in the North and West Europe region. In the UK, Hilton has doubled the number of its hotel rooms to over 32,000 in the past ten years, while extending its network of focused service Hampton and Double Tree hotels adjacent to UK airport terminals nationwide. Nick has also overseen the signing of over 20 new hotels in France in the past four years alone, with strong growth in Spain, including Europe’s first Tapestry by Hilton properties, Le Belgrand Hotel Paris Champs Elysées and Atocha Hotel Madrid, opening in early 2020.
 

With almost 20 hotels opening in 2019, Hilton’s footprint in the North West Europe region rose to over 210.
 

Nick is married with eight children. He is also a former rugby player and enthusiastic supporter (especially Wasps RFC!).

Xenia zu Hohenlohe

Managing Partner, Considerate Group

Vanessa Butani

Director of Sustainable Business, Scandic Hotels

Luc Boschmans

Director, Asset Management, Archer Hotel Capital B.V.

Luc, a Belgian national, is responsible for the day-to-day asset management of the Archer Hotel (AHC) Capital portfolio. Before the creation of AHC in December 2018, Luc was VP Asset Management with Host Hotels & Resorts in Europe since 2010. Before that, Luc worked as Director Operations for Blackstone and Lone Star Funds. His career started with Hyatt International. Luc has an MBA and a Diploma of the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne. He is also a Certified Hotel Asset Manager (CHAM) and a board member (Education) at HAMA Europe.

Rosa Brand

Principal, Real Estate KKR

Julie Fawcett

Managing Director, Qbic Hotels

Following the sale of an ecommerce business and 4 years in Impact investing with Bridges Fund Management, Julie took the helm at Green hotel chain Qbic Hotels in 2014.  Since then not only has it become a BCorp and reduced its carbon emissions by 64% it has attracted considerable interest and investment  Following a sale in 2017 to Cerberus, the adaptive reuse principles of Qbic have seen it convert a wide range of buildings from old  office blocks and schools to 18^th century warehouses. In every case using the same eco friendly principles and its trademark Qbi it puts renewal, community and characterful urban lifestyle hotel experiences at its heart.  With a mission to deliver 20 hotels in 10 cities in 5 years well underway the brand is set fair to showcase just one way conservation and commerce can go hand in hand.  As a keen offshore sailor and Chair of the Southdowns National Park Trust, the natural environment and sustainability are close to Julies heart at home as well as in business.

Gesa Rohwedder

Head of Hospitality, ‎Drees & Sommer

Employment history
since 2014 Drees & Sommer, Head of Hospitality
2006-2013 InterContinental Hotel Hamburg, General Manager
2004-2006 InterContinental Hotel Berlin, General Manager
2003-2004 InterContinental Hotel London, General Manager
2002-2003 InterContinental Hotel Cologne, Hotel Manager
1991-2002 Various Hotel Management Position
1990 Graduation as hotel specialist

Personal experience
- 26 years professional experience
- International management international 5*- Hotels in Germany and
abroad
- Review of hotel conversion projects from hotel operator - and
owner overview (evaluation of profitability, potential analysis,
development of financing models, conversion scenarios)
- Analytical researches & feasibilities of hotel projects, locations,
renovation, conversion and expansion opportunities.

Personal reference projects
- Hotelconsulting for international hotel project across Europe; e. g.
Operator Search, Feasibility-, Market and Best Use Studies for hotel
development and conversion in Europe
- InterContinental Berlin: Conversion- and expansion of Hotel Facilities
- InterContinental Cologne: Hotel opening
- InterContinental London: Refurbishment and economic evaluation
- InterContinental Hamburg: Renovation of hotel and economic
evaluation

Hans-Peter Hermann

Senior Director - Asset Management, Europe, Invesco Real Estate

Hans-Peter Hermann joined Invesco Real Estate in 2011 and is a Senior Director - Asset Management co-heading the specialist hotel fund management team. He brings over 30 years’ experience from both the real estate and the hospitality industry to Invesco, and is in charge of an experienced team of senior professional industry specialists dedicated to the hotel sector overlooking the entire pan-European portfolio across all mandates.

Previously, Hans-Peter worked for ArabellaStarwood Hotels and Resorts, where he led the development department and was responsible for overseeing research and sourcing new hotel developments in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, South Africa and the Balearic Islands. Within the brand portfolio of Starwood he dealt with St. Regis, W, The Luxury Collection, Westin and Sheraton projects.
Prior to joining ArabellaStarwood, Hans-Peter worked in the Hotel Finance Team at Aareal Bank and was responsible for the structure, organisation and execution of various forms of financing within the hospitality industry. Hans-Peter also worked as a consultant for Cendant Corporation / Wyndham Worldwide and completed a four-year tenure as Consultant Corporate Services at American Express Germany. In addition, he has also held several different operational management positions at InterContinental Hotels both at home and abroad. He is based in the Munich office.