GENERAL SESSION

Welcome Back

Analysing the Changing Trends in Hospitality, Design, Customer Behaviour

How is hospitality changing with customer behaviour and how will it change over the next 5 years? A keynote on trends and how to match them with investors’ strategies.

From the Inside Looking Out: CEO to CEO

A hotel group CEO chats with the CEO of a company outside hotels.

Sébastien Bazin – Chairman and CEO, AccorHotels

Sébastien Bazin

Chairman and CEO, AccorHotels

After five years working in several financial positions in New York, San Francisco and London, Sébastien Bazin was appointed CEO of Hottinguer Rivaud Finances, an investment bank, in 1990, and then CEO of L’Immobilière Hôtelière, a hotel developer in France, in 1992. In 1997, he moved to Colony Capital, a private real estate investment firm, to head up its European branch and lead several acquisitions, principally in the hospitality sector (Générale des Eaux, Club Méditerranée, Lucien Barrière, Fairmont & Raffles, Buffalo Grill, Château Lascombes, Stadia Consulting and others).

He joined Accor’s Board of Directors in 2005 and, via Colony Capital, became a Paris Saint-Germain shareholder in 2006 and the club’s Chairman in 2009.

In August 2013, he resigned from his duties at Colony Capital and was appointed Chairman and CEO of AccorHotels.

Sébastien has been Chairman of the Théâtre du Châtelet’s Board of Directors since 2015 (and a Board member since 2013), is Vice-Chairman of the Gustave Roussy Foundation’s Supervisory Board, and has been a member of GE’s Board of Directors since 2016.

A Brave New World: What Are the Opportunities in Alternative Models?

Now that hotels have gone mainstream, what are the most attractive alternatives within hotel categories to invest in? Examining the business behind the concepts of hostels, serviced apartments, resorts, co-living, co-working, extended stay, student accommodation and more.

Moderator:

Russell Kett – Chairman, HVS - London Office

Russell Kett

Chairman, HVS - London Office

Russell Kett is Chairman of the London office of HVS, the leading global specialist hotel valuation, consulting, asset management and brokerage firm which was founded in 1980.
After hotel school, Russell joined Strand Hotels, first as an internal auditor, then assistant financial controller of London’s Cumberland Hotel. Following 18 years with the hotel consultancy divisions of BDO (Horwath Consulting) and Deloitte, he joined HVS in 1995.
Russell has some forty years' specialist hotel consultancy, investment and real estate experience, focused on providing valuation, feasibility, shared ownership, property, brokerage, investment, asset management, strategy and related consultancy services, advising hotel, serviced apartments and hostel companies, banks, developers and investors on all aspects of their hospitality industry related interests, throughout the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa).
He is a frequent writer, moderator and speaker on the international hotel industry, especially on topics relating to hotel valuation, investment, marketing and finance. He has lectured at leading international hotel schools including Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, IMHI-Essec in Paris, Cornell University, and Oxford Brookes University. Russell received a Lifetime Achievement Award from HOSPA, the hospitality professionals’ association, in 2011. He received the ‘Hall of Fame’ Lifetime Achievement Award at the Hot.E hotel investment conference in London in September 2017. He is a member of the International Hotel Investment Council.

In conversation with:

Marloes Knippenberg – CEO of International Hospitality Development, Kerten Capital

Marloes Knippenberg

CEO of International Hospitality Development, Kerten Capital

Marloes Knippenberg is Cloud Executive Officer (CEO) of the brand new Cloud.7 Hotels, a dynamic and innovative new hotel management company and concept, with hotels developed for the curious and connected travellers of today.

The Cloud.7 brand pillars are based on a mission to delight both the introvert and extrovert, bringing together comfortable cosy ‘clouds’ – the rooms - with Cloud.7’s unique social and sharing environments and the newest technology, all gathered around the maximisation of profitability per square meter for the owners.

Cloud.7 is launching its first hotel in Istanbul, Turkey with plans to sign 15 new hotel property deals in the next two years to expand the hotel group into Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Middle East, areas where the demand for new concepts is growing faster than supply.

Marloes started her career with Hilton's award-winning fast track program, after which she successfully held senior operational & commercial management positions in Europe, Turkey and the Middle East, leaving Hilton in 2013 to become an entrepreneur. Testing the waters, she partnered with a Venetian Contessa and developed a line of Italian products for the American and Middle Eastern market. Following its success, she returned to hospitality where her heart and expertise lays, and developed & launched the new concept Cloud.7 hotels with a young, expert and tech savvy team.

Dynamic, passionate and dedicated to delivering results, Marloes now is focussed on bringing to life the 15 Cloud.7 properties which are defined by an affordable but aspirational hotel experience for both investors and guests.

Kike Sarasola – President and Founder Room Mate Group

Kike Sarasola

President and Founder Room Mate Group

Kike is a trendsetting pioneer in the tourist industry thanks to his visionary, disruptive and rebellious character. It all began over 10 years ago when he created Room Mate Hotels as an extension of what was to become his most renowned formula: “the 3B’s”: Bed, Bath, Breakfast. The idea of affordable luxury right smack in the center of the most important cities in the world was the formula for success at Room Mate Hotels, now present in Europe and America with 1.500 rooms and 1.600 about to open in the next 18 months.

In 2014, Sarasola turned it up a notch and challenged the entire industry with the creation of Be Mate, a breakthrough company offering the freedom of an apartment combined with the services and safety of a hotel. Kike broke all the rules in the hospitality sector by bringing to life a new business model that his professional colleagues viciously rejected. Three years later, many followed suit.

In 2017, convinced that happiness is profitable, Kike launches his newest business venture:
X-Perience, which consists in sharing the “key factors” of the successful business model of Room Mate with those hoteliers that are seeking to improve their business in this new digital era, becoming part of the X-Perience community.

Kike competed as an Olympic equestrian in Atlanta, Barcelona and Sydney and still maintains Spain’s record in his specialty; he authored the acclaimed book, More Ideas, Less MBA’s; starred in the Spanish version of the TV program “Hotel Hell” and is regarded as one of Spain’s most influential business people in social media. Furthermore, over the past year, Sarasola has been invited to lecture at over 100 conferences worldwide.

All of the above has led to several international recognitions, including but not limited to the 2017 European Gold Medal for Merit at Work and the 2015 Medal for Tourist Accomplishments granted by the Spanish Council of Ministers.

Oliver Winter – CEO and co-founder, A&O

Oliver Winter

CEO and co-founder, A&O

The hotel business newcomer has established his budget-chain concept as a sure-fire success across Germany. With the entry of TPG Real Estate, a&o paves the way for a Europe-wide market leadership in the individual and youth travel segment. At the same time, Oliver Winter continues to look after the representation and strength of his brand and the well-being of the employees who lead a&o to success - always best price on aohostels.com

Young Leader Award

Adapting to Survive & Thrive: Hear from the CEOs Leading the Change

Five hospitality CEOs share their visions on how global hotel groups are adapting to changing economic conditions, travel trends, operational requirements, labour markets etc. How well do they know their customers, how can they serve their needs better? What can brands deliver in the future?

Moderator

Colin Low – Executive Director, CBRE Hotels EMEA

Colin Low

Executive Director, CBRE Hotels EMEA

Colin Low is Executive Director of CBRE Hotels EMEA based in London and is responsible for leading the transactional business across the EMEA region.
Prior to joining CBRE Hotels, Colin was Senior Vice President and Head of Investment of Frasers Hospitality Trust, a Singapore-listed REIT, where he led acquisitions of hotels and serviced residences globally enlarging FHT’s asset base from S$1.66 billion to $$2.3 billion within 2 years.
Colin has extensive principal investor experience in the hospitality and real estate market. He was Director of Business Development with Frasers Hospitality, responsible for business development and investments across the APAC region. In addition, Colin also had tenures in investment and asset management across various real estate asset classes with AIG Global Real Estate, The Ascott Group and CapitaMalls Asia Limited. He started his career with the United Overseas Bank focusing on real estate corporate banking.

In conversation with:

Ramón Aragonés – Chief Executive Officer, NH Hotels

Ramón Aragonés

Chief Executive Officer, NH Hotels

Sonia Cheng – Chief Executive Officer, Rosewood Hotel Group

Sonia Cheng

Chief Executive Officer, Rosewood Hotel Group

Sonia Cheng leads a team of seasoned industry professionals to spearhead the regional and international expansion of Rosewood Hotel Group. Ms. Cheng is also executive director of New World Development Company Limited and New World China Land which comprise one of the largest conglomerates in Hong Kong.
Before joining Rosewood Hotel Group, Ms. Cheng worked with a major international investment bank and a global American private equity firm, specialising in real estate investments. She is a chairman of the advisory committees of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and a member of the advisory committee of the School of Hotel & Tourism Management Industry at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She is a member of the Y. Elites Association, the Young Presidents’ Organisation, the Hong Kong United Youth Association and the Eleventh Guizhou Municipal Committee of The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Ms. Cheng holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Mathematics with a concentration in Economics from Harvard University.

David Kong – Chief Executive Officer, Best Western International

David Kong

Chief Executive Officer, Best Western International

Arne M. Sorenson – President and CEO, Marriott International

Arne M. Sorenson

President and CEO, Marriott International

Arne M. Sorenson is President and Chief Executive Officer of Marriott International, Inc. Mr. Sorenson presides over one of the world’s largest hospitality companies and some of the most iconic brands in travel.
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Mr. Sorenson led the acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in 2016, resulting in a dramatic expansion of Marriott’s ability to provide unparalleled guest experiences around the world. The company now has more than 6,700 properties across 130 countries and territories and 30 brands. The merger also created the travel industry’s largest customer-loyalty program, with more than 110 million members.
An outspoken corporate leader, he has advocated for environmental sustainability, a more open, safe and inclusive workplace, a welcoming culture around the world and a future in which international travel is revolutionized with a global digital identification system.
Mr. Sorenson joined Marriott in 1996 and held a number of positions before serving as President and Chief Operating Officer. He was elected to Marriott’s Board of Directors in 2011. He became Chief Executive Officer in 2012, making history as the first person to hold the post without the Marriott family name.
With a keen interest in international trade, immigration and innovation, Mr. Sorenson is active on multiple boards. He joined the Microsoft board of directors in November 2017. He is also a member of the Business Roundtable. He serves on the board of trustees for The Brookings Institution, the board of directors for Warrior-Scholar Project and as a member of the Luther College Board of Regents.
Mr. Sorenson is a graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and the University of Minnesota Law School. Before joining Marriott, he was a partner with the law firm Latham & Watkins in Washington, D.C. Mr. Sorenson’s LinkedIn blog, which has more than 600,000 followers, can be found here.

Thomas Willms – Chief Executive Officer, Deutsche Hospitality

Refreshments in exhibition

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

The New Deal Hunters: The New Private Equity Firms Showing Interest in Hotels

Why are hotels increasingly attractive as an asset to private equity investors? As the cycle and metrics are working in hotels’ favours in the real estate investment market, who are the new investors looking to make deals and what are they drawn to?

Moderator:

Kristen Kozlowski – Senior Director, CBRE Hotels

Kristen Kozlowski

Senior Director, CBRE Hotels

Kristen Kozlowski is a Senior Director in the CBRE Hotels EMEA Capital Markets team. She manages a team of seven, who focus on bringing large pan-European hotel transactions to a global audience. By ensuring collaboration and coordination among the 130-strong CBRE Hotels team, Kristen sees to it that sellers benefit from the full depth and breadth of company’s market experience and investor relationships.

Before moving to London, Kristen spent seven years with the CBRE Hotel North American Investment Properties team, most recently working alongside the head of the North American hotels division to manage the U.S. practice.

Prior to joining CBRE, Kristen led acquisition underwriting, research and due diligence for a U.S. third-party management company, Sage Hospitality Resources.

In conversation with:

Christophe Beauvilain – Managing Partner, Pygmalion Capital Advisers LLP

Asset Management: What’s It Worth?

Through case studies from finalists of the HAMA Awards, this session examines the requirement for asset management, how value increases can be achieved through asset management, and the role of the asset manager.

Rastko Djordjevic – Board Member, HAMA Europe Chapter, and EVP – Head of Asset Management EMEA, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group

Rastko Djordjevic

Board Member, HAMA Europe Chapter, and EVP – Head of Asset Management EMEA, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group

Rastko is heading JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group’s Asset Management team in EMEA providing on-going asset management services to owners of internationally branded luxury hotels, focusing on sustainable economic performance enhancement opportunities and value growth.
Prior to joining JLL, Rastko has been managing an office and retail portfolio consisting of 34 department stores spread across 24 cities with a GAV of EUR 750M.
Previous to that Rastko was working with CBRE Hotels in both Spain and heading the Latin American region, working on numerous portfolio valuations, operator selections, development and investment advisory projects.
Rastko gained his operational and business development experience, whilst working for Hilton Hotels in more than 6 properties in Europe and the Caribbean, as well as the regional franchising EMEA office in Frankfurt.
Rastko has a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in International Hospitality Management from the Swiss Hotel Management School Les Roches and in addition he holds an EMBA from IE Business School in Madrid. He is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and serves as a Board Member of the Hotel Asset Management Association (HAMA) European chapter.

Brand and Deliver: Managing Brand Standards

Hard brand, soft brand, independent hotel: what does a brand deliver for customers, developers, and owners? How much standardization is needed? What are the effects of brand requirements on design, construction, operations? 

Sophie Perret – Director, HVS London

Sophie Perret

Director, HVS London

Sophie is a director at the HVS London office. She joined HVS in 2003, following ten years’ operational experience in the hospitality industry in South America and Europe. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sophie holds a degree in Hotel Management from Ateneo de Estudios Terciarios, and an MBA from IMHI (Essec Business School, France and Cornell University, USA). Since joining HVS, she has advised on hotel investment projects and related assignments throughout the EMEA region, and is responsible for the development of HVS’s business in France and the French-speaking countries, as well as Africa. Sophie completed an MSc in Real Estate Investment and Finance at Reading University in 2014, and is in the process of becoming a RICS certified surveyor.

Thomas Magnuson – CEO & Co-Founder, Magnuson Hotels

Thomas Magnuson

CEO & Co-Founder, Magnuson Hotels

Thomas Magnuson co-founded Magnuson Hotels, America’s fastest growing hotel brand as a US based business with his wife Melissa in 2003. Today, Magnuson Hotels is a top 15 global hotel chain with 1000 hotels across 3 continents. Magnuson Hotels’ newly formed distribution partnership with Chinese operator Jin Jiang Hotels and Europe’s Louvre Hotels is the world’s largest hotel alliance, forming a consortium of over 8,000 hotels and 800,000 rooms worldwide, equal to the size of a top 2 global hotel chain.

Thomas Magnuson is a Graduate of Harvard Business School, Pepperdine University School of Business and Tufts University. Prior to Magnuson Hotels, Thomas was a professional drummer in Boston and Los Angeles.

Michelle Woodley – President of Preferred Hotels & Resorts

Michelle Woodley

President of Preferred Hotels & Resorts

Michelle Woodley is President of Preferred Hotels & Resorts. In this role, she has cross-functional and departmental responsibilities, which include working directly with CEO Lindsey Ueberroth on identifying new revenue development opportunities, serving as a corporate spokesperson for the company, and leading the enhancement and improvement of other strategic areas of focus within the organization.
During her 15 years with the company, Michelle has held various leadership roles. Prior to her promotion to President, she served as Executive Vice President, responsible for overseeing the company’s distribution and revenue management department, which included programs for member hotels; brand websites, marketing, and e-commerce strategies; and website programs for the company’s sister division, PHG Consulting. During her tenure, she has also served as Senior Vice President of Global Marketing Strategy, charged with the execution of branding, global marketing programs, and online distribution for the company and its former family of brands.
Before joining Preferred Hotels & Resorts in 2002, Michelle was Vice President of Distribution for Swissôtel and Raffles Hotels & Resorts from 1997 to 2002, where she oversaw the strategic direction and operations of the company’s electronic distribution and database solutions. She held various senior positions in operations, marketing, and distribution with Swissôtel from 1990 to 1997.
Michelle has been an active board member in industry organizations. She is currently on the Americas Board of Directors of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI). She served two terms as president and two terms as vice president of the Hotel Electronic Distribution Network Association (HEDNA), and she was a founding member of the Open Travel Alliance (OTA) and served two terms on their board of directors as treasurer.
Michelle is a graduate of the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.

Franck Gervais – CEO HotelServices Europe, AccorHotels

Franck Gervais

CEO HotelServices Europe, AccorHotels

Franck Gervais
CEO HotelServices Europe
Franck is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique and a civil engineer from Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées (France’s national school of bridges and highways). He started his career in 2001 at the Direction Départementale de l’Equipement des Alpes Maritimes (the Alpes Maritimes regional equipment department) where he was in charge of air bases. In 2004, he was appointed Advisor to the French Minister of Equipment, Transport and Tourism. He joined the SNCF in 2006 as Director of the Chairman’s Cabinet, before heading up Line 8 of the Transilien Greater Paris regional railway service. From 2011 to 2014, he led the transformation of Thalys into a full-function railway company, and was appointed CEO of Voyages-SNCF.com from 2014 to 2017 where, in particular, he carried out the key projects of customer experience and internationalization of the Group.
Franck Gervais joined AccorHotels’ Executive Committee in November 2017.

Brace Yourself, Brexit is Happening… or Is It?

March 2019 marks the date of the UK leaving the EU: how is Brexit going to affect the British and European hospitality industry? Will the UK remain Europe’s most popular market? Who is going to be the beneficiary of Brexit?

Surinder Arora – Founder and Chairman, The Arora Group

Surinder Arora

Founder and Chairman, The Arora Group

Surinder Arora is the Founder and Chairman of the Arora Group. Having arrived in the UK as a teenager from India, Surinder founded the business in 1999, running a luxurious four-star hotel at Heathrow for airline staff. From there, he built a business based on strong principles of enterprise, including the purchase of the Renaissance London Heathrow hotel in 2012, where he had worked as a waiter in the 1970s. Today, the Arora Group is a successful private group of UK-focused companies, with a specialist property, construction and hotel management divisions. The Group owns and manages a diverse portfolio of assets across Britain’s key business locations, with a particular presence in airport regions. Surinder and his wife Sunita are also founders of the Arora Charitable Foundation, supporting social responsibility initiatives in the UK and overseas. The Foundation’s charitable initiatives have raised a combined total of over £1.9 million to date since its inception in 2010. Surinder has been honoured with success in a number of recent awards, including the “Corporate Responsibility” category at the London and South East Institute of Director Awards 2016; “CEO of the Year” at the UK Private Business Awards in 2016; and earlier this year, the Group was awarded ‘Business of the Year’ at the Asian Business Awards.

Timan Gill – Marathon Asset Management

Timan Gill

Marathon Asset Management

Timan Gill is a member of Marathon’s Real Estate team in London, focusing on the Firm’s European hotel investment activities. As part of his duties for the Firm, Timan also presently manages platforms and singular investments across several traditional real estate asset classes, including Residential, Office and Retail, including Mixed-Use.
Timan joined Marathon from Starwood Capital Group, where he was assigned to managing its newly-created UK Hotel Platform - involving the acquisition of three separate distressed UK hospitality corporates (including brands and c.7,000-key owned/leased hotel real-estate portfolio) – also undertaking bolt-on acquisitions of prime single-assets for the platform, and was part of the creation of the new consolidated European hotel brand. During his time with the firm, Timan was also involved in the complex acquisition of central London serviced apartment portfolio, Think Apartments.
Before Starwood Capital Group, he was a Director at the Avington Group, a private family office, specializing in the hospitality and leisure space. He acted across a spectrum of roles ranging from: principal for the firm’s private equity and real estate investments, investment banking advisor and asset manager. During his time with the firm, Timan was engaged in several marquee investments and projects in the US and Europe; notably including the successful distressed acquisition of the former Canalejas assemblage of buildings in central Madrid and subsequent redevelopment into a luxury mixed-use destination including the new Four Seasons Madrid.
Previously, Timan was an Investment Associate at Advent International, the global private equity firm, targeting new investments in the Financial Services and Business Services sectors across Europe, and also assisting in the firm’s portfolio company investments.
He started his career as a graduate in the Investment Banking (Leveraged Finance) division at Deutsche Bank in London. During his time with Deutsche Bank, prior to the financial crisis, Timan participated in the successful underwriting and syndication of circa. €8 billion of high-yield bonds and leveraged loans, predominantly supporting private equity leveraged buy-outs.
Timan holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Physics from the University of Oxford.

Kate Nicholls – CEO, UKHospitality

Kate Nicholls

CEO, UKHospitality

Kate Nicholls was appointed CEO of UKHospitality, the powerful voice representing the broad hospitality sector, in April 2018, having previously worked as CEO and Strategic Affairs Director of the ALMR.
After gaining a degree in English and a post-graduate diploma in competition law, Kate worked as a researcher in the House of Commons and European Parliament before joining Whitbread as Government Relations Manager, starting her careers in hospitality in 1993. Kate was Director at one of the largest independent public affairs companies, working with a number of hospitality, retail and leisure accounts before establishing her own strategic communications consultancy in 2000. She is a graduate of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and Kings College London.

Get Tech for Success: Technology Implementation & The Impact on Profit

What is the risk/reward for hotels investing in technology? Examining whether and how being tech savvy increases the value of a hotel, and what is the best way to do it.

Looking for Leisure: Opportunities for Investment in Resort Concepts

Resorts are increasingly attracting investors’ attention, but whether they are all-inclusive, lifestyle or luxury, business models vary as widely as the amenities that can be offered and the partners involved. How should investors, owners and operators approach the different resort concepts?

Luka Cvitan – Strategy, Capital Markets and IR, Arena Hospitality Group

Luka Cvitan

Strategy, Capital Markets and IR, Arena Hospitality Group

Luka Cvitan is heading the Strategy, Capital Markets and Investor Relations at Arena Hospitality Group, a member of the PPHE Group. Luka has over 10 years of experience in finance, executing a range of sizeable landmark transactions in the structured finance, M&A and capital markets space. Prior to joining Arena Hospitality Group in 2018, Luka was a Director in Agrokor, Croatia’s largest corporate, and spent some time at BNP Paribas Equity Capital Markets in London. Luka holds an MA degree in Finance from the University of Cambridge.

Jörg Lindner – Managing Partner, 12.18. Investment Management GmbH

Jörg Lindner

Managing Partner, 12.18. Investment Management GmbH

Jörg Lindner has more than 30 years of experience in housing, office, retail and hotel property development, financing and management. He’s the managing partner of the Lindner Group and eldest son of the company founder and architect Otto Lindner, whose four other sons are also involved in the company’s management. Jörg Lindner studied business administration, has a professional pilot’s license, is passionate about sport and the proud father of five children.

Nikos Hadjos – Director – Europe (Greece & Cyprus) International Hotel Development, Marriott International

Nikos Hadjos

Director – Europe (Greece & Cyprus) International Hotel Development, Marriott International

Nikos Hadjos is Director of International Hotel Development for Marriott International and is based in Athens. He is heading the development efforts of all Marriott’s brands in Greece and Cyprus.
Before joining Marriott in the headquarters for Middle East and Africa in 2013, Nikos worked for hotel investment companies in the Middle East such as Kingdom Hotel Investments and Abraaj Capital, as Vice President of Acquisitions, covering Middle East, Africa and Southwest Asia.
Nikos has also held positions within the fields of consultancy with industry experts HVS in New York and operations with Marriott and Intercontinental in New York. He is a graduate of the University of Guelph, Ontario and holds an MBA in Finance & Investments from City University of New York. He is also a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in the UK.

Fernando Fernandez – Vice President of Development, Apple Leisure Group

Fernando Fernandez

Vice President of Development, Apple Leisure Group

As Apple Leisure Group®’s Vice President of Development, Fernando Fernandez leverages over three decades of experience in hotel operations, consultancy and development to accelerate the group’s expansion goals in key markets. Fernando is responsible for increasing the company's footprint in the Caribbean and Latin America by securing partnerships with hotel owners and developers in these high-demand markets.
Prior to joining Apple Leisure Group, Fernando spent eight years as Vice President of Development for Meliá Hotels International in Europe, across the Americas and the Caribbean. During his tenure, Fernando successfully negotiated high-profile additions to Meliá’s management portfolio, including Meliá Jamaica, which introduced Spain’s largest hotel company to the English Caribbean. He also oversaw the addition of Me Miami and Meliá Cartagena de Indias in Colombia among others.
In addition to his work with Meliá Hotels International, Fernando managed key accounts for LRA Worldwide, including Starwood Hotels & Resorts (Latin America), Grupo Posadas (México), Interstate Hotels & Resorts (USA), Accor Hotels (Latin América), Pestana Hotels & Resorts (Portugal), Delta Hotels (Canada) and Oberoi Hotels and Resorts (India).
Fernando received a degree in Hotel & Tourism Management from Escuela Official de Turismo in Madrid, Spain, before acquiring additional training in Hotel Management at the Hotel Institute Montreux in Switzerland. Fernando graduated with honors from the University of South Carolina, earning a B.S. in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management.

Pablo Suarez – Chief Executive Officer, Blau Hotels & Resorts

Pablo Suarez

Chief Executive Officer, Blau Hotels & Resorts

Philip Bacon – Director, Planning and Development & Valuations, Horwath HTL

Philip Bacon

Director, Planning and Development & Valuations, Horwath HTL

A graduate in Law from the University of Cambridge, a Chartered Accountant and Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors with over 30 years’ experience in professional business advisory services and general management in a wide range of independently-managed and publicly-listed international companies.
Comprehensive experience of all aspects of hotel and resort development and operations, and specialist expertise in all hospitality-based branded residential business models and mixed use developments, having managed development projects and cross-functional international teams during development, start up and operational launch.
Personally involved in the development of luxury branded residences involving brands such as Mandarin Oriental, Four Seasons, Fairmont, Jumeirah and Armani.
12 years’ international consulting experience of hotel valuations and feasibility studies, operator search, asset management and strategic business planning to owners, lenders and operators across Europe as well as in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.
Combines the highest standards of objective business analysis with an inspirational level of innovation and creativity.

Compliment of the Chef: Enhancing the F&B Offering to Generate Profit

How much are food and beverage offerings worth to a hotel? How do you create an F&B destination? Does F&B increase the value of an asset other than increasing occupancy? How does F&B stay current? 

Dirk Bakker – Chief Executive Officer Netherlands, Colliers International

Dirk Bakker

Chief Executive Officer Netherlands, Colliers International

Extensive Management expertise in the global market, with a focus on Sales & Marketing projects and M&A assignments. Strategic & Turn around management with clarity in vision and strategy, leading to tangible results.
25 years experience in hotel operational consulting & sales with a focus on database management based customer loyalty programs and hotel reservation systems in the global market.
Formerly focused on emerging markets, leveraging extensive entrepreneurial expertise in Europe, India, China and Brasil.
Since 2011 responsible for the Hotel Brokerage & Consultancy expansion for Colliers International in the EMEA region.
Specialties: Multi country assignments, Strategic Marketing, International Business Development, M&A assignments; Turn around management; Hospitality consultancy and financial assignments.

Savvas Perdios – Chief Operations Officer, Louis Hotels

Savvas Perdios

Chief Operations Officer, Louis Hotels

Savvas considers himself very lucky that he can practice his hobby for a living.
His career in hospitality began at the very young age of 15, working various summer jobs in hotel departments like kitchen, maintenance, service, banqueting, housekeeping and guest relations. He is a graduate of the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne (EHL) in Switzerland, where he got numerous worldwide opportunities for operations management internships with Hilton International, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, and Design Hotels. Following his graduation, he remained in Switzerland for a further two years, working as the Financial Controller and Purchasing Manager of Le Mirador Kempinski Mont Pelerin, on the hills of Lake Geneva. His responsibilities there included cost controlling, purchasing, financial reporting, budgeting, and operational analysis. Savvas was approached by Louis Hotels in January ’10, and was offered the opportunity to become its Quality and Brand Manager. This entailed being in charge of creating, implementing and maintaining operating standards across the whole hotel portfolio, and also being in charge of branding and reputation management. After 8 years in this position, Savvas was recently rewarded with a promotion as Louis Hotels’ Chief Operations Officer; in addition to heading operations, he is also involved with strategy and hotel development.

Jose Matheu – Chief Development Officer, Palladium Hotel Group

Jose Matheu

Chief Development Officer, Palladium Hotel Group

Jose Matheu is the Chief Development Officer of Palladium Hotel Group since 2016. The group currently operated a portfolio of 9 Hotel brands, gathering almost 14,000 room/keys in six different countries. Responsable for seeking opportunities globally, and as a priority Mr. Matheu is finding investment partners who are willing to analyze reconversion projects in association with the group with the aim of repeating success stories like Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza & Tenerife and Only You Hotels.
José was already responsible on the business development areas helping the ​​major hotel multinationals to implement their strategies abroad, such as Meliá Hotels International, where he was responsible for portfolio management and ownership for properties in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and for Barceló Hotels & Resorts, as business development responsible in EMEA area. In addition, also as Director of business development in Asia & Centre countries of Europe for Camper from Mallorca
Mr. Matheu was born in Spain and holds a Master in Corporate Finance from ESADE Business School, and a Law & L.L.Business degree from Universidad San Pablo CEU of Barcelona, achieving a Mention in Business in Dublin, Ireland, and in parallel is Advisor of the Spanish Ministry of Finance on the perspective of business internationalization and investment strategy for companies.

NETWORKING LUNCH

Short talks introducing the need-to-know points in each conference track.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

Negotiating Power: The Essential Tools for Closing the Deal

Once due diligence is done, how to negotiate the best deal? Looking at enterprise value to equity bridge, managing the auction process, best practice and points to avoid.

Christian Mole – Associate Partner, EY

Christian Mole

Associate Partner, EY

Christian leads EY’s Hospitality & Leisure team for the UK and Ireland. He has 20 years’ experience advising a mixture of listed companies, real estate funds and private investors in respect of transactions and restructurings within the hotel and leisure sector.

Joanne Owen – Partner, Proskauer

Joanne Owen

Partner, Proskauer

Joanne Owen is a partner in Proskauer’s Corporate Department based in our London office and is a member of our Private Equity Real Estate and Lodging & Gaming Groups.
She has experience in a range of complex, institutional and corporate property matters, with an emphasis on advising private equity based clients.
Jo has been involved in numerous landmark transactions in the UK and internationally, advising on acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures and financing schemes.
Her clients include leading private equity houses, sovereign wealth funds and private high net worth investors.
Jo has worked extensively for clients in the hospitality sector and has advised on all aspects of this industry. She regularly advises on cross border corporate retail estate transactions.
Our Lodging & Gaming Group has long been recognized in legal and business circles to the influential role we play in the industry. We represent owners, investors, managers and lenders in virtually every kind of transaction, from the sale of brands, chains, portfolios and single assets to advising on management and other operational arrangements.
She is recognised by Chambers UK and The Legal 500.

Gary Jones – Chief Operating Officer, Aprirose Real Estate Investment

Gary Jones

Chief Operating Officer, Aprirose Real Estate Investment

Gary joined Aprirose in January 2015
He is responsible for the day to day running of the company, which includes overseeing all finance, HR and procedural issues of the company and its investments
Gary has significant commercial, financial and international tax structuring expertise and uses these skills to enhance shareholder value for all of Aprirose's investments
His insights into the requirements of lending institutions allows Aprirose to tailor structures to suit investors
Prior to joining Aprirose, Gary spent nine years running the very large private property group Edinburgh House Estates/Estama. Prior to this he worked in the Big Four accountancy firms. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor in 1997 with Arthur Anderson in London

Sue-Lin Heng – Managing Director, Eastdil Secured

Sue-Lin Heng

Managing Director, Eastdil Secured

Ms. Heng is a Managing Director within the London office of Eastdil Secured. She has over 20 years working experience in the hospitality, alternatives and real estate sector in both investment sales and corporate advisory services. She has sold over $20bn worth of real estate across Europe and Asia.
Her current responsibilities also include managing client relationships client relationships with key Asian buyers & facilitating cross border capital flows.
Ms. Heng is fluent in English, Mandarin Chinese and various Chinese dialects. She holds MBAs with Columbia Business School in the US and London Business School in the UK.

Seeing the Bigger Picture: How to Maximise Revenue Beyond the Bedroom

How can hotels make money outside of lodging and monetise every square metre of hotel space? How to capture multiple use of hotel space? Can co-working and co-living spaces increase revenue, and what are the design and operational considerations? How to space plan your hotel? 

Moderator:

Roger A. Allen – Group CEO, Resources for Leisure Assets

Roger A. Allen

Group CEO, Resources for Leisure Assets

Roger is the Founder and Group CEO of Resources for Leisure Assets (RLA) a recognized global advisory to investors, owners, developers and management companies in wellbeing hospitality, specializing in hotels, resorts, residential, mixed-use, healthcare, active living communities and health tourism developments.
RLA works closely with project stakeholders across four continents from its offices in Sonoma, Vienna and Dubai to provide conceptual, financial analysis and asset management of complex assets such resorts and destination assets.
For more than 20 years, Roger has been working on multiple levels of project development in the hospitality and leisure industries, developing a singular expertise in wellbeing asset management and the complexity of project planning through to delivery and operations.
Roger has worked with most of the leading hotel operating brands, is a former a partner at Horwath HTL for Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and CIS Countries and was a co-author contributor to the book ‘Hotel & Resorts Valuation – An Investors Guide’ and is a member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC).

In conversation with:

Jay Stein – Chief Executive Officer, Dream Hotel Group

Jay Stein

Chief Executive Officer, Dream Hotel Group

Jay Stein is Chief Executive Officer of Dream Hotel Group, overseeing the evolution and expansion efforts of the Company and its portfolio of brands: Dream Hotels, Time Hotels, The Chatwal and Unscripted Hotels.
With over three decades in the hospitality business and more than 20 years with Dream Hotel Group’s predecessor, Hampshire Hotels Management, Stein has served in a variety of property and corporate roles with both large and boutique hotel brands, including Hilton Worldwide, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, and Doral Hotels.
Stein began his career in 1983 with Hilton Worldwide at the Vista International Hotel in the World Trade Center in New York City. A veteran of food and beverage management, he turned his sights to general hotel operations in 1987 and quickly rose up through the ranks to become Managing Director for three Doral Hotels in New York City. After taking those properties through the transition to Starwood Hotels and Resorts, he joined Dream Hotel Group as Executive Vice President of Operations and was soon promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 1997, overseeing hotel operations and playing a vital role in the Company’s expansion efforts. Stein was named Chief Executive Officer in 2015.

Ronit Copeland – Managing Director, Copeland Hospitality

Ronit Copeland

Managing Director, Copeland Hospitality

Ronit Copeland is a hotel & lifestyle expert with over 25 years of experience in the hospitality & tourism business. Her passion for hotels & lifestyle products along with unparalled expertise led her to establish Copeland Hospitality, a firm specializing in creative tailor-made solutions and bespoke services of uncompromising quality to the hospitality, tourism, hotel & lifestyle industries
Ronit Copeland holds a BA Hons in Business Administration from Clark University (MA, USA) and an MBA postgraduate degree in Marketing & Finance from the Hebrew University (Jerusalem, Israel). Prior to setting up Copeland Hospitality, Ronit held senior positions in global hotel chains such as Hyatt, Starwood, Hilton and Marriott as well as the Vice President of marketing & sales of Tamares Spa Hotels Group.
She is proficient in English, Spanish and Hebrew.

Michael Manz – Founder and Managing Partner, Swiss Hospitality & Partners

Michael Manz

Founder and Managing Partner, Swiss Hospitality & Partners

Michael Manz is a founder and managing partner of the Swiss Hospitality & Partners group. The group manages and consults various hotels mainly in Switzerland but also abroad, and establishes and positions a range of ventures, brands and concepts.
From 2000 to 2004, he worked for Manz Privacy Hotels Group as a member of the management team responsible for monthly operational reports, and planning and supervising renovations. From 2006 to 2010 he was Chief Finance Officer of the company, responsible for all real estate investments and its asset management division.
Michael is member of the board of ASW (a small world – ASWN:SW), a company listed on the Swiss stock exchange as well as member of the board of Hotver Hotel Group in Ecuador, which manages 7 hotels in that region. He has an MBA degree from SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, Italy. He speaks five languages fluently: German, English, Italian, French and Russian, as well as advanced Spanish.
In his free time Michael enjoys skiing, chess and cooking. He is married, lives in Malta and has three children.

Marco Nijhof – Group Director of Hospitality & Guest Experience, Value Retail Management Ltd

Marco Nijhof

Group Director of Hospitality & Guest Experience, Value Retail Management Ltd

Marco Nijhof is an accomplished multilingual senior executive/director within the international five star luxury hotel and hospitality industry, specialising in start-ups and brand creation for hotels - YOO Hotels & Resorts International (Design and lifestyle brands).
His experience includes Jumeirah Hotels in Dubai, Grand Hyatt's in Asia and Marriott Hotels in Europe, along with an outstanding track record in high-volume, multi-site operations on five continents. Marco is skilled in delivering strategic change and driving innovation/improvement with a strong focus on sales, marketing and revenue management; he has achieved exceptionally high levels of customer satisfaction in 18 countries by real engagement with multi-cultural workforces.

The Evolution of the Hotel Lease

What is the impact of the rise of leases on the market? Looking at the evolution of leases across varying markets and asset classes.

Moderator:

Marc Nelson – Director Investment Properties UK, CBRE

Marc Nelson

Director Investment Properties UK, CBRE

Marc is an Director in the EMEA Hotel Investment Properties team, specialising Fixed Income Investments. Over the past 2 years, Marc has acted on over £750 million worth Fixed Income Hotel deals.
Before moving to Investment Properties, Marc was in the Investment Advisory team providing commercial due diligence, buy-side advisory and financial underwriting commercial banks, institutional and small funds, developers, high net individuals and international/national hotel groups spanning across the EMEA.
Prior to joining CBRE, Marc worked for TRI Hospitality Consulting since 2011 specialising in feasibility and advisory services. Marc has a further two years experience as a fund analyst at Hospitality Property Fund (the only listed property fund in South Africa that specialises solely in hotels and leisure).
Marc has a Bachelor of Commerce and Postgraduate Degree from the University of Johannesburg in Fiance and Investment Management. Furthermore, Marc is a CFA Charterholder, having passed all three levels.

In conversation with:

Jaime Buxó – Chief Development Officer, Barceló Hotels & Resorts

Jaime Buxó

Chief Development Officer, Barceló Hotels & Resorts

Jaime Buxó has 30 years’ experience in the hospitality
industry having worked in the EMEA and the AMERICAS
regions. From 2015, he is the Chief Development
Officer at the Barceló Hotel Group , the third largest
hotel company in Spain which offers 4 and 5 star hotels
in 20 countries.
Jaime has gathered his extensive know-how from
several roles in the Hospitality Industry. From 2002 to
2004 he was the Managing Director at AREAS Hotels
Division, a company providing professional and highquality
service to travellers in airports, railway stations,
etc. In 2004 and until 2012 he was appointed Sales
and Marketing Senior Vice President at Barceló Hotels
& Resorts where he developed the areas of sales ,
brand, distribution and marketing; during those years
the Company became a leader in direct distribution
( barcelo.com) , developed a new Brand architecture,
introduced a new marketing strategy and developed a
global sales team with global sales tools. In 2012 Jaime
moved to Occidental Hotels & Resorts as the Chief
Officer Manager and was responsible for the strategic
plan 2012-2016 and the company’s development to
new markets before returning to the Barceló Hotel
Group in 2015.
As a member of the Executive Committee at the
Barceló Hotel Group and Barceló Crestline USA , he has
participated in the company’s development in the USA

Adam Konieczny – VP Business Development, Louvre Hotels Group

Adam Konieczny

VP Business Development, Louvre Hotels Group

Adam Konieczny joined Louvre Hotels Group in May 2017 as a Development Director for Poland and Eastern Europe. His goal is to develop the brands of the group through franchise, management and lease contracts in the region.
Previously he was a Country Head Poland at Christie & Co. Based in Warsaw, he was responsible for identifying hotel opportunities across Poland and CEE for the development and expansion of the company in the region. He has been involved in a number of advisory and valuation assignments as well as operator search and section processes. In 2016 Adam was involved in sale of two 4-star hotels in Wrocław and Gdańsk on behalf of an American fund.
Prior to Christie & Co, Adam worked several years as a Senior Consultant in the hospitality area, at DTZ´s (now Cushman & Wakefield) hospitality department in Warsaw.
Adam Konieczny has a Master of Arts in Mangement from Warsaw School of Economics and a Master of Science in Real Estate from Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He also obtained a Certificate in Hotel Real Estate Invesments and Asset Management from Cornell University. Adam is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Sheima Salloum – Director, Eastdil Secured

Sheima Salloum

Director, Eastdil Secured

Sheima Salloum is a Director at Eastdil Secured based in
the London office. With over 10 years of experience in the
hospitality real estate industry and having transacted hotels
worth over US$6bn, she currently oversees the European
hotel transactions team for Eastdil Secured.
Prior to her career at Eastdil Secured, Sheima led JLL’s
German Capital Markets team and was an integral part of
the European transactions team as an Executive Vice
President. Sheima holds a Master degree in business
management from the Munich University of Applied
Sciences and is fluent in German, English, French, Arabic
and Spanish.

David Kellett – Senior Director, Hotel Transactions, Invesco Real Estate

David Kellett

Senior Director, Hotel Transactions, Invesco Real Estate

David Kellett is a Senior Director of Hotel Transactions for the Hotel Fund Management team at Invesco Real Estate (IRE), a dedicated specialist team who manage IRE’s investment in the hotel real estate sector. Kellett has 19 years of transaction experience, which has focused on real estate, hospitality and leisure for the last 14 years.
Kellett joined IRE in November 2018 from InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) where he worked for 6 years. He held senior roles at IHG including head of investor relations and most recently head of development in Europe, where he led IHG’s involvement in the recently completed Principal transaction. Prior to IHG Kellett worked in investment banking at JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch and an independent boutique.
Kellett has a degree in Chemistry from the University of Oxford.

Valerie Schuermans – Vice President Business Development, Radisson Hotel Group

Valerie Schuermans

Vice President Business Development, Radisson Hotel Group

Looking North: How to Unlock the Nordic Markets?

What are the challenges for international brands to enter the Nordic markets (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden)? Understanding the economic picture and hospitality market conditions in Nordic markets, the main stakeholders and the opportunities for international brands in a region dominated by local companies.

Christian Kielgast – Partner, Nordic Hotel Consulting

Christian Kielgast

Partner, Nordic Hotel Consulting

Christian Kielgast is partner in Nordic Hotel Consulting (NHC) – the leading hotel advisory in the Nordics with offices in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki and Reykjavik. NHC is active within consulting, asset management and investment advisory. NHC advices major regional and international investors, developers and banks. Christian leads NHC’s investment advisory unit and has in the last couple of years advised on some of the largest single asset and portfolio transactions across the Nordics & Baltics with an aggregate value in excess of 1 billion EUR.

Martin Edsinger – Senior Vice President, KSL Capital

Martin Edsinger

Senior Vice President, KSL Capital

Mr Edsinger joined KSL in May 2016. Martin most recently worked as an Investment Manager with ARLE Capital Partners. Previously, Martin worked as an Experienced Associate Consultant with Bain & Company and an Economic Analyst with NERA Economic Consulting. Martin graduated from the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), where he holds a degree in Accounting and Financial Management and an MSc in Economics and Business.

Dimitris Manikis – President and Managing Director EMEA, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Dimitris Manikis

President and Managing Director EMEA, Wyndham Hotels & 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 Hotel Group’s 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 Hotel Group 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 Hotel Group, 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 Hotel Group’s London office.

Erik Möller – Director Development – Nordics, Marriott International

Erik Möller

Director Development – Nordics, Marriott International

Jesper Engman – Vice President Business Development, Scandic

Jesper Engman

Vice President Business Development, Scandic

Jesper Engman is Vice President Business Development for Scandic Hotels and a member of Scandic’s Executive Committee. Jesper is responsible for the company’s acquisition and development department including the sourcing and signing of new hotels, take overs and conversions, and the renewal of existing lease agreements.
Jesper has been part of the successful growth of Scandic from 135 hotels in 2006 to 280 hotels today. Prior to Scandic, Jesper worked for the hotel real estate company Pandox as Director Business Area and analyst. Jesper has 20 years of experience in the hotel real estate sector and holds a Master of Science in Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Blending Technology and the Customer Experience: How to Make it Work?

How to tie technology to the customer? As well as cutting costs and simplifying processes, technology is removing points of human interaction: how to balance human interaction and convenience? What technologies are essential for customers?

Moderator:

David Samson – Associate Director, Travel, Hospitality and Leisure (THL) Practice, Deloitte

David Samson

Associate Director, Travel, Hospitality and Leisure (THL) Practice, Deloitte

In conversation with:

Maud Bailly – Chief Digital Officer, AccorHotels

Maud Bailly

Chief Digital Officer, AccorHotels

Maud Bailly joined AccorHotels as Chief Digital Officer on April 3rd 2017.
She is head of the Digital, Distribution, Guest Experience, Sales, Data and Information Systems, and is a Member of the Executive Committee of the company.
Since her arrival, Maud has deployed a worldwide digital and cultural transformation within the Group. Co-designed with operations, this customer-oriented and product-driven strategy relies on strategic choices amongst which hyper-personalization, usage dogma and a responsible data approach... empowering AccorHotels to be sustainably chosen by both guests and hotels.
On May 2018 29th, Maud has joined the French Digital Council, (CNNum), a 30 people circle nominated by the French Minister of Digital to study digital-related topics, with a focus on stakes & perspective of the digital transition of French society, economy, companies, organizations, public action and territories.
Maud Bailly is 39 years old and is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration.
She started her career in 2007 at the Inspection Générale des Finances (IGF).
After several audit missions at the IGF, both in France and abroad - with missions for the World Bank and the International Money Fund, she joined the SNCF as the Paris Montparnasse station’s Director and Deputy Director of the TGV product for the Paris Rive Gauche region. She then became Director of Trains, in charge of network animation and of the transformation of 10.000 train controllers’ and 3.000 station agents’ roles, as well as the renewal of Guest Experience on board. Called by the Prime Minister’s Office in May 2015, she became Head of the Economic and Digital pole in Matignon (official Prime Minister’s office, under Manuel Valls), in charge of fiscal, tax, industrial, financial, but also numerical affairs, where she dealt especially with open data, General Data Protection Regulation, IT security and digital accessibility. On top of that, she also tackled several issues of State reform as well as post-Brexit issues for the Paris financial market.
Additionally, Maud gives regular trainings on digital transformation stakes.
Whether it is in stations, on trains, in hotels, on a website or a mobile app, building an easier and enriched ecosystem for the customers thanks to digital, while ensuring a maximum data privacy respect, is for sure Maud’s favorite playground.

Lisa Bovio – Chief Commercial Officer, Yotel

Lisa Bovio

Chief Commercial Officer, Yotel

Lisa Bovio holds overall global responsibility for YOTEL's Sales, Revenue Management, Public Relations, Social Media, Digital Marketing, Brand and e-commerce). Lisa speaks five languages and has over 25 years’ experience in various areas of the tourism industry spanning from hospitality, car rental, OTA, cruise and corporate travel. She is an outstanding negotiator with excellent commercial acumen and a proven track record. During her car rental days, she won the biggest car rental corporate account in Europe: EADS worth €25M pa at the time. She has worked with global brands such as Oberoi, Hertz, Kerzner, Aman as well as e-commerce platforms such as lastminute.com. Lisa is on the Board of Directors of Entrepreneur Resorts and on the Advisory Board of the NOR Project.

Víctor Fernández – CEO, Room Mate Group

Víctor Fernández

CEO, Room Mate Group

Víctor Fernández Cintrano has been the CEO of Room Mate since 2015. This is the international group which encompasses Room Mate Hotels, Be Mate (the innovative tourist housing company) and X-Perience (a consultancy with the Room Mate stamp and PwC collaboration). For four years previous to this he was the Managing Director of Room Mate Hotels.
Following his incorporation, the company's results have quadrupled and he has developed an ambitious diversification and expansion project, with the company now being present in more than 16 cities around the world. Before Room Mate, Víctor developed a family real-estate company which became the leading company in the tourism consultancy sector in Spain.
Víctor Fernández studied Law at the Universidad Complutense and afterwards he completed a master in Finance and an Executive MBA at ICADE. In addition, he has been a professor at ICADE and a program leader at CEU and the Instituto de Fomento Empresarial. Moreover, he has written numerous articles and participates at both national and international conferences.

Tom Page – Partner, Head of Hotels & Leisure, CMS

Tom Page

Partner, Head of Hotels & Leisure, CMS

Thomas Page is Head of the CMS Hotels & Leisure Group. In this position, he leads an international team of over 100 specialists.
With experience across Europe, Middle East, South East Asia and Africa, Tom advises a range of international clients, including investors, developers, operators, fund managers and banks on corporate transactions such as M&A, joint ventures and corporate finance, in the hotels, leisure, real estate and technology sectors.
As developers, investors and banks need specialist advice on hotel management agreements with operators, he has developed a particular expertise in this area, publishing “The Little Blue Book Guide to Hotel Management Agreements”.
Operators have asked him to advise on their standard form management agreements. Tom is recognised as a leading expert in the hotels sector, regularly speaks at international industry events and is on the Advisory Board of the International Hotel Investment Forum and the Investment Committee of Global Hotel Network.
He is a top ranked individual for Hotels & Leisure by legal directory Chambers and recommended as a Leading Individual by Legal 500. He leads a team that is top ranked by both publications.

Stay Just a Little Bit Longer: The Rise of the Serviced Apartment

Previously a niche market, serviced apartments, aparthotels and co-living spaces are establishing themselves as an attractive investment proposition for a wider range of investors. What is the state of the market and what’s in it for investors, owners and operators?

Moderator:

Gesa Rohwedder – Head of Hospitality, ‎Drees & Sommer

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

In conversation with:

Robert Alley – Chief Operating Officer, Roomzzz Aparthotels

Robert Alley

Chief Operating Officer, Roomzzz Aparthotels

Robert joined Roomzzz Aparthotels at the beginning of the year as COO to lead the team through an exciting phase of growth. With two new exciting aparthotels opened this year and a further five more in the pipeline, Roomzzz is well established in the exciting aparthotel sector providing stylish apartments with a personal touch for adventure, business and celebration. Robert has over 25 year’s hospitality experience with some of the world’s largest hotel brands and provides a focus on customer experience, commercial strength and leadership to take the group through the next few years as an innovator and market leader.

Ken Moore – Managing Director - EMEA Oakwood

Ken Moore

Managing Director - EMEA Oakwood

Ken Moore joined Oakwood in 2018 as Managing Director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Prior to his appointment, Moore held roles across a range of international hospitality organizations, including Pavilion Group, Dong Du International and Le Meridian Resorts, where he contributed successfully to achieving tangible change within a fast-moving industry. He most recently managed the development and opening of the Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur Hotel, the Shanghai Town and Country Community Project
Moore has more than 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry and has achieved recognition over the years, including the Vice President’s awards for Achievement in Outstanding Quality, Performance Excellence and Exceptional Customer Service, and was previously awarded the Catey Award for Hotel of the Year.
Moore is a graduate of the Holiday Inn Management Development Programme, a member of the Hotel and Catering International Management Association (HCIMA) and of the Institute of Hospitality.

Form & Function: The Key Design Considerations for Hotel F&B Spaces

What are the major design considerations for restaurants and bars in hotels? How to design spaces that enhance the customer experience while increasing the value of the asset?

Moderator:

Heleri Rande – Consulting Editor & F&B Strategist, SUPPER Magazine

Heleri Rande

Consulting Editor & F&B Strategist, SUPPER Magazine

Heleri is a freelance F&B strategist helping hotel owners refine their F&B strategy and find the right concepts, operators and/or chefs. She is also a consulting editor for SUPPER Magazine, the international title covering global hotel F&B. SUPPER explores the projects, personalities and products driving the sector and presents these in a quarterly print title, distributed to the industry’s leading figures.
Originally from Estonia, Heleri has lived in seven countries and holds a Bachelor’s Degree from New York University in Economics and Business, as well as an executive MBA in Hospitality Administration from École Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) in Switzerland.
After spending six years in finance in both New York and London, Heleri returned to the industry that combines her passion for travel, food and excellent customer service. For two years after graduating from EHL, Heleri was Director of Business Development for Europe, Middle East, and Africa at Puccini Group. Based in the firm’s London office, Heleri spearheaded Puccini Group’s growth within the region, identified opportunities for clients and connected them with Puccini Group’s resources to produce optimal solutions.
Heleri serves as an advisory board member for the Global Restaurant Investment Forum and Sleep + Eat Conference, is one of the founders of the Hyatt Student Prize Alumni and holds a seat on EHL’s United Kingdom Alumni Chapter Committee.

In conversation with:

Monika Moser – Managing Director — Europe, Wilson Associates

Monika Moser

Managing Director — Europe, Wilson Associates

Monika is a hotelier at heart. With an MBA in Hospitality Management from ESSEC Business School and over 20 years of experience in hotel operations, she’s an authority in luxury hospitality. A German native who grew up in South America, Monika developed a passion for art, music, literature and language. She is now fluent in five languages. As Managing Director of Wilson’s atelier in Paris and design office in London, Monika is a brand ambassador who supports the firm’s strategic initiatives. A cultural aficionado, she frequents the opera and loves listening to Rachmaninoff while drinking a malt whiskey. However, her greatest treasure is spending time with her daughter, Clara.

Tim Mutton – CEO and Founder, Blacksheep

Tim Mutton

CEO and Founder, Blacksheep

Refreshments in exhibition

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

You Can Bank on It! Examining Institutional Interest in the Hotel Sector (invitation only)

As institutional investors are increasingly considering hotel investment, let’s examine what they are looking for when considering a hotel investment: What types of assets? What locations? What models are they favouring? Who’s taking the operating risk? 

Karl Badstuber – Senior Hotel Specialist - Real Assets, AXA Real Estate Investment Managers SGP

Karl Badstuber

Senior Hotel Specialist - Real Assets, AXA Real Estate Investment Managers SGP

Karl J. Badstuber joined AXA Real Estate in June 2013 as the pan-European Senior Hotel Specialist focusing on Acquisitions and Asset Management.

Before taking up his current role, Karl worked at Morgan Stanley Real Estate for 5 years as Vice President – Hotels Europe. His previous post was as Head of Hotels at Grand City Hotels & Resorts, which at the time managed and operated over 40 hotels.

Prior to that he worked for a number of international hotel companies including InterContinental and Starwood in various senior hotel management positions in Germany, Luxembourg, England and Australia.
Karl successfully completed a 2-year management trainee programme with Sheraton Hotel Incorporation and gained his initial hotel operational experience in selected privately owned 5-star hotels in Switzerland (Davos, Lausanne, Ascona), after graduating from the Hotel & Catering College in Merano (Italy)

Andreas Löcher – Head of Acquisition & Sales Investment Management Hotels, Union Investment Real Estate

Andreas Löcher

Head of Acquisition & Sales Investment Management Hotels, Union Investment Real Estate

Andreas Löcher is Head of Division of Investment Management Hotel at Union Investment Real Estate GmbH, Hamburg, since July 2010. He is in charge of the hotel investment strategy and coordinates all Hotel Acquisitions and Sales activities within the Hamburg-based property investment company. The widespread hotel portfolio of Union Investment containing some 20 hotel operators/brands in nine country markets currently comprises 52 real estate properties with a current market value of about 3.2 billion EUR. For its open-ended real estate funds, Union Investment plans to acquire more in Europe and the US. In 2015, Union Investment entered the US hotel investment market by acquiring the “Godfrey Hotel” in Boston followed by the acquisition of the “LondonHouse” hotel in Chicago. Moreover, the hotel portfolio will also be continuously enlarged by selective acquisitions in the budget segment.
Prior to joining Union Investment, Andreas Löcher was a Head of Hotel Acquisitions & Sales at Deka Immobilien GmbH, Frankfurt and a Vice President at Aareal Bank AG, Wiesbaden, responsible for real estate finance (hotel).

Integrating Wellness to Impact the Bottom Line

Understanding wellness as not just an add-on amenity but a concept that impacts profitability and asset value when integrated throughout the whole facility, from design to landscaping, materials used, F&B, staff training and more.

Moderator:

Claire Way – Managing Director, Spa Strategy

Claire Way

Managing Director, Spa Strategy

Managing the Management Contracts: Do We Need to Simplify?

A source of debate between owners and operators, the consensus on management contracts is that they need to be simplified. What is causing the complexity? Are new types of management contracts (e.g. hybrid management agreements; contracts backed up by a lease) really making a difference? 

Paul Pisani – Senior Vice President Hotel Development, Corinthia Hotels

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.

Aaron Greenman – Executive Vice President, Acquisitions & Development – EMEA, Interstate Hotels & Resorts

Aaron Greenman

Executive Vice President, Acquisitions & Development – EMEA, Interstate Hotels & Resorts

Aaron Greenman, based in Brussels, Belgium, is Interstate Hotels & Resorts’ executive vice president of acquisitions and development for Europe, responsible for growing the portfolio of managed hotels for all European regions including Russia/CIS.
Aaron joined Interstate in fall 2007 as head of development in India, in addition to his responsibilities as COO with the company’s joint venture partner there. In 2010, he was promoted to senior vice president of acquisitions and development for Europe, working closely with his European colleagues to build on the company’s platform in the region. At the time, Interstate had 10 hotels throughout Europe and presence in several countries. During his tenure, Interstate has added approximately 100 management agreements in Europe, and today the company has nearly 80 hotels and over 12,000 rooms under management, in addition to 12 hotels in the pipeline, making Europe one of Interstate’s fastest growing regions.
Prior to joining Interstate, Aaron was managing director for AFEX Group in Nairobi, Kenya, responsible for a company with 600 employees with operations throughout East Africa, and earlier was a senior manager in Ernst and Young LLP’s real estate advisory services practice, based in Boston, New York and Miami. He earned a Master of Management in Hospitality (MMH) from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College.

Willemijn Geels – Associate Vice President Development, Continental Europe, IHG

Willemijn Geels

Associate Vice President Development, Continental Europe, IHG

Willemijn Geels is Associate Vice President, Continental Europe for IHG and is responsible for the expansion of the group’s brands across the region. She has nearly 15 years’ experience in the hospitality industry through various operational and development related positions.
Before joining IHG, Willemijn was Development & Acquisitions Director for Louvre Hotels Group in Europe and previously she was active as Manager within the HTL practice of Deloitte. In that role, she headed multiple hotel valuations, feasibility studies as well as transaction and strategic advisory assignments.
Willemijn graduated from ESSEC business school with a MBA degree in International Hospitality Management and specialising in Real Estate.

Rami Badr – Managing Director, Orion Capital Managers

Rami Badr

Managing Director, Orion Capital Managers

Rami is a Partner and Managing Director of Orion and is primarily located in London. Since joining Orion in 2002, he has been involved in acquisitions, asset management and realisations for the Orion European RE Funds across Europe with a particular focus on larger corporate transactions, pan-European portfolios, debt acquisitions, restructurings and retail investments. This includes active involvement in investments such as Infracity in Stockholm, Puerto Venecia in Spain, the equity participation in Société Foncière Lyonnaise, the debt acquisition and restructuring of the Spanish company Inmobiliara Colonial or the Sotogrande resort relaunch. Before joining Orion he was an associate at Arthur Andersen within the transaction support team, advising large corporations on their RE strategies. Rami is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique.

Elias Hayek – Partner, Head of Global Hospitality and Leisure, Squire Patton Boggs

Elias Hayek

Partner, Head of Global Hospitality and Leisure, Squire Patton Boggs

Elias Hayek leads the global Hospitality & Leisure Group at Squire Patton Boggs, a leading international law firm with 1500 lawyers in 46 offices across 21 countries. He is a widely respected hospitality lawyer with over two decades of cross-jurisdictional professional experience in the hospitality sector, including in sector specific corporate and commercial transactions; management, licensing, franchising and service agreements; hospitality M&A and joint ventures; hotel project leasing agreements; mixed use and branded residential developments; sale and lease / manage back transactions; and food and beverage, restaurant and health and wellness management and licensing agreements. His clients include multi asset owner / developers, private equity funds, brand owners and third party operators. He currently represents clients on hospitality projects across Europe, Africa, Middle East and Indian Ocean. Over his career, Elias closed over 350 hospitality and leisure projects across virtually every major city in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Central Asia.

Elias is the current Vice Chair of the Leisure Industries Section of the International Bar Association (IBA) representing more than 80,000 individual lawyers and more than 190 bar associations and law societies spanning over 160 countries; He is charged with leading the hospitality and leisure initiatives for the IBA. Elias also holds two other leadership positions in the IBA: as vice chair of the Corporate Counsel Forum, and as an officer of the Arab Regional Forum (ARF) of the Legal Practice Division, where he is jointly responsible for directing strategy of the IBA in the region. He is the former chair and president of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Middle East chapter, a position he held from its formation and launch until 2017.

Prior to joining the firm, Elias worked for 17 years at a leading Fortune 500 international hotel brands owner and operator, where his last role was as vice president, Legal – Europe, Middle East and Africa Division. During this time, Elias worked in both the Brussels and Dubai offices and was responsible for overseeing all regional legal matters in the Middle East, Africa and Indian Ocean, including advising corporate executives and hotel management on operations, acquisitions, development, HR, sales and marketing, dispute resolution, litigation and arbitration. His extensive in-house experience, multi-jurisdictional exposure, commercial acumen and vast connections in both the hotel operator and owner/developer communities are a substantial asset to clients.

He received his Juris Doctorate from the University of the Pacific, where he was a member of the International Moot Court Honors Board. He also holds a BSc in Business Administration from California State University, where he majored in Finance and Economics.

Elias is also the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award awarded by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Global Board, the global association of corporate lawyers representing 40,000 members in over 85 countries.

Asian Investment: View from the East and the Impact on Global Hospitality

Who are the most active investors from the APAC region influencing global hotel investment and what are the push factors from their home markets driving global diversification?  

Moderator

Jileen Loo – Senior Director, CBRE Hotels

Jileen Loo

Senior Director, CBRE Hotels

Jileen's role within CBRE Hotels is to help international hotel investors place capital in UK and European markets. Jileen works closely with the European investment sales team to truly understand each sale opportunity and regularly tours Asia to personally present those opportunities to investors. In order to leverage the wealth of investor relationships resident within the CBRE network, she partners with the international in-country experts.
After being based in Shanghai for eight years, Jileen recently joined CBRE Hotels EMEA in London. She previously served as Senior Director of Industrial Advisory Services for CBRE China and has over 15 years of commercial real estate experience and has worked in China, Singapore and New Zealand.

In conversation with:

Piyaporn Ann Phanachet – Chief Executive Officer, U City

Piyaporn Ann Phanachet

Chief Executive Officer, U City

Ms.Piyaporn Ann Phanachet is Chief Executive Officer at U City PLC.
She has approximately 30 years experience in business development and investment in real estate, including:
•Managing Director Assets at Sonevaand Six Senses Resorts and Spa.
•Assistant CEO, TCC Land, managing over 3 billion USD investment.
•Director, AIG real estate investment fund and AIG Direct Investment Fund.
•Director, Quality House (Public) Co.,Ltd
•Auditor, PWC
Education:
•MSc in Real Estate Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA
•MBA, University of New Hampshire, USA
•BA in Accounting, ChulalongkornUniversity, Thailand

Susheela Rivers – Office Managing Partner, Hong Kong, Head of Real Estate, Asia Pacific, DLA Piper

Susheela Rivers

Office Managing Partner, Hong Kong, Head of Real Estate, Asia Pacific, DLA Piper

Abbas A. Rangwala – Head - Mergers & Acquisitions, InterGlobe Enterprises

Abbas A. Rangwala

Head - Mergers & Acquisitions, InterGlobe Enterprises

Abbas is the Head of M&A at InterGlobe, the parent company of IndiGo Airlines and InterGlobe Hotels, and one of India’s largest corporate groups with business interests across aviation, hospitality, travel technology, real estate and business services. InterGlobe in addition to its existing India portfolio of 21 hotels, has over the last year built a sizeable portfolio of hotels internationally through successful acquisitions in key markets, particularly across Europe.
Abbas joined InterGlobe in 2016 to lead important strategic initiatives and has been instrumental in their hospitality acquisitions and expansion globally. He has also been actively involved in the group’s investments in the travel and hospitality technology sector.
Abbas has close to 20 years of finance, management, business development and investments experience having worked on several acquisitions globally, and being based out of Hong Kong, Singapore and India. Abbas has previously held senior roles covering investment banking, M&A, capital markets and structured finance at Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.

Access All Areas: Reaching Consumers in the Digital World

How to know your customers and reach them through digital channels? Measuring customer behaviour, capturing their wishes and distribute to them via digital channels, including mobile offerings, social media and payment solutions.

Moderator:

Jorge Schoenenberger – Partner - THS EMEA Leader, Deloitte

Jorge Schoenenberger

Partner - THS EMEA Leader, Deloitte

In conversation with:

Tess Mattisson – Director of European Marketing, Choice Hotels

Tess Mattisson

Director of European Marketing, Choice Hotels

Susan Spinney – Vice President, Owner Relations, Lodging Partner Services, Expedia Group

Susan Spinney

Vice President, Owner Relations, Lodging Partner Services, Expedia Group

As vice president for Owner Relations for Expedia Group’s Lodging Partner Services, Susan Spinney leads an experienced global team focused on growing relationships with, and developing new services for, hotel owners and management companies.
Spinney is responsible for demonstrating Expedia Group’s full value to the owner community in addition to helping lodging partners build their visibility, increase guest interest, and drive bookings through the many brands of Expedia Group.
Previously, Spinney served as the senior director of Market Management for New York, New England and Canada for Expedia Group. She has also held several management roles including director of Planning, Hotel Sales in Dallas and director of Market Management for Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
Prior to Expedia Group, Spinney held management, sales and product management positions at various travel companies including Air Jamaica Vacations, Globetrotters and Lowestfare.com.

Fernando Vives – Chief Commercial Officer, NH Hotels

Fernando Vives

Chief Commercial Officer, NH Hotels

Fernando joined Nh Hotel Group in 2014 as Senior Vice President Commercial Strategy & Pricing, in July 2016 we was appointed as Chief Commercial Official and member of the Management Committee.
Fernando leads the Commercial Strategy for all commercial disciplines (Sales, Distribution, Reservations, Pricing and Revenue Management, Business Intelligence, etc.) to ensure top line growth aligned with NH´s Strategic Plan
He is an expert on Revenue Management, Commercial practices and distribution with experience both in the urban and resort arena and operating hotels in all continents.
Previously to NH Hotel Group Fernando occupied different positions at the Le Meridien, the Ritz in Madrid, Hesperia Hotels and Meliá Hotels International, where he spent 8 years. From Global Director of Revenue Management to Senior Commercial Director EMEA and Premium Brands, not only being responsible for top line results in the area but outbound business, the global sales force and leading the luxury sales strategy for the group.

Fernando has entrepreneurial experience, that he applies on his daily practices. He is an entrepreneur himself, co-funding the Revenue Management & Distribution firm Xotels, ltd in 2006.
As a passionate hotelier and mentor, he founded in 2009 the Masters Degree “Expert on Revenue Management “ at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, that has consolidated as the most prestigious and solid RM Official education in the Spanish language. He is as well associate professor at IE Business School, teaching Distribution and Pricing on their MBA programs.
It is usual to see him as keynote speaker in conferences hosted by Eye for Travel or HSMAI.

Philipp S. Ingenillem – Partner, Online-Birds Hotel Marketing Solutions

Philipp S. Ingenillem

Partner, Online-Birds Hotel Marketing Solutions

Philipp S. Ingenillem is Partner and acting Director of Sales & Business De-velopment at Online Birds Hotel Marketing Solutions, a leading full-service online marketing company for the hospitality industry in Europe. Prior to his current activities he was working for a CRM-database developer in Munich. Mr. Ingenillem looks back on a long career in the international luxury hotel sector, with stations at Hilton, Claridge 's Hotel London, Kempinski, Sofitel, Sheraton and LeMeridien. During this period he acquired a profound opera-tional knowledge and perfected his profile by achieving a business admi-nistration degree with a focus on Hospitality Management from the Munich University of Applied Sciences. During this time, Mr. Ingenillem gathered more profound experience in some areas of business consultancy for pri-vately owned hotels ( feasibility studies, concept development, etc.). Various other work stations in Scotland, Ireland, Greece and the USA are mentioned only for completeness sake.

More for Your Money: A Guide to the Hostel Environment

Hostels, and more particularly branded hostels, have seen a considerable increase in interest from investors, lenders and operators: what makes this asset class so appealing to the investment community? Examining the hostel brands ranging from basic to upscale that are catering more than travelling students… and creating big returns for their investors.

Moderator

Anna Friedrich – Associate Director, Christie & Co

Anna Friedrich

Associate Director, Christie & Co

In conversation with:

Navneet Bali – Chairman, MEININGER Hotels

Navneet Bali

Chairman, MEININGER Hotels

Navneet Bali took over as CEO of MEININGER Hotels last year following its acquisition by Holidaybreak in the
UK. He joined Holidaybreak in May 2012 as Group Finance Director and Head of Corporate Development from
Duet Group, a private equity firm based in the UK. At Duet he created and headed a joint venture with
Intercontinental Hotels, the world’s largest hotel chain, to build Holiday Inn Express Hotels. Previous
assignments include CFO and Head of Corporate development at ebookers, a leading European online travel
company and Director of HVS International, a leading hotel consulting firm. His appointment aims to help
MEININGER to grow into the leading international brand in its sector. He has more than 28 years of
experience in the hotel, travel and ecommerce industry

Pierpaolo Iasci – Head of UK Real Estate Structured Finance, Société Générale

Kitchen Confidential: F&B Success Stories

Case studies of successful F&B launches that have been a commercial success for hotels.

Experience Innovation: Tech start-up lightning pitches

A series of pitches from hospitality tech start-ups.