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07:30 - 14:30
07:30 - 08:30
Networking
09:00 - 09:05
09:10 - 09:30
The hospitality sector is now used to being disrupted. How can it respond to the major trends, concepts and technologies that hospitality investors and brands that are impacting it to stay ahead of the game?
Cyril Ranque – President, Travel Partners Group, Expedia Group
Cyril Ranque
President, Travel Partners Group, Expedia Group
Cyril Ranque is President of Travel Partners Group. In this role, he is responsible for empowering all travel partner segments through the Expedia Group platform’s leading-edge marketing, distribution, data and technology solutions. This includes connecting conventional lodging, vacation rentals, air, cruise, car, activities, destination marketing organizations and other travel and non-travel advertisers with our traveler audiences on our global network of trusted brands.
Prior to joining Expedia Group, Ranque was Vice President of Marketing & Distribution for Louvre Hotels, after having advised the Taittinger Group on the creation of the company in early 2004. Previously, Ranque was head of the French CRM practice for AT Kearney and has also served as a CRM consultant at Accenture, an investment banker at Morgan Stanley in London, and a financial analyst with LVMH in Tokyo.
Ranque holds a master’s degree from the ESSEC Graduate School of Business in Paris, with a specialization in finance and strategy.
09:20 - 09:55
In the chase for yields, resorts are capturing investors and operators' attention. This panel will look at what makes resorts an attractive investment proposition in hospitality right now.
André Gerondeau – Chief Operating Officer, Meliá Hotels International
André Gerondeau
Chief Operating Officer, Meliá Hotels International
Gregory Lanter – Chief Development & Construction Officer and Member of Club Med Executive Committee, Club Med
Gregory Lanter
Chief Development & Construction Officer and Member of Club Med Executive Committee, Club Med
Gregory Lanter graduated from the Paris HEC Business School. He joined Club Med Group and its development teams in 2004, especially in charge of Africa and Middle East. He was appointed Vice President Global Development in 2009, which was later extended to Construction matters. His teams are positioned in Miami, Paris, Singapore and Shanghai. Since 2018 he is a member of the Comité de Direction Générale (Executive Committee).
The Development Construction and Property team is a strong contributor to the success of Club Med’s strategy, aiming at being the worldwide leader of multi-cultural family premium all-inclusive holidays.
Club Med is settled on almost 70 of the most extra-ordinary sites on Earth, where Club Med was most of the time the first ever international resort operator (Cancun, Punta Cana, Maldives, Mauritius, Bali…). Its development has strongly accelerated, with projects over the 5 continents. The most recent openings include: Yanqing Beijing, our 7th resort and the 3rd under the Joyview brand, Miches Playa Esmeralda, in the Dominican Republic which is the 1st Club Med Exclusive Collection in the Americas, Alpe d’Huez which has been fully transformed into a 4T resort and La Caravelle in the French West Indies which has undergone a major refurbishment and extension. Over the next 2 years, a dozen new extra-ordinary locations are being delivered amongst which: La Rosière in the French Alps, Club Med Seychelles on Sainte Anne Island, a new ski resort in North America at Quebec Charlevoix, Changbaishan in one of the most popular ski destinations in Northern China, Marbella south of Spain, Kota Kinabalu on the Malaysian side of Borneo island...and many more.
Club Med offers a unique combination of an expert premium resort manager (70 years of experience) and a unique Tour Operating company, recognized and directly physically distributed in 35 different markets in the world.”
Alejandro Reynal – CEO Apple Leisure Group
Alejandro Reynal
CEO Apple Leisure Group
Alejandro Reynal boasts a long-standing international professional career in business services, telecommunications, and consumer goods sectors, having worked in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.
Mr. Reynal has a proven track record and thrives on transforming business organizations, leading change to impact performance and culture by defining and aligning a company’s strategy and delivering results through disciplined execution.
Previously he was CEO of Atento, a global customer relationship management and business process outsourcing services company operating in 13 countries and employing over 150,000. When he was appointed Atento´s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in 2011, the company was part of Telefonica. Alejandro led the company’s strategic transition and integration into Bain Capital’s private equity portfolio in 2012, and its initial public listing (IPO) in the New York Stock Exchange in 2014.
During his tenure as CEO, Atento completed a business transformation from being a call center subsidiary of Telefonica to become a leading provider of customer experience solutions. He also led Atento’s cultural transformation, successfully being recognized as one of the “25 World's Best Multinational Workplaces” by Great Place to Work® in five different years.
Prior to his CEO role at Atento, Mr. Reynal held the positions of Corporate Strategy Director at Telefonica and a series of other corporate and business senior leadership positions in Atento. Additionally, he held management positions in The Coca-Cola Company and The Gap, Inc.
Alejandro Reynal holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Pablo Suarez – Chief Executive Officer, Roxa Hospitality
Pablo Suarez
Chief Executive Officer, Roxa Hospitality
Pablo Suarez is the Chief Executive Officer of the hotel management company Roxa Hospitality. The company that Pablo help to grow with the support of the board of the Roxa Group.
Pablo joined the group in 2018 as the Managing Director of Blau Hotels for Holidays with the mission of transforming the company. His vision is materialized today with the birth of Roxa Hospitality, the hotel management startup. In his own words "in 2018 we began a new phase at Roxa Hospitality that we expect to see flourish this year. We didn’t start from zero though, the company has been in the hotel industry for over 30 years. What we did was to take all that experience, all that knowledge, and we embraced it with the spirit of a startup." Indeed, in 2019 the flourishing of the company is palpable. When the year began, Roxa Hospitality had 5 hotels, today it has 7 and 2 more confirmed in the pipeline.
Pablo comes from a strong operational background built in Melia Hotels International. There he started as an Operations Analyst and excelled to become Operation's Director of Croatia and Balearic Islands.
09:50 - 10:30
Leaders of some of the most innovative hospitality and real estate companies share their views on the changing hotel and real estate sectors and what can be learnt from other asset classes to improve the user experience, as well as cross integration of hospitality into other real estate segments.
Moderator:
Yousef Wahbah – Managing Partner, Global Hospitality Leader - MENA Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction Sector Leader, Ernst & Young
Yousef Wahbah
Managing Partner, Global Hospitality Leader - MENA Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction Sector Leader, Ernst & Young
In conversation with:
Amal Del Monaco – Head of Sector Specialists, AXA IM - Real Assets
Amal Del Monaco
Head of Sector Specialists, AXA IM - Real Assets
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.
Hubert Viriot – Chief Excutive Officer, Yotel
Hubert Viriot
Chief Excutive Officer, Yotel
Hubert Viriot joined YOTEL in May 2014 to roll out an aggressive growth strategy in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. YOTEL currently operates four airport hotels and three city centre hotels in London, Amsterdam, Paris, New York, Boston and Singapore. More than 3,000 new cabins are scheduled to open across the world by 2020 including Istanbul, San Francisco, Singapore Changi Airport, London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Geneva, Amsterdam, Miami, Dubai, Mammoth, Park City and Porto. The company aims to have 50 projects by 2023 across 3 brands, namely YOTEL, YOTELAIR and YOTELPAD.
Prior to his appointment as the CEO of YOTEL, Mr Viriot was CEO of Raimon Land PLC, a leading real estate developer listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
Previously, Mr Viriot spent four years in Dubai as Vice President of Investments & Acquisitions with IFA Hotels & Resorts and five years in Singapore with HVS. Mr Viriot has a BS degree in International Management from the University of Wales and a BS degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management from the Glion Hotel School in Switzerland
10:30 - 11:00
11:30 - 13:00
Retail and hospitality are evolving towards a better use of space to provide an enhanced customer experience, and improvde profitability.
This interactive session will start with a keynote from a representative of a retail brand, followed by a discussion.
Keynote:
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.
Join the conversation with industry experts:
Wolfgang Gattringer – Managing Director, Solutions dot WG Hospitality Advisory Alliance GmbH
Wolfgang Gattringer
Managing Director, Solutions dot WG Hospitality Advisory Alliance GmbH
Managing Director at Solutions dot WG GmbH, partner for strategic consulting and successful management solutions for the hotel and tourism industry. Certified tourism manager with emphasis of process
optimization, finance and controlling. Many years of experience as a financial director of major international hotel companies. He also has extensive experience in positioning and development of product strategies of
business software providers.
Willy Weiland – Managing Director, Solutions dot WG Hospitality Advisory Alliance GmbH
Willy Weiland
Managing Director, Solutions dot WG Hospitality Advisory Alliance GmbH
Managing Director at Solutions dot WG GmbH, focusing on strategic Consulting and sucessful Management Solutions for the Hotel and tourism industry. He worked as Regional Director for one of the largest Hotel Groups worldwide and is member of various committees of different tourism organizations and advisory boards
of private companies in the hospitality and tourism industry.
11:30 - 12:00
Tech Hub Masterclass
To what extent can AI improve the customer experience in hotels and its impact on staffing, operations and profitability?
12:00 - 12:30
Tech Hub
Understanding the opportunities of blockchain for data management and cryptocurrency i hospitality: how it works, who it is for, what is the regulation etc.
12:30 - 13:00
Tech Hub
Hear from the most innovative start-ups in hoteltech, travel tech, proptech, showcasing their products.
11:30 - 12:15
Stakeholder Alignment
In the rapidly evolving hospitality industry, can brands really maintain their value for owners when it comes to performance, profitability and real estate value?
Christophe Beauvilain – Managing Partner, Pygmalion Capital Advisers LLP
Christophe Beauvilain
Managing Partner, Pygmalion Capital Advisers LLP
Christophe Beauvilain, CFA is Managing Partner of Pygmalion Capital and heads the Investment Committee. Christophe founded Pygmalion Capital Advisers LLP and was instrumental in raising its first fund focused on special situations Hotel investments in Europe. He was previously partner at Perenne Capital LLP which provided deal sourcing and structuring services in the European Hotel sector. He was before that CEO and founding partner of Alphatran Capital LLP, a global equity hedge fund, and partner at Phylon Investment Advisors, a $500M European equity hedge fund. He spent 7 years at Goldman Sachs International in London in Research and Institutional Asset Management.
Saurabh Chawla – Chief Development Officer, Louvre Hotels Group
Saurabh Chawla
Chief Development Officer, Louvre Hotels Group
Saurabh is the Chief Development Officer at Louvre Hotels Group. In this capacity, Saurabh spearheads numerous development and acquisition opportunities across the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle-East, Asia, and Australia.
Prior to joining Louvre Hotels Group, Saurabh was a partner with HVS’s London office. He joined HVS consulting division in 2006 after several years of operational and managerial experience in the hospitality industry. During his tenure at HVS, he conducted numerous consulting, strategic advisory and asset management assignments across Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Saurabh regularly speaks at various conferences, has published many articles for the hospitality sector, and has served as an expert witness in several high profile litigations at the International Court for Commercial Disputes (ICCD).
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.
Franck Gervais – CEO HotelServices Europe, Accor
Franck Gervais
CEO HotelServices Europe, Accor
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.
12:30 - 13:30
Stakeholder Alignment
Uncover the major points in negotiating management contracts and franchise agreements in a series of brief presentations and discussions with experts:
Hosted by:
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.
11:30 - 12:15
F&B
How is the next generation of F&B concepts inspiring hoteliers to change the rulebook and develop offerings that are enhancing the hotel experience as well as its financial performance?
Moderator:
Sophie Perret – Senior Director, HVS London
Sophie Perret
Senior Director, HVS London
Sophie is a senior 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.
In conversation with:
Emma Banks – VP Food & Beverage Strategy & Development EMEA, Hilton
Emma Banks
VP Food & Beverage Strategy & Development EMEA, Hilton
MPS Puri – Founder, The P Factor
MPS Puri
Founder, The P Factor
12:30 - 13:15
F&B
Breaking the boundaries of today's food & beverage world, this pitch & panel talk will dive deep into the future of food – inspired by the latest consumer trends and powered by technology. Learn from international renowned local heroes of Berlin‘s colourful and innovative food scene.
13:30 - 15:30
The Annual Hotel Conference (AHC)
7-8 October 2020
Manchester, UK
Mediterranean Resort & Hotel Real Estate Forum (MR&H)
19-21 October 2020
Tivoli Marina Vilamoura, Portugal