hotelforum 2018

The 16th editon of hotelforum, the European Hotel Development Conference, was held again alongside the International Trade Fair for Property and Investment EXPO REAL on 10 October 2018 at Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Munich and welcomed anyone from the European hospitality and real estate industry.

hotelforum 2018 // Photos: Walter Glück

The attendees of the conference benefited from ample networking opportunities with leading experts within the hotel development sector.

The conference morning focused on innovative hotel projects and the first presentation of new hotel brands. To be followed by a pitch with six technical innovations and a CEO workshop with Thomas Willms, CEO of Steigenberger Hotels.

This year's topic MOUNTAIN HIGHTS & CITY LIGHTS reflects the growing importance of the resort hotel industry. New resort hotel concepts at the sea or in the moutains are more and more influenced by space efficient city hotels. How both hotel worlds may influence each other and which markets and concepts will have growth potential in the future, keeping in mind the growing investment costs, were the topics of both panel discussions in the afternoon. The conference programme finished with the CEO presentation and the first techno-award "UPGRADE" for the pitch winner HOTELSHOP.one presented by Gastgewerbe-Magazin and DerProfitester in cooperation with hotelforum.

At the gala dinner more than 400 guests celebrated with the winner of the "Hospitality Innovation Award", Alex Tourski of izi.TRAVEL, the "Hotel Property Award" winner QO Amsterdam (The Netherlands), the two finalists Aquatio Cave Luxury Hotel & SPA (Matera, Italy) and The Student Hotel Florence (Italy) as well as representatives of the 12 nominated European hotels for the "Hotel Property Award 2018“. 52 hotels from 13 countries applied this year for the European “Hotel Property Award”.