(June 19, 2020). Corona turned the feedback on HITT 2019 into an urgent wish: The think tank participants asked for even more pragmatic insights from insiders for next Tuesday, 23 June. And this is exactly what HospitalityInside is implementing for the third HITT – in virtual format for the first time. The sponsors have an important content role to play: they convey their own know-how, in some cases even exclusively. This is not about products, but about digitalisation strategies. Why Sabre Hospitality Solutions, Accor, Langham Hospitality, Drees & Sommer and Expo Real are supporting the HITT 2020.
Of the five sponsors just mentioned, four have been involved since the start of HITT 2018. And Langham is the perfect piece of the puzzle in the current program. Not a single one of them has so far asked HospitalityInside as the organiser to be allowed to speak as a sponsor, as it has become a common rule for 90% of the conferences today. Ten months after the first think tank we learned from the American technology provider Sabre that the premiere event was absolutely motivating for them: Afterwards they accelerated the further programming for the already planned Hospitality Retailing Tool, which they will now exclusively present to the HITT participants on Tuesday – in connection with Langham Hospitality. The Chinese luxury hotel group from Hong Kong (with ambitions for Europe) was and is the first test partner of this tool.
Therefore Sabre and Langham will appear together and report about their experiences and insights: The tool is not a clumsy product with a start button, but rather a sensitive motor for the digitalization strategy of a hotel group, in which “ancillary revenue” is at stake, in order to generate additional revenue streams: A third of the guests would pay an average of up to 50 percent more if the hotel accommodated their personal wishes at the time of booking, Sabre recently found out in a European study.
In January of this year, Accor also announced a project with Sabre that is based precisely on this approach and therefore fits in with its own “Augmented Hospitality” concept, through which the hotel chain sells individualized lifestyle packages to guests and non-guests.
The bridge to real estate and investment
The topic becomes even more interesting because the digitalization strategies of shopping mall developers like the ECE Group are also dealing with this form of monetization – also in the interplay of the synergies of offline and online sales. As already learned at the second HITT 2019, retail and hospitality are moving ever closer together. This is why we have invited the Managing Director of ECE Real Estate, Dr. Volker Kraft, as an additional source of inspiration.
Driven by digitalization – and now also by Corona – real estate and operator concepts are coming together more quickly. In future, addressing guests and fulfilling their wishes will only be possible in and with networked buildings. For this reason, it is also a major concern of the German but internationally active project controller Drees & Sommer to keep an eye on the market sentiment around the topic of “intelligent buildings”. The same is true of Expo Real Munich, which itself declared digitalization to be its focus two years ago, launched a “Tech Alley” and also geared its conference forums more strongly to this trend. This year, Europe’s leading real estate and investment trade fair became a hybrid event, forced by Corona and made possible by digitalization.
At the third HITT next Tuesday, it will thus become apparent for the first time how strongly technology and hotel concepts are linked – if they are developed in a coordinated manner. HospitalityInside partners are always strong content partners. This is also the motivation to participate in this think tank. / map
The HITT 2020:
“Boost your Service Delivery. Bring your Hotels to Life in a Digital World.”
On Tuesday, 23 June, from 9.30-16am (CET)
As a virtual conference.
All details on www.hitt.world
What you can expect:
♣ an event in English language
♣ selected impulse generators from the hotel & non-hotel industry
♣ in-depth content
♣ coordinated contents
♣ consecutive lectures
♣ top contacts
The 3rd edition of the HITT has become virtual this year, but the content and HospitalityInside’s quality standards have not changed. We look forward to experiencing and shaping these important topics for the digital future with you in the new format.
Join us, become part of the HITT community and stay tuned!
The complete programme, prices and registration at www.hitt.world.
Please call us or mail us if you have questions. We are looking forward to you and the discussions that will lead us into the time after corona in a good fashion.
Contact: Michael Willems, Managing Director, Phone: +49 821 885880 20, michael[at]hospitalityInside.com