ITH Innovation Summit 2023: big trends, artificial intelligence and sustainability

Analysis of the current state and expectations of the sector, sustainability, robotics and smart cities applied to tourism. These will be
some of the axes of the ITH Innovation Summit 2023, the benchmark event for the tourism sector organized by the Instituto Tecnológico Hotelero (ITH) on June 13 and 14 at the WiZink Center in Madrid. Tourism accounted for 61% of the growth of the Spanish economy in 2022, according to Exceltur, with a contribution of 12.2% to the national GDP, up to almost 160,000 million euros.

Focused on publicizing the latest news on innovation and technology applied to tourism, and with a broad representation of major players in the sector, the ITH Innovation Summit will address in this sixth edition issues of special importance for the industry, such as the possibilities of technology to lower costs, attract remote customers and be more sustainable; automating tasks to free up resources; the fight against seasonality through innovative accommodation management services, or the possibilities of the metaverse to know destinations before booking.

To discuss all this, the ITH has brought together high-level speakers, including Gabriel Escarrer, Executive Vice President and CEO of Meliá Hotels International, Pedro Saura, President of Paradores; and Juan Cierco, president of the CEOE Tourism Council and corporate director of Iberia.

The forum, which was attended by around 500 professionals last year, will also have institutional participation, including officials from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism; Mario Villar, director of Tourist Intelligence of Turisme Comunitat Valenciana; or Elizabeth Keegan, general manager of Lloret Turismo.

The ITH Innovation Summit is experiencing its sixth edition this year, consolidated as the main annual event in the sector to bring together the talent of hotel companies, facilitate agreements, analyze where tourism is going in Spain and abroad and value its relevance as a driving force of the economy. It should be noted that, in direct positions, the hotel sector employs some 200,000 people (almost 220,000 in 2019, the record year) and serves as a lever to achieve the 2.4 million jobs generated by tourism in Spain throughout 2022.

The power of innovation
After the inaugural session by Jorge Marichal, president of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations (CEHAT) and Javier García Cuenca, president of the Hotel Technology Institute (ITH), the first discussion table on “Hotel sector, to infinity and beyond”. Gabriel Escarrer and Pedro Saura, among others, will participate in it. Javier García Cuenca will lead the meeting.
It will be followed by an interview-debate between Juan Cierco, president of the CEOE Tourism Council and corporate director of Iberia, and the director of Hosteltur, Manuel Molina, on "Tourism as an engine of economic growth".

The challenge of digitization and the scope of the metaverse will be the focus of the round table “Be FiGital: Robotics, Metaverse and other concepts. Are they really applicable and profitable for my hotel?”, with representatives from the robotics sector, the Association of Housekeepers of Spain and Ilunion Accesibilidad. It will be followed by “CX and EX: how to bring a WOW experience to your employees and customers”, a debate on the value of experiences, something that companies are taking more and more into account to meet expectations and be more profitable. A meeting on "How to reach the guest of the future" could not be missing, where technology plays and will continue to play a leading role, hand in hand with experts in technology service companies.

The afternoon session will begin with the ITH 2023 Annual Assembly, whose president - Javier García Cuenca - will analyze the present and future of tourism. It will be followed by a presentation on "Current events and trends: ITH in a year", by Álvaro Carrillo de Albornoz, general director of ITH. Mr. Corrales, humorist and international speaker, will put the playful finishing touch to the first day, with an inspirational presentation on “Motivation”.

Second day
The session on Wednesday June 14 starts with a discussion on the value of two of the powerful technologies applied to the sector in recent years under the title "Braian: Artificial intelligence at the service of energy efficiency in the hotel". It will be followed by roundtable discussions on "ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) criteria and the valuation of tourism assets" and "Inspiration and specialization to seduce luxury tourism", with the participation of renowned hotel managers. It will be followed by a table on "Celebration of events in hotels: Sold Out!", with the participation of the travel agency sector and MICE companies and organization of events.

Innovation in travel distribution and the application of data and artificial intelligence to the future of the hotel industry will be the focus of two panel discussions that will bring together experts from hotels, technology companies and public administrations in the second part of the tomorrow. The last presentation of the day will deal with the control and management of all matters related to food and beverages, under the title "F&B Revolution: Beyond a Local State of the Art".

The closing ceremony will be carried out by Luis Martín Izquierdo, General Director of Tourism in the Community of Madrid; Gabriel García, president of the AEHM; Jorge Marichal, president of CEHAT, and Javier García Cuenca, president of ITH. The day will end with a performance by The Revenue Managers Band and a cocktail.

Forum attendees will be able to collaborate in the campaign to collect electronic devices (mobile phones, tablets and laptops that are in disuse, broken or damaged) launched by ITH and the Fundación Llamada Solidaria, the proceeds of which will be used to help research into rare diseases }.

Accessibility with ILUNION
ILUNION Accessibility in collaboration with Bemyvega makes it possible for this Summit to be an inclusive virtual setting. Attendees will be able to see the speakers and their presentations on their devices (smartphone, tablet or computer) with real-time transcription and being able to choose what interests them most (speaker or screen). Designed for anyone, but especially for people with low vision, hearing, color blindness or ADHD, so that they can have a complete experience of the event. 
Complete program of the ITH Innovation Summit 2023 at this link.