Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Future Hospitality Summit will welcome a comprehensive line-up of hospitality and government leaders, industry captains, founders, change-makers, insight experts, and media, on 26-27 October; The jam-packed line-up includes Arne Sorenson (Marriott International), Arnold W. Donald (Carnival Corporation), Gloria Guevara (WTTC), Alexandre de Juniac (IATA), Geoffrey JW Kent (Abercrombie & Kent), and more; Media registration for the hybrid summit is now open.
Future Hospitality Summit (FHS) – the hybrid virtual conference developed to explore big ideas and tackle the challenges facing the hospitality industry – has revealed its exciting line-up of special-guest speakers, as it gets ready to bring the hospitality world together, live from Riyadh and around the world, on 26 and 27 of October. The summit’s carefully curated line-up of speakers will discuss, reimagine and pave a new path towards the future of hospitality in the Middle East and across the globe. In doing, the virtual event aims to provide an innovative, inspirational and important platform to bring the industry together at an unprecedented time.
Organised by the Ministry of Tourism Saudi Arabia and G20 Saudi Secretariat, as part of The International Conferences Programme, honouring the G20 Saudi presidency year 2020, and powered by Bench Digital – Future Hospitality Summit will be officially opened by H.E. Ahmed Al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism, Saudi Arabia.
LIVE STAGE SESSIONS
The Future Hospitality Summit team is curating a comprehensive 3-pillar programme for the industry, to understand the new landscape, collaborate and assess opportunities, and innovate to recreate the industry’s future. The programme sessions will be live, and attendees can join the discussion while their favourite speakers are delivering their sessions.
NETWORK WITH INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS
When an attendee enters the networking area, the FHS system matches him/her with another decision-maker in the room for a quick video call. Attendees can easily ‘exchange business cards’ by clicking on the connect button.
ROUNDTABLES
Roundtables are exclusively designed for more focused interactions and discussions on specific industry topics. Here, a select number of attendees can join a multi-screen live video conversation to exchange business ideas and industry knowledge.
A LINE-UP OF CREATORS, INNOVATORS & MENTORS
Future Hospitality Summit’s line-up of 100+ guest speakers includes:
Industry Leaders
Todd Davidson (Executive Director, Travel Oregon)
Muzzammil Ahussain (CEO of Consumer Travel, Seera Group)
Keith Barr (CEO, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG))
Sébastien Bazin (Chairman & CEO, Accor)
Filip Boyen (CEO, Forbes Travel Guide)
Christian Clerc (President Global Operations, Four Seasons)
Arnold W. Donald (President & CEO, Carnival Corporation & PLC)
Gloria Guevara Manzo (CEO & President, World Travel & Tourism Council – WTTC)Keith Tan (Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board)
Jerry Inzerillo CEO (Diriyah Gate Development Authority)
Alexandre de Juniac (Director General and CEO, International Air Transport Association – IATA)Marloes Knippenberg (CEO, Kerten Hospitality)
Christopher J. Nassetta (President & CEO, Hilton)
Christopher Norton (CEO, Equinox Hotels)
Annastasia Seebohm (Group CEO, Quintessentially)
Arne M. Sorenson (President & CEO, Marriott International)
Barry S. Sternlicht (Chairman & CEO, Starwood Capital Group)
Founders
Ritesh Agarwal (Founder & Group CEO (Group), OYO Hotels & Homes)
Paul Charles (Founder & CEO, PC Agency)
Terry Jones (Founder, Travelocity.com, and Founding Chairman, Kayak.com)
Deep Kalra (Founder and Group Executive Chairman, MakeMyTrip Group)
Geoffrey JW Kent (Founder and Co-Chairman, Abercrombie & Kent)
Change-Makers
Hans-Christian Boos (Founder, Arago)
Stefan Breg (Group Strategy Director, Keane)
Lissa Engle (Founder and Managing Director, Berkeley Capital Group (BCG))
Ufi Ibrahim (Founder and Chief Executive, Energy and Environment Alliance)Prof. Alexander Kekulé (Director, Institute for Biosecurity Research)Thierry Malleret (Managing Partner, Monthly Barometer)
Dr Paul Marshall (Chief Environment Officer, Neom)
Jalil Mekouar (Founder & CEO, inHovate Solutions)
Didier Souillat (CEO, Time Out Market)
Industry Insight Experts
Martin Barth (President & CEO, World Tourism Forum Lucerne)
Dr Inès Blal (Executive Dean and Managing Director, École hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL)
Margaux Constantin (Associate Principal, McKinsey)
Matthieu De Clercq (Partner, Oliver Wyman)
Alex Dichter (Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company)
Anita Mendiratta (Special Advisor to the Secretary General, World Tourism Organization – UNWTO)
Antoine Nasr (Partner & Government Practice Leader, Kearney)
Olivier Ponti (VP Insights, ForwardKeys)Heleri Rande (Partner, THINK Hospitality)
Robin Rossman (Managing Director, STR)
David Tarsh (Managing Director, Tarsh Consulting)
Dr Kate Walsh (Dean and E.M. Statler Professor, School of Hotel Administration, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business)
MediaYasir Alsaggaf (MC, Future Hospitality Summit)
Peter Greenberg (Travel Editor, CBS News)James Hacon (Hospitality Commentator)Stephen Sackur (Presenter, HARDTalk)
About Future Hospitality Summit:
Organised by the Ministry of Tourism Saudi Arabia and G20 Saudi Secretariat, as part of The International Conferences Programme honouring the G20 Saudi presidency year 2020, and powered by Bench Digital – Future Hospitality Summit has been developed to tackle the big ideas and challenges facing the hospitality industry in both the Kingdom and the world. On 26 and 27 October 2020. This hybrid virtual conference will host over 100 leading industry speakers and more than 6,000 participants from around the world. The event is being delivered on a tried-and-tested, cutting-edge, digital event platform, managed by Bench Digital – providing an immersive live experience, including a virtual exhibition, one-to-one video networking and integrated chat features for all participants. The conference has been designed to dig deep into how we create a hospitality industry that is:
• Relevant for a post-pandemic world;
• Attractive to tomorrow’s international traveller & consumer;
• Supportive of entrepreneurs and innovation;
• Sustainable for the global economy and the environment; and
• Attractive to tomorrow’s workforce.
