Industry-leading experts at this year’s International Hospitality Investment Forum (IHIF) are set to tackle the burning issues currently impacting hotel investors – from growing inflationary concerns, to environmental and social governance (ESG) – when the event returns to Berlin on 3-5 May.
According to the latest Hospitality Investor Sentiment Assessment (Q4 2021), inflationary pressures have replaced labour as one of the biggest challenges the hotel sector expects to face in the next 12 months.
The area rose to second place in the report, recently published by Hospitality Insights and ABP Invest, sitting behind ‘economic slowdown’ as the number one challenge facing the industry.
IHIF will ensure hotel investors are equipped with the insight and knowledge required to navigate the current and future hotel investment landscape through a host of dynamic discussions.
They include Connecting you to the Capital: The new investment landscape where Luc Boschmans of Tristan Capital Partners and Lily Wecker of Zetland Capital will discuss how investors are raising and spending their cash and what this means for the hospitality investment landscape.
Looking at new stakeholders – from investors and brands to third party operators and lenders and how they all work together to add value to the market – is the focus in All change: Remodelling the hospitality investment landscape with Robert Mangan of Bain Capital, David Kellett of Invesco and Hilton’s president of Europe, Middle East & Africa Simon Vincent.
‘Hospitality Investment with Purpose’ will also take centre stage at this year’s forum, with a session moderated by moderated by Gilda Perez-Alvarado, JLL exploring how ESG is now a key requirement.
ESG is a hot topic right now and one that will be a focus at IHIF. The Hospitality Investor Sentiment Assessment revealed that 72% of investors have a strategy in place to ensure their operators are addressing issues of environmental sustainability and social responsibility, with a further 21% saying they plan to implement one soon.
In the panel discussion titled: Deep Dive: KPIs for ESG in hospitality investment Catherine Dolton, Chief Sustainability Officer and Vice President, Global Corporate Responsibility, IHG Xenia Zi Hohenlohe, Chief Executive, Considerate Group, will provide insight in this area, including which KPIs you should follow through to how you can be taxonomy compliant.
While the vast majority of buying interest continues to be for hotels, resorts are continuing to provide an attractive investment opportunity for 2022, especially in Europe, Americas and the Middle East, according to the investor sentiment report.
Tapping into this emerging area will be Andreas Locher, Head of Investment Management Hospitality at Union Investment, who will moderate the panel session Investing in Resorts with input from Javier Arus, Senior Partner, Azora and Camil Yazbeck, Senior Vice President, Head of Development Northern Europe, Accor.
Organised by Questex Hospitality Group, IHIF is the leading event in the global hotel industry calendar, attracting senior leaders and top brands from over 80 countries, including global investors, asset managers and leading hoteliers.
With a core focus on people, planet and profit, this year’s programme will feature 180 world class speakers across three days of thought-provoking content in Berlin.
Alexi Khajavi, Group President, Questex Travel and Hospitality, said: “There has been a seismic shift in the hospitality investment landscape over the last few years. Everything has changed, including the way stakeholders do business and customer and staff expectations. There has therefore never been a more important time for investors to come together with the wider industry to gain information and discuss how we all move towards future success.”
For more information and to register for IHIF (3-5 May 2022) visit www.ihif.com.
