Hotel conferences are a great way to stay up-to-date with the latest trends, develop valuable relationships, and showcase your hotel’s offerings. In this article, you will learn about hotel conferences, deepen your understanding of why they are beneficial, and explore some of the biggest organizations hosting these events.

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How to Define the Hotel Industry

Before fully exploring hotel conferences, it is helpful to provide a hotel meaning or definition and clearly explain the hotel industry. According to most accepted definitions, the hotel industry is focused on providing short-term, overnight accommodation and related services to travelers.

The name ‘hotel industry’ may be somewhat misleading, as it is generally considered to include other business types that meet this basic criteria, too. This would include, for instance, motels, inns, bed and breakfasts, hostels, and holiday cottages. However, it does not include any form of long-term or permanent accommodation.

In the “Hotel Industry: Everything You Need to Know About Hotels!” article, you can learn more about how the hotel industry is defined, the different business types included, and explore key strategies.

What is a Hotel Conference?

A hotel conference is an event that allows hotel businesses to exhibit aspects of their brand, highlight their products and services, network with other businesses, and/or communicate with potential customers. Most hotel conferences take place in person, although digital conferences have grown in popularity recently.

Conferences allow hotels to highlight aspects of their offering, including hotel technology, in a way that attendees can experience for themselves. They also provide an ideal opportunity for hoteliers to connect with other businesses, including hotels, form relationships, share ideas, or make meaningful connections.

For hotels, conferences provide a valuable opportunity for direct face-to-face time with potential customers and business partners. Some conferences are specifically designed to connect travelers with hotel brands, while others are more focused on connecting hotels with other businesses, and some combine these two ideas.

6 Key Reasons Why Hoteliers Should Attend Hotel Conferences

Ultimately, those working in hotel management and other senior roles may have many different motivations for attending hotel conferences. You learn six of the most important reasons in the following sections.

1. Stay Up-to-Date with Trends & Technology

Hotel conferences are a great place to stay up-to-date with the latest hotel trends. This is important, because it allows you to understand what other hotels are doing, what customers will expect, and what factors influence any emerging trends so that you can adjust your business practices.

Conferences are also a place where companies showcase the latest hotel technology. This allows you always to ensure you are at the cutting edge regarding the services you provide and the facilities you include in your property. Staying up-to-date also helps you to compete with rival hotels and prevents them from gaining a competitive advantage.

2. Make New Partnerships & Network

Another reason to attend hotel conferences is the ability to network and build valuable relationships. Hotel conferences may attract experts in various aspects of running a hotel, such as marketing experts, revenue management experts, or from the wider hospitality sector. They also attract individuals and businesses from adjacent industries.

This could provide the chance to interact and link up with potential business partners in fields like catering and the restaurant industry, or digital technology. These link-ups could lead to informal idea sharing, Q&A sessions, short-term and more formal collaboration, or long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships.

hotel conferences WTM
Image attribution: WTM

3. Scope Out the Competition

A key aspect of running a successful hotel involves understanding your competitors and monitoring their activities. Hotel conferences provide the perfect opportunity to achieve this. You may have the chance to directly observe other hotel companies’ strategies or the features they promote to customers.

Alternatively, panel discussions or workshops could throw up interesting insights about rival hotels’ operations and highlight some emerging trends you may have missed. Look for ways other hotels set themselves apart, deepen your understanding of what customers want, and further define your unique selling proposition.

4. Learn From Trusted Experts

Many of the best hotel conferences provide opportunities to participate in discussions or gain useful information from experts. This can take many forms, from Q&A sessions, to informal discussions on the conference floor, through to panel discussions and presentations. You can use these opportunities to learn from trusted experts.

Whether that means speaking to a successful hotelier, asking a hotel social media marketing team questions about strategy, or actively participating in a panel or debate, there will be no shortage of chances to gain new information, listen to interesting insights, and expand your knowledge.

5. Conduct Research as a Hotel Guest

One underrated aspect of hotel conferences is that you can choose to attend and view things from the perspective of a hotel guest, rather than as a hotel owner or manager. You can strategically choose the conferences you attend to focus on specific hotel brands, or go with a completely open mind and explore all present brands.

Approach everything as a customer, rather than a rival. When you interact with brands, imagine you are a hotel guest, or a potential guest, and think about how you are treated, the experiences you enjoy, and the experiences you dislike. See what impresses you and consider whether there are takeaways you can apply to your hotel.

6. Establish Yourself as a Thought Leader

Finally, it is important to understand that hotel conferences are not only useful for learning from others. They also provide a unique chance to establish your own reputation as an expert in the hotel industry and serve as a thought leader. Look for opportunities to make presentations, or take part in panel discussions.

You can share some of the lessons you have learned while running a hotel, or working in various hotel departments. This will then attract other brands who may want to work with you. It could also provide valuable press coverage, allow you to share marketing literature, and improve the chances of being invited to other conferences.

Examples of Popular Hotel Conferences

Equipped with an understanding of how hotel conference attendance can benefit you, it is worth learning about some of the biggest organizations that host major hotel conferences worldwide.

ITB

ITB has been running hotel conferences and travel-focused trade shows since 1966 and has established a reputation as one of the key brands in the conferencing space. The largest travel trade show in the world, ITB Berlin, occurs annually in March, and ITB also has satellite events, including ITB China, ITB Asia, and ITB India.

2023 ITB Berlin was a pure B2B (business-to-business) event, attracting more than 5,000 exhibitors from more than 150 countries, making it a truly international occasion. Around 200 sessions and 400 recognized expert speakers highlighted the scale of ITB’s events.

Video: ITB Berlin Convention 2022: Highlights from the Responsible Tourism Track| 10 March 2022

Skift

Skift is primarily recognized as a website for travel industry news, but the company has also hosted the Skift Global Forum since 2014. The annual event in New York brings together leaders in travel and technology for important discussions about industry opportunities, challenges, and emerging trends.

In addition to the main Skift Global Forum event, the company has also hosted travel, technology, and hotel conferences in cities worldwide, including London, Dubai, Berlin, and Singapore.

Video: Skift Global Forum Highlights

ILTM

ILTM, or the International Luxury Travel Market, is an annual B2B event. It is held in Cannes and brings together brands and thought leaders from the travel industry, focusing on luxury travel.

The events are staged on an invitation-only basis and bring together major luxury brands, hand-picked luxury travel experts, hotel investment experts, advisors, and influencers. Aside from the annual Cannes-based event, ILTM also puts on events worldwide, with regular conferences including ILTM Latin America, ILTM North America, and ILTM Arabia.

Video: ILTM Latin America 2023 HIGHLIGHTS

WTM

WTM, or World Travel Market, is a major name in travel and hotel conferences. Events like WTM London help to bring together hotel brands, hospitality brands, and travel companies for multi-day exhibitions, allowing companies to showcase their services, learn from experts, and network with other industry figures.

Attendees include hotel brands, tourism boards, travel technology businesses, transportation businesses, tour operators, and travel management organizations. Key events away from WTM London include Arabian Travel Market, WTM Latin America, and WTM Africa, which occur annually and provide unique opportunities to learn and grow.

Video: WTM 2022 Highlights

More Popular International Hotel Conferences

In the article “The Best International Events to Inspire Hoteliers” you find an overview of 10 popular hotel conferences. In our section “Hospitality Travel Events“, you find a comprehensive list of must-attend hospitality and travel industry events per continent.

3 Tips to Maximize Your Hotel Conference Experience

Attending hotel conferences has many potential benefits, but you will get the most out of your experiences by following some best practices. Below, you will find three key tips to optimize your conferencing efforts.

1. Set Clear Goals & Carry Out Research

Setting clear and measurable goals is the first step to successful experiences when attending hotel conferences. This could be anything from increasing brand awareness to establishing new relationships, securing hotel investments, or learning new strategies. Your goals should be fully understood and the main focus of your visit.

Look at different hotel conferences and take the time to research which expert speakers will attend, which companies will be exhibiting, and which brands will be present in other capacities. From there, you can select the hotel conferences that are most likely to help you achieve your aims and objectives.

2. Be Ready & Responsive

You must put time and effort into preparation work to get the most from your hotel conference visits. Ensure you know the messages you are trying to promote, the aspects of your brand you want to highlight, the people you most want to connect with, the information you want to find out, and the questions you want to ask.

Bring plenty of business cards and marketing materials to spread the word. At the same time, while preparation is key, you also need to be responsive and adaptable. Make sure you are ready to capitalize on any unexpected opportunities and take the time to connect with people spontaneously, too.

3. Get Involved & Gather Contacts

Finally, whenever possible, you should try to get involved and actively participate in the hotel conferences you attend. Look for opportunities to participate as an expert speaker, presenter, or as part of a panel discussion.

Participating in the event can help your hotel marketing objectives by ensuring you attract attention, generate press coverage, and have opportunities to highlight your products and services. You should also take advantage of the chance to meet others, gather contacts, and create beneficial working relationships.

Hotel Conferences and Other Hotel Events

Hotel conferences are just one example of hotel industry events. Still, watching the full spectrum of options and attending any events that can benefit you and your hotel operations is important. These events may focus on several areas, from sustainable tourism, to hotel technology or even food and beverages.

In the “Hotel Events: The Best 10 International Events to Inspire Hoteliers” article, you can learn more about the different events that occur and read about 10 specific international events to look out for.

Podcasts for Hotel Managers and Executives

Hotel conferences offer great opportunities to gain insights from thought leaders, learn from the experiences of others, and find inspiration. However, another option is to take the time to listen to some of the best podcasts that are geared towards those working in the hotel industry.

In the “Hotel Podcasts; Top 14 Podcasts for Hotel Managers & Executives” article, you can access a list of the best podcasts to listen to for tips, strategic insights, and first-hand experiences from experts.

Hotel Conferences FAQs

Hotel conferences allow attendees to network with key figures in the industry, develop working relationships, and gain press attention. They provide an opportunity to launch new services, highlight unique offerings, and gain inspiration.

It is common for hotel conferences to focus on marketing, revenue management, and hotel technology. Conferences will often include workshops and speeches exploring market trends and the best ways to enhance the guest experience.

Hotel conferences can be used to promote corporate facilities and build relationships with other businesses, which can increase demand from business travelers. Special promotions aimed exclusively at conference attendees can also provide booking incentives.

Networking possibilities at hotel conferences include identifying suppliers, learning from expert speakers, communicating with possible corporate clients and building a list of contacts from across the travel industry.

Hotel conference success depends on the objectives going in. It is common for hotels to measure success in terms of press attention gained, leads gathered, bookings secured and business deals made.

Hotel conferences provide a unique opportunity to gain face-to-face time with guests and potential business partners while staying up-to-date with the latest technology and industry trends. These conferences are a great way to keep your finger on the pulse, understand guest expectations, and retain your competitive edge.

More Tips to Grow Your Business

Revfine.com is a knowledge platform for the hospitality & travel industry. Professionals use our insights, strategies and actionable tips to get inspired, optimise revenue, innovate processes and improve customer experience. You can find all hotel & hospitality tips in the categories Revenue Management, Marketing & Distribution, Hotel Operations, Staffing & Career, Technology and Software.

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This article is written by:

Martijn Barten

Hi, I am Martijn Barten, founder of Revfine.com. With 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, I specialize in optimizing revenue by combining revenue management with marketing strategies. I have successfully developed, implemented, and managed revenue management and marketing strategies for individual properties and multi-property portfolios.