The hospitality industry faces the challenges of the future with the desire to grow. Also with relief, having overcome the bump of 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus crisis. The sector closed last year with results close to those of the pre-pandemic and forecasts growth of around 5 and 7% for this 2023, as revealed by the final conclusions of the 2022 Yearbook.
With these unbeatable prospects, a new edition of HIP – Horeca Professional Expo arrives in Madrid from March 6 to 8. This annual event will bring together more than 35,000 professionals and 500 exhibiting companies in 4 IFEMA Madrid pavilions (one more than in the last edition), such as Alimentos de España, Aplus Gastromarketing, Benfood, Campofrío, Casa Delfín, CaixaBank, Coca Cola, Estrella Damm, Danone, Deloitte, Europastry, Fritermia, General Fruit, Guerrero Claude, Heineken, Ilunion, Kitchen Consult, Makro, Mahou San Miguel, Mainho, Mapal, Mapfre, Nestlé, Onnera Contract, Pascual, TheFork or Unilever, among many others.
Throughout three days, the challenges of the sector will be addressed, the strategies to maintain profitability in a context of price uncertainty and the opportunities to improve innovation, sustainability and social impact. "HIP has become the reference meeting point for all players in the hospitality industry due to its firm commitment to supporting professionals and businessmen in the process of turning their businesses into competitive models," explains Manuel Bueno, HIP director.
What does energy efficiency have to do with a restaurant? What type of restaurants, gastronomic offers and moments of consumption are going to have more projection in the coming months? Raising these questions is key for the accounts to come out. All the more so when, according to data from Kantar, four out of ten Spaniards plan to cut their expenses to face the bullish outlook. A complicated scenario that forces hotel establishments to prioritize business management, talent recruitment and training, and to incorporate differentiating elements to be more competitive and gain profitability.
HIP 2023 brings as a novelty the Restaurant Management forum, focused on how to manage hospitality businesses so that they are profitable. In this context, issues such as how to reduce the electricity bill in order to maximize profitability will be raised, and success stories will be shared in which innovative gastronomic concepts have been incorporated to surprise and seduce customers.
For their part, leaders of well-known hospitality companies will present in the "CEO summit" forum the perspectives they have regarding their turnover and growth, at the same time that they will explain how they are managing the rise in costs so that it does not affect their profitability. Executives of Enrique Tomás, McDonald's, Juancho's BBQ, Grupo Andilana, Grupo Lalala, Grupo Sibuya, Grupo Le Coq, Grupo Redbar 24H, Grupo 80 grados, La Pecera or Aloha Poke are some of those who will participate in this meeting.
Together with these forums, innovation, the management of social networks, the optimization of processes in the kitchen and the new gastronomic currents, will focus the colloquiums on the 'Eatertainment', Digital Marketing, Smart Kitchens and New Food Trends summits.
One of HIP's highlights is the Hospitality 4.0 Congress, the largest international Horeca innovation congress. A stage through which more than 600 experts will pass to analyze trends, review concerns throughout the entire hospitality value chain and share successful experiences. In the different sessions, attendees will be able to see first-hand the successes and lessons learned from some of the great leaders in the sector, both those who have accumulated years of experience and newcomers. One of the sessions that will raise the most expectation will be the one that will capitalize on Dabiz Muñoz, Chef and Owner of UniverXO, who will present the keys to his successful gastronomic proposal with which he has been recognized with four Michelin stars (Three for "DiverXO" and one for “RavioXO”).
In restaurants and hotels it is not enough to be good. You have to be original, different, but, above all, authentic. Experts such as Eneko Atxa, chef with 5 Michelin stars at the helm of the Azurmendi restaurant; Roberto Brisciani, CEO of Thinkingfoods; Pepe Solla, chef and director of the Casa Solla Restaurant; Aleix Puig, CEO of Vice; Toni Nadal, director of the Rafa Nadal Academy or Michael Wolf, a benchmark in the foodtech segment, and founder and CEO of The Spoon, will share the secrets of its management and reflect on the challenges for the coming months.
“We want all businessmen and professionals who attend HIP 2023 to be able to fill their rooms and establishments 365 days a year. Thus, we will give all the keys to meet this objective and provide the hotel industry with the robustness it needs so that it continues to be one of the leading industries in our country. Administration, automation, robotization, differentiation and communication are some of the terms that we will address in depth at the Hospitality 4.0 Congress”, says its director, Erika Silva.
How to adapt ESG criteria or the shortage of talent, two of the great challenges in the sector, will be strong points of Hotel Trends, one of HIP's star summits, which brings together managers of leading hotel companies. José Rodríguez, CEO of Sercotel Hotel Group; Marc Rahola, CEO of OD Hotels; Alfonso Perez, Sales
Along with more traditional hotel, restaurant or catering business models for communities, new forms of hotel business have emerged in recent years. The 2023 Horeca New Business Models Awards will distinguish the most innovative projects, either for having surprising marketing, for a groundbreaking product or for creating new customer experiences. For its part, the Digital Gastronomy Startup Forum will give entrepreneurs a voice and put them in contact with potential partners and specialized investors. The fourth edition of Horeca Talent, organized by Linkers, will address where the most human side of the sector is headed: news in management, leadership, influence and the appearance of new professional profiles.
Finally, the New Concepts space
