The seventh 100% Hotel Show came to a close on Monday, having welcomed thousands of hoteliers, architects and tourism professionals and having received great feedback as to the event’s high quality. Impressive booths that remind us of the biggest Design Expos, highly-specialized Hotel Workshops and the most up-to-date Digital & Sales section highlighted once again that the 100% Hotel Show is the most important show for the development of new hotel investments, as well as the event where new hotel trends for the Greek market are created.
Besides the high-quality organization and the record number of visitors, what’s really impressive, is the high-level visitors that showed interest in investments and hotel market developments. The “substantial meetings” that promote new partnerships between hotels and companies were at the heart of the Show's activities, while the 100% Workshops room was transformed into the biggest hotel training hub, where top-notch speakers presented real solutions that will help Greek hotels transition into the new era.
The 100% Hotel Show is a multi-aspect hotel event, with an advanced level that was further enhanced this year with the 100% Hotel Design Awards, where top hotels stood out for their high-quality design, whereas the introduction of the Workathlon Career Day, which welcomed more than 1,500 job candidates, stressed the Show’s active interest in crucial issues, such as job search.
100% HOTEL SHOW 2019 HIGHLIGHTS
For the first time, the Show presented applied case studies on the creation of hotel experiences through architectural lighting and scent marketing.
The entrance of the 100% Hotel Show served as the stage for the “Rooms + Light” Experiment, in which three lighting designers changed the visitor's experience in an identical hotel room, through different lighting choices. The Show visitors had to go through these specially designed rooms on their way in, and they also had the chance to discuss with their designers. At the same time, the organizer of the Show, Demand Fairs & Media, partnered with Scent Plus, to develop the custom scent of the Show, putting Scent Marketing into practice and turning the Show into an experiential event. Both actions were presented in a dedicated Hotel Experience Workshop, where the rationale of the experiment was analyzed together with the scent development process, further evolving the way in which the 100% Hotel Show communicates with its audience.
The 100% Workshops took a renewed, highly educational interactive form and saw the number of attending hoteliers double.
Building on the 100% Workshop Tour tradition, this year’s Workshops at the 100% Workshop Stage, were given a new format, since, apart from the highly skilled speakers, Nikos S. Morantis from Hotelier Academy, was the moderator and his interventions enhanced the interactive and educational nature of the workshops. The Workshops' topics focused on the analysis of the most relevant issues for Greek hotels, such as new markets and increased profitability, as well as more practical issues, such as staff search. Thus, the Workshops managed to be the top training event of the year, as evidenced by the audience comments that praised the high quality of the presentations.
The exhibitor booths focused on practical solutions, offering fully specialized proposals to Hoteliers.
Apart from their advanced design and the special constructions, this year’s 100% Hotel Show booths focused on the practical implementation of solutions that could be better understood by the Show visitors. Many booths simulated actual hotel areas, proposing materials, furniture and styles, while there were also many conceptual participations that added a modern touch to the Show. High-level executives of the exhibitors were present in the company booths, thus ensuring that Hoteliers could find solutions and conclude better deals at the same time.
The WebHotelier Masterclass explained the change in direct bookings and announced important bookings-related figures for Greece, that highlight both the potential of meta search channels and direct B2B contracting.
The 5th meeting between Hoteliers and WebHotelier in the 100% Hotel Show broke the participation record and became the most meaningful meeting, since the top booking engine presented important booking-related statistics for the current year. Meta search and direct B2B contracting with reliable travel agents hit record numbers, giving a new dimension to booking engines that was extensively analyzed for the first time in the 100% Workshop Stage, keeping hoteliers that attended the Masterclass, up-to-date in this new era of online bookings.
The special Digital & Sales section presented new specialized companies focusing on revenue management and growth.
The special section dedicated to hotel sales and digital marketing was one of the most popular Show segments attended by the most important companies. For the first time this year, apart from the top booking engines and channel management systems, companies focusing on sales and revenue management - one of the hottest topics for modern hoteliers - were presented.
The 100% Hotel Design Awards focused on the presentation of all shortlisted participations, maximizing their promotion, while the awarded projects were whole-heartedly received by the audience.
With 400 selected guests and a new presentation style, this year’s awarding ceremony focused on the presentation of all participations, since the level of all contestants was higher than ever. The presenter and famous YouTuber, Foteini Aristakesyan, added a fresh touch to the evening and the big winners enjoyed the audience's great applause when receiving the beautifully designed awards.
The Workathlon Career Day, hosted in a dedicated room, welcomed more than 1,500 people, bringing into contact the Show and the human resources of hotels.
The Workathlon Career Day exceeded all expectations: more than 1,500 attendees visited the 100% Hotel Show and met the 25+ hotels that took part in this special event. This combination of the people actually responsible for offering the hotel experience with the “traditionally high-level Monday contacts” gave momentum to the Show that close its 7th edition in the best possible way.
