For the first time in 2021, leaders and innovators from across the hotel industry take to the (virtual) stage at the Independent Hotel Show Summit to set part of the industry's agenda for the coming year and share the changes we should be striving towards to ensure its growth and survival.

From pressing issues facing the sector, to inspiring new trends and solutions, the summit will equip you with useful takeaways for a positive 2021 and beyond. Join key influencers and leaders including Chris Sanderson, Co-Founder of The Future Laboratory,  Marco Lemmers, CEO at Conscious Hotels, Floris Kemper, General Manager of Château St Gerlach, Vincent van Dijk, Trend Forecaster and Partner at HBMEO Concepts and more.

The summit will provide a much-needed update for the industry and an opportunity to gain invaluable takeaways to prepare for the year ahead.

2:00 PM EST - Welcome and Introduction

Host: Mieke Berkers, Event Manger, Independent Hotel Show Amsterdam

2:05 PM (EST) - Dutch Hotel Market: An Overview

Join business intelligence specialists, Amadeus, for a deep dive into the industry as we explore the data to help you plan for the future and maximise your revenue in 2021.

Speaker: Martijn Langstraat, Senior Director of Sales, Benelux, Amadeus Hospitality

Martijn Langstraat’s passion for the hospitality industry has led to a 20-year career in this dynamic environment. After 15 years of various sales & marketing leadership roles within independent and branded hotels, he now heads up the business development in the BENELUX for TravelClick an Amadeus Company.

With his vast experience and passion in both hospitality and data-based hotel technology, he is a source of inspiration for many hoteliers to apply this in their own business to help grow results.

2:30 PM (EST) - Lessons From Around The World: Trends Rising

As we enter the inter-pandemic period and green shoots of recovery emerge in some global markets, businesses face a choice: digitise and democratise or remain bound to the way things were. Join The Future Laboratory to examine the trends powering the luxury markets, from the rise of solitary escapes to privacy-first technology.

Speaker: Chris Sanderson, Co-Founder, The Future Laboratory

Christopher Sanderson is co-founder of The Future Laboratory, where he is responsible for delivering the company’s extensive global roster of conferences, media events and LS:N Global Trend Briefings, which he co-presents with the team in London, New York, Sydney, Melbourne, and across the globe.

Clients who have booked one of his inspirational keynotes include Kering, the European Travel Commission, Retail Week, Selfridges, QIC, Marks & Spencer, Chanel, Harrods, Aldo, H&M, General Motors, BBDO, Design Hotels, Condé Nast and Omnicom.

In 2012, Chris presented  UK's Channel 4’s five-part tv series, Home of the Future. In 2014, he and his team created Fragrance Lab for Selfridges, an exploration into the world of personalisation in scent, which won Retail Week’s Best Pop-up and Overall Winner of the 2014 Retail Week awards. Chris is a Super Board member of The British Fashion Council’s Fashion Trust.

Join trend forecaster, Vincent van Dijk, for a tour around Amsterdam as he explores the newest and most unique hospitality trends and experiences the great city has to offer. From the latest tech innovations and the contactless era to increased flexibility, improved guest loyalty and the rise of the sustainable hotel.

Speaker: Vincent van Dijk, Trend Forecaster and Partner, HBMEO Concepts

Vincent is a trend forecaster and partner at HBMEO, marketing agency for food & hospitality. He advises companies and governments on what we are going to eat, drink, and think in the future, as well as writing trend columns for various magazines.

Vincent has always been intrigued by hotels and wrote a book about his search for hospitality in 365 hotels in Amsterdam. He is currently researching the future of the industry by testing various innovations in the hotel room of the future, a living lab in the centre of Amsterdam.

3:30 PM (EST) - Recovery Plans: Looking To The Future

After what has been an extremely challenging time for us all, join sector pioneers as we discuss the road to recovery and planning effectively for the future. Expect real talk on rates and capacity expectations, staff and their mental health, new concepts and growth areas as well as the changed traveller and some much-needed positivity!

Moderator: Sander Allegro, Owner, Allegro INNovations Hospitality Consultancy📷

Hospitality & Innovation are the two key themes in Sander Allegro’s professional career which he spent in consultancy (Allegro INNovations) and in education (Hotel school The Hague).

As consultant on hospitality strategy & innovation, Sander carried out strategic assignments for leading (hospitality) corporations in The Netherlands and abroad.

Sander is managing director of The Netherlands’ most prestigious fundraising event, the Amsterdam Diner, serves on various committees and boards, is a regular keynote speaker and moderator at various events and is a columnist in the two leading Dutch trade magazines for the hospitality Industry.

After completing a Masters’ degree in Business Economics, Marco had a successful career in banking and finance. The lack of passion for the core product of this industry led to a big career change. Together with a good friend he started working in the hospitality industry advising chains in M&A related matters. Being unhappy as an advisor, he felt he needed to create his own hotel business. Hotels with style, personal connection, lots of humour, and leading sustainability standards. Living according sustainable principles with his wife and after becoming a father, his ambition to help save the planet for future generations was the reason why Conscious Hotels was born.

Conscious Hotels are attractive, funny and quirky and consist of 4 hotels, 2 restaurants and 2 cafés, all in Amsterdam. They are hard core sustainable, in everything they do. But without shouting it into people’s faces. They take care of the planet, quietly in the background. No fuss. In other words: Eco-Sexy. Big Smiles.

Floris Kemper, General Manager of Château St Gerlach

I started at 16 years old as a school drop out at my first hotel job (Hotel de Bilderberg) where I fell in love with the industry. I combined working there with the hotel management school and got promoted to manager, but after 1 year I went on another adventure at Nijmegen University – where I received my master in business administration in 2013. I went to Amsterdam for my first 5* hotel experience and spent 6 years with NH Hotel Group in various roles/projects.

In January 2019 I became GM at Kruisheren hotel Maastricht from Camille Oostwegel, and moved to Limburg with my wife Lotte and our daughter Vere Cato. As of December ’20 I am the new GM at Château St Gerlach in Houthem, also part of Oostwegel Collection.

Annemoon Geurts, Founder and Creative Director, Kazerne

Based in former military barracks and adjoining industrial warehouse, Kazerne celebrates the impact of design in a hospitality environment by welcoming guests to eat, drink and sleep surrounded by recent works by world-class design talents. Renovated with great attention to its original beauty, the heritage has 2,000 square meters of exhibition space (with exhibitions changing every four to six months), that include eight luxury hotel rooms and lofts, several meeting rooms, a Members Club, design shop and two restaurants: the lively industrial Bar/restaurant with Italian touch and the intimate fine-dining Restaurant Benz at Kazerne, with French touch. Founders Annemoon Geurts (designer/artist) and Koen Rijnbeek (producer/musician) aim to offer guests inspiration and a meaningful experience while at the same time offering and a springboard to designers, a committed podium that explores the ‘zeitgeist’ through exhibitions, connecting and in-depth. Imagine a museum like platform, against a backdrop of monumental heritage, that has been transformed into a breath-taking hotel.

Annemoon: "Following my graduation from the world famous Design Academy Eindhoven I established my own corporate design agency. In context of Dutch Design Week 2006 Koen and I organized our first “Eat Drink Design” event, a pop-up restaurant for nine days where guests dined amongst, on and with various design works. In the 2007 pop-up we initiated a project in which we paired Eindhoven designers with local restaurants to work on a joint project to see whether designers could help support the restaurants and vice versa. Their presentations generated a lot of very positive reaction and feedback, and caused us to consider if we could take it further, to offer guests inspiration while at the same time doing something for the local creative industries on a daily base. So we decided to establish a platform, a permanent location where people can meet, eat, drink and sleep, surrounded by design and get connected to a community that give's to grow. On December 7th 2007 we approached the city to ask if they had a venue for us, in October 2014 we opened the first 1.000 square meter exhibition space with a restaurant and two meeting spaces in the industrial part of the heritage. Since March 2019 the other 1.000 square meters in the monumental part is operational as well. Now the concept is complete and growing every day.

Larissa Esser, Senior Advisor, Hera HRI B.V.

Larissa is an operational real estate and hospitality expert, with over a decade of capital market and real estate investment banking experience. She founded her own advisory firm Esser Advisory in 2020 and is Senior Advisor at Hera Hospitality Real Estate and Investments – a fully-integrated owner, asset-manager and operator of hotel assets. Over the years Larissa has been involved in a range of noteworthy transactions in the Netherlands including American Hotel Amsterdam, Pulitzer Amsterdam, Bilderberg Hotels and Restaurants, Apollo Hotels, Kimpton de Witt Amsterdam and DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam. Larissa has a deep understanding of global capital markets coupled with profound knowledge of operational real estate and hotel operating fundamentals, a unique and valuable perspective.

We will be taking a live Q&A with our panel of speakers at the end of the Summit. This is your opportunity to put forward any questions using the 'Ask a Question' button and vote for questions you would most like answered. Please include the name of the speaker whom your questions is directed to, and we will do our best to get through as many as we can before the end of the Summit.