The leaders of the hotel industry and tour operators from around the region at the first conference # CheckIn2016!
The first regional conference on trends in the hotel industry “Check In 2016” was held on Friday, 28 October, at Master Center at the Novi Sad Fair.
The conference brought together leaders in the hotel industry and tour operators from around the region who spoke about the problems in this industry, trends, digitization, the challenges of security and other topical issues. All participants agreed that the countries, hoteliers, travel agents and tourism professionals need to work together to improve the current situation.
The conference was opened – in front of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia, Mr. Dragan Šabić and in a front of organization, President of Color Press Group, Mr. Robert Čoban.
The first panel brought together ambassadors and we had a chance to hear how the tourism watches in their countries, which strategies are applied, and what it lacks Serbia. The panel was attended by: H. E. Dr. Alona Fisher Kamm, Ambassador of Israel in Belgrade, H.E. Gordan Markotić, Croatian ambassador in Belgrade, H.E. Mrs. Narinder Chauhan – Ambassador of India to the Republic of Croatia.
This was followed by panels in which participate the general managers of leading hotels in the region, "The World Is Not Enough: To be or not to be part of the international chain" which was moderated by Mr. Danijel Koletić, CEO Apriori World from Croatia. The second panel was "Truth and misconceptions in the hotel mathematics: Does increased number means a higher ADR", who spoke about the competition, compared to hoteliers and the state investment in infrastructure and plans for the future.
One more important theme was educating hotel staff and whether a diploma is an advantage or not – panel "From what we learn: Education in the hotel industry".
Hoteliers and tour operators were discussing and exchanging views during the last two panels "between growth and instability: What are the common problems of hoteliers in the region?" and "From the perspective of tour operators: What do we need from hoteliers and why we do (not) get it."
The conference was also very important for students of tourism and hospitality.