Registration is now live for Hotelympia 2014, the UK’s most comprehensive event for the hospitality industry, as it returns to London’s ExCeL, 28 April to 1 May next year
Unveiling a completely new look, a new four-day format and a new spring date in the diary, the revitalised 2014 event will be situated in one extended, single access hall benefitting from free WiFi, making the Hotelympia show-floor the UK’s biggest-ever hotbed of hospitality activity.
Leading industry figures
A host of leading industry lights, including Tom Kerridge, Sir Terence Conran, Tom Aikens and Phil Howard are set to grace the famous main Stage, while groundbreaking technology and cutting-edge hospitality design also have brand new forums through the HOSPA Hub Seminars and Design Stage. Each will benefit from targeted speaker programmes, insightful presentations and lively panel discussions, giving visitors unrivalled access to new ways of thinking and the very latest trends shaping the market. World class culinary competition Salon Culinaire also makes a welcome return.
Design at Hotelympia
Billed as a show-within-a-show, Design at Hotelympia will see the welcome return of the Hotelympia Design Award – this time searching out the UK’s ‘Best New Hotel’ – and the Design Lounge, alongside a host of new initiatives. Content for the Design Stage has been developed in partnership with the Society of British and International Design (SBID), the national representative organisation to the European Council of Interior Design and Architecture, adding serious weight to the programme.
HOSPA and HFTP
Hotelympia has also announced a landmark partnership with the Hospitality Professionals Association (HOSPA) and Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals (HFTP) – uniting the two biggest hospitality technology associations of their type in the UK and US, respectively. The partnership paves the way for a powerful four-day programme of briefings, case study presentations and one-to-one mentoring. Days one and two will also see the return of Careers in Hospitality – a valuable event promoting relevant employment opportunities in the industry.
WasteWorks
With sustainability in mind, 2014 will also see Hotelympia launch WasteWorks – a new, co-located event focusing purely on suppliers of waste solutions and services seeking to target the hospitality sector.
WasteWorks will consist of a high level speaker programme as well as a large number of specialist exhibitors.
Innovation Awards
Hotelympia’s standard-bearing Innovation Awards make a welcome return, providing exhibitors with a free high profile platform and an unprecedented means of recognition for new product launches. Finalists will pitch their products behind closed doors in a ‘Dragon’s Den’-style arena. Six finalists in each category – Tabletop & Design, Catering Equipment, Food & Drink and Technology – will have their nerve and product credentials tested against a panel of specially invited industry leaders – Hotelympia’s ‘Innovation Idols’.
Show Makers
The Hotelympia experience is set to be made even more unique by the presence of ‘Show Makers’ – a team of specially trained ambassadors, there to ensure visitors can make the very most of their time at the show.
The Show Makers will be on hand throughout the four days, offering advice and guidance on forthcoming attractions and creating bespoke pathways through the show, depending on visitor criteria and interests.
Show Makers have been recruited from leading catering college, Westminster Kingsway, with students trained by front-of-house expert, Esher Williams and Lisa Campagnola, the lady behind the training programme for the London Games Makers – one of the 2012 Olympics’ great success stories.
As with all Fresh Montgomery shows, Hotelympia 2014 will be run to the Sustainable Event Management Standard, ISO 20121, with each operational element complicit within criteria as laid down by the standard.
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