By my calculation, the 2025 International Hotel Investment Forum will be my 11th edition, and as I write this the weather in London is reminiscent of Berlin’s weather in mid-April last year, which is when the 2024 conference took place.
IHIF is slowly shifting back to its traditional early March dates. It was for sure held in early March in 2018; that is when the Beast from the East snowstorm — technically, Anticyclone Hartmut — hit northern Europe, and many of us were delayed reaching the German capital.
This year, IHIF’s theme is “Own the moment,” and very much that seems the order of the day. As hoteliers tell us when things get crazy, focus should be on those things we can control, not those things outside of our control.
That could be translated as all hands to the deck to increase systems network growth, but I wonder how much craziness has emerged since IHIF’s organizer Questex came up with that slogan? Even if they voted on it two weeks ago, things are probably radically different now.
A new crisis? This too shall pass.
Our current crisis replaces the old one and will be replaced by the new one.
At a webinar hosted by HVS London on March 19, David Kellett, managing director of Invesco, said that any current crisis is a continuation of crises that have come and gone in the last 20 years. Kellett added the hotel industry is blessed to remain within what he called a “mega-trend,” an 80-year-old demand for travel experiences, which in turn makes hospitality ever more attractive to investors.
Wise words.
Bifurcation is a word used a great deal in hospitality of late. It's the fork in the road leading to excellent performance for luxury hotels on one side and budget/economy hotels on the other. But a new challenge might well be the geopolitical bifurcation of the US and Europe.
In mid-March, some of my U.S.-based colleagues at Hotel News Now attended the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference in Atlanta, and the mood was somber. The “R” word was mentioned.
President Donald Trump’s tubthumping might come back to bite him.
It also might not, but European politicians are voicing the need to formulate policy without the blessing of the U.S.
Issues within the hotel industry that might see bifurcation are around environmental, social and governance policy, strategy, regulations, financing and debt. I am looking forward to hearing commentary on this at IHIF.
Hotel firms increasingly are global concerns, and business of course hates uncertainty, so how do the multinationals maneuver?
From a business stand point, ESG just seems makes sense, but from a political viewpoint it mostly feeds into the battlefield of the culture wars, the polarization of ideals and the mistrust of the “other” side.
Hotels are privileged guardians of some of the most beautiful places on earth, and the hoteliers that own or manage those hotels and locations understand that responsibility and that doing what is good and right can also be profitable.
I hope this is one of the fascinating issues being raised at IHIF 2025.
I am sure there will be many others, and I look forward to seeing you all there.
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