By Arlene Ramirez, CHAE, CHE, CHIA, MBA
London was calling on Thanksgiving this year. So, instead of having turkey and trimmings, a hefty portion of education on emerging technologies, revenue management and live interviews with international industry experts were served at HOSPACE 2015, a one-day annual conference and exhibition hosted by HOSPA. HFTP as a sponsor organization was well-represented with HFTP Global Director Michael Levie of CitizenM as one of the spotlight interviews.
While many sessions were specific to trends and issues being faced in the local U.K. market, there were also discussions on universal topics faced by all. As always, one of the highlights of any conference besides the educational components are the opportunities to network, share and discuss issues with other delegates and get their perspectives on new and old topics.
Another exciting event was the U.K. launch of Pineapplesearch.com, HFTP’s new search platform for hospitality-specific industry information and intelligence, powered by hsyndicate. Delegates were very impressed and the response was overwhelmingly positive.
I was once again honored to present two Workshop & Technical Updates this year. One was on the USALI 11th revised edition. The other was on HFTP’s own GHACP (Global Hospitality Accounting Common Practices) database which provides comparisons of how full service hotels around the world structure their management accounts. Both were well attended and had some great discussion in the limited time—30 minutes each session.
To top off this feast was an evening of games, a guest appearance by James Bond (and boy was he convincing), magicians and the “Supremes” a group that showed a great resemblance to the originals, both in person and their amazing voices.
The HOSPA team, Carl Weldon CEO of HOSPA and Chris Upton Chairman of HOSPA, once again delivered a great show, leaving everyone anticipating HOSPACE 2016!
Arlene Ramirez, CHAE, CHE, CHIA, MBA (@ArleneDRamirez) is the 2015-2016 HFTP Global president. She is principal at ADR Hospitality Consulting and on the faculty at the C.N. Hilton College, University of Houston. Ramirez is also a frequent speaker at HFTP Global events.
