TBM Staff - Hyderabad Hotelivate is all set to host the 17th Edition of its Hotel Investment Conference – South Asia (HICSA) at the Grand Hyatt, Mumbai on April 6-7, 2022.
While the previous edition sought to understand the damage caused by the pandemic, this edition of HICSA will be centred around resilience. With two of the most challenging years in recent times behind us, HICSA aims at igniting sparks of hope for the hospitality industry as it begins its journey on the road to recovery.
HICSA will be conducted as an exclusively in-person conference, with an aim to instill a sense of confidence in the fraternity. A collection of keynote addresses, group and panel discussions will tell the story of the ordeal we continue to face and the ongoing journey of hospitality towards better days. The theme of this year’s conference is about that journey where the collective focus is on working at it harder, trying to make it better, doing it faster, making us all stronger – Harder, Better, Faster and Stronger. The two-day hospitality focused conference will be aimed at providing a much-needed boost to one of the worst-affected industries in the world with some of its most prominent thought-leaders and trend-setters uniting under one roof.
Commenting on the 17th anniversary of HICSA, Manav Thadani, Founder Chairman of Hotelivate said, “This year’s edition will be unique and special in many ways with almost 45% of first-time speakers, another 10-15% of speakers who have spoken just once before and almost 20% of speakers being inspiring women – all bringing in a new perspective to table. While last year we did a hybrid version for the first time, this year, as per tradition, we are back with an exclusively in-person conference. We are extremely grateful for the support we have received from our delegates, patrons, speakers and sponsors”
On Day 1, the conference will feature some exclusive interviews and keynote addresses in an endeavor to make the event more content rich. It will have some notable speakers such as Jesper Palmqvist, Area Director Asia Pacific STR, Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and Group CEO, OYO, Aaditya Thackeray, Cabinet Minister of Tourism and Environment, Government of Maharashtra, Aditya Ghosh, Member – Board of Directors, FabIndia and OYO, Chairman, SEWA Social Enterprises, Katerina Giannouka, President – Asia Pacific, Radisson Hotel Group, Peter Fulton, Group President – Europe, Africa, Middle East and South-West Asia, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Dimitris Manikis, President – EMEA, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts and Haitham Mattar, Managing Director – India, Middle East and Africa , IHG.
HICSA will also felicitate Nakul Anand, Executive Director, ITC Limited with a lifetime achievement award, celebrating a professional journey like no other.
The day will close with the ‘HICSA Hotels of the Year Awards’ presented by MakeMyTrip, that recognizes the most remarkable new hotel developments in the South Asian region. The nominations include hotels across six categories: Luxury/Upper Upscale Hotel – Urban; Luxury/Upper Upscale Hotel – Leisure; Upscale Segment; Upper Mid-Market Segment; Mid-Market Segment; Budget/Economy Segment. The winners will be shortlisted by a designated jury and then finally determined by the HICSA 2022 delegates through a voting process and announced as part of the conference program.
Consistent with the HICSA tradition, Day 2 of the conference will feature many relevant panel and group discussions as well as a few keynote sessions with industry leaders. “Travel Trends in South-Asia” will be presented by Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder and Group CEO, MakeMyTrip while Nikhil Nath, Founder and CEO, Knowcross will speak about “Trends in technology”. There will also be some thought-provoking sessions like “How Will Management Contract Evolve – Post Pandemic”, “Traditional Hotel Companies: Challenges And Opportunities”, “HR- Who Ate Our Talent?” – to name a few.
The conference will ultimately conclude with the famous “Hot Seat Debate” moderated by Manav Thadani, which will bring to light the challenging times for leadership. The panel will have Kapil Chopra, Founder and CEO, The Postcard Hotel, Priya Paul, Chairperson, Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels, Rajeev Menon, President – Asia Pacific (excluding Greater China), Marriott International and Sanjiv Kapoor, President, The Oberoi Group.
