The latest trends and best practices in all key areas of the hospitality industry were being presented during the Business Lab, at Hall 3.

From 11-14 February 2022, in a specially designed stage, renowned speakers, through panel discussions and workshops were putting under the microscope the most important issues that currently concern hoteliers, restaurants and coffee businessmen.

Post Show – 14 February 2022

The last day of the Business Lab, at the HORECA 2022 exhibition, was completed with speeches, presentations and panels on the most important issues of concern to the tourism and catering sectors.

The Digital Marketing of hotels and the latest developments as they were formed in the post-Covid era were discussed at the panel that opened the day. With Mr. Dimitris Serifis CEO of Nelios as panel moderator and Mr. Tassos Veliadis of SocialLab and Mr. Hlias Sousis of Wikifarmer as speakers, digital advertising came under the microscope as a tool for promotion and mainly hotel sales. The speakers stressed that the hotels managed to stay “alive” during the pandemic, due to their digital presence, which they need to strengthen and adapt to today’s requirements.

Immediately after Mrs. Maria Theofilopoulou Hospitality & Marketing Specialist analyzed the topic “The Hotel as a Creator of Experiences: Revenue & Goodwill”, explaining to the public the ways in which a hotel today can create experiences for its customers, through organized programs. Then Mrs. Valentina – Antonia Trikounaki, Corporate Relations & Digital Strategies of UPGR8, talked about Influencers and Bloggers and how they are evaluated by hotels.

The section of restaurants followed, with Mr. Savvas Meliadis co-owner of the company SAVVIKOS, explaining to the public the ways and methodology they must follow to choose the right place to open a restaurant. The correct costing of food, drink and wine in the restaurant was presented with examples and good practices by Mr. Tassos Pediaditis General Manager of the White Coast Milos Hotel. The chef and manager of the restaurant Gi, Mrs. Anna Hochlaki analyzed later, the latest trends of Bio and Vegan in restaurants. Last but not least, the executive chef of Nice & Easy group Mr. Nikos Pantechis, which talked about the very topical issue of Food Waste, as a tool for cost savings, Sustainability and Marketing.

Post show – Sunday 13 February

The digital developments in the post-COVID era, the role of Social Media, digital marketing, crisis management, but also the general digital presence of tourism and catering companies, were the topics that were analyzed during the third Business Lab day. The digital presence of a restaurant in 2022 was the topic of discussion of the first panel with Mr. Kyros Asfis CEO of Nea Mesa and speakers Mr. Dimitris Lazaridis CEO of Lazaridis Hospitality and Mrs. Vicky Dallas CEO of 9am. The speakers highlighted the crucial role of the modern digital presence of restaurants, the possibilities and the solutions it offers, not only in the field of promotion but also in sales. Immediately after, Mr. Asfis analyzed in his speech, how to create the right content for the Website of the restaurant. Ms. Vicky Dallas also explained in detail the use of social media as a promotional and booking tool for restaurants. The section ended with the talk on the proper management for restaurant reviews by Mrs. Elena Papazoglou and Maria Repouskou Directors of Strategic Fox.

The second section of the day was about Café-Bar and started with a panel discussion with selected speakers. The topic was “Digital Marketing as a tool for promotion and sales for Café-Bars”, moderated by Mr. Dimitris Stathopoulos, journalist of Travel.gr and speakers: Mr. Konstantinos Androutsos, Chief Marketing Officer of ROIX, Mr. Alexandros Kokolis Founder & Managing Director of Wizard and Mrs. Katerina Kokkinou, Digital Marketing Manager of FORUM SA- Member of NürnbergMesse Group. The discussion highlighted the importance and necessity of digital marketing in the modern era, as a tool to attract targeted customers, but also for the general promotion of the business. This was immediately followed by a speech on the use of social media and Influencers for the promotion of a coffee bar by Mr. Konstantinos Androutsos. The best practices in order to handle the reviews of a café – bar was analyzed with examples and useful tips by Mr. Dimitris Stathopoulos.

As an excellent example of proper promotion both online and offline, the café “The Roosters” was presented by its founder Christos Kavrakos, who explained the philosophy and all the steps he followed to create a modern successful business.

The section ended with the topic of hotels and two powerful speeches. The latest trends in the social media of hotels were analyzed by Mr. Christos Ditoras President of IFITT, who explained all the tools they offer and how hoteliers can use them. Hotel crisis and criticism management was analyzed by Mr. Kostis Kapopoulos, co-Founder of W2 Strategies, who told that the hotelier should invest not only in its promotion, but also in an organized plan for dealing with problems and criticisms.

Post show – Saturday 12 February

The important issues that concern the tourism and catering sectors today, such as finding and training staff, computerization, quality control, but also financial tools, were presented the second day of the Business Lab. The top event of the HORECA 2022 exhibition was attended by many representatives of the industry, professionals, executives and owners.

The issue of quality control as the key to the profitability of coffee bars was analyzed by PADA professor Mr. George Papadogoulas who stressed that catering companies must establish quality characteristics for themselves and their operation and then train their staff. Immediately after, Mr. Thanasis Misdanitis, co-Owner of Spotlight Pos, analyzed the benefits of computerization in the service of a café-bar.

The hotels section started with an excellent panel on finding and training staff as the new challenge for hotels, moderated by Ms. Vicky Tryfonas, editor-in-chief of Hotel & Restaurant and speakers Mr. Michalis Vamiedakis, president and board of directors of Allsun Hotels and Mr. Vassilis Riavoglou Development Director of OTA Insight for Greece & Cyprus and Professor of the Metropolitan College of Thessaloniki in the Department of Business Administration in Tourism. The discussion highlighted the need for a partnership between the state and individuals for better education of tourism executives. In addition, the major global problem facing tourism today due to staff shortages emerged.

Then Mr. Iasonas Michopoulos, co-owner of the hotels Kivotos and Mrs. Angeliki Koskeridou, Head of Development & Mental Health of the hotel, analyzed the issue of proper management of human resources in hotels. The financing programs for hotels was the topic of the speech of Mr. Manolis Koutelias, Head of Investment Projects Department of the company Noisis Development Consultants. Mr. Lambros Lamprianakis, CEO of HIT, spoke about the latest trends in hotel computerization.

At the next section with the title “Restaurant staff: Search and training practices”, moderated by the journalist Mrs. Viki Vamiedaki and speakers Mr. Spyros Kerkyras catering entrepreneur (Hide & Seek, 42barstronomy, Monzu and chef Giannis Parikos (Costa Navarino, Iguazu) the need for the creation of training mechanisms, not only for the restaurant staff, but also for the catering entrepreneurs was analyzed. Second day of the Business Lab closed with the speech for the computerization of the modern restaurant by Mr. Giannis Paizis, founder of the company Forecasts.

Post show – Friday 11 February

The day started with the section dedicated to hotels. With a panel of select speakers, Hotel sales in the post-Covid era were analyzed. Coordinated by Mr. Nikitas Nikitaras, co-founder of INcrementUM, Giannis Koutsopoulos, CEO of AboutHotelier and Panos Kontozamanis, CEO of PrimalRes and Kostas Psarras, Business Development Manager of OTA Insight, analyzed all the new data that have emerged in the sales of Greek hotels. The speakers expressed their optimism for the course of this year’s tourist season in our country, emphasizing that bookings are currently on the rise. They highlighted the role of Digital Sales, which intensified greatly during the pandemic, a trend that seems to be prevailing. Then, Mr. Maximos Tzanos, B2B & Rentals Connectivity Manager of WebHotelier company presented to the hoteliers the 10 steps to increase their online direct bookings.

The day started with the section dedicated to hotels. With a panel of select speakers, Hotel sales in the post-Covid era were analyzed. Coordinated by Mr. Nikitas Nikitaras, co-founder of INcrementUM, Giannis Koutsopoulos, CEO of AboutHotelier and Panos Kontozamanis, CEO of PrimalRes and Kostas Psarras, Business Development Manager of OTA Insight, analyzed all the new data that have emerged in the sales of Greek hotels. The speakers expressed their optimism for the course of this year’s tourist season in our country, emphasizing that bookings are currently on the rise. They highlighted the role of Digital Sales, which intensified greatly during the pandemic, a trend that seems to be prevailing. Then, Mr. Maximos Tzanos, B2B & Rentals Connectivity Manager of WebHotelier company presented to the hoteliers the 10 steps to increase their online direct bookings.

Then, Mrs. Stella Tsantila co-owner of the company INcrementUM, spoke in detail about Yield management and explained the new ways and techniques to sale the right room, to the right customer, at the right price. The new reality that has emerged in the Reservation Channels and which ones fit in each hotel was analyzed by the president of the company Hotel Availabilities, Mr. Thomas Poulios. Techniques to achieve the right mix of Online and Offline sales, gave Mr. Federico Gavilan CEO of Puro Management.

Immediately after, the important speeches and presentations for the catering industry started. A major study by Coca Cola 3E was presented to the public by Mr. Ioannis Vidras Ho.Re.Ca Agile Lead of the company. The results of the research recorded the significant changes that have taken place in both consumers and businesses after the pandemic.

This was followed by an extremely interesting panel discussion on The Next Day in the Greek restaurant scene, which was coordinated by Ms. Denny Kallivokas food wine & spirits editor and co-owner of Diffords Guide Greece and speakers Mr. Gikas Xenakis chef of Aleria restaurant and the chef-Patron of Le Pavillon Athens Mr. Jean Charles Metayer. The speakers analyzed the great changes that have been made, but that still need to be made, highlighting the pathogens of the time such as the lack of staff. This was followed by a speech from Ms. Penny Georgakopoulou CEO of Smart Ideas, on Corporate Sales and Events and how the restaurants will attract customers for b2b events.

The most modern trends in Café-Bar were analyzed by Mrs. Eleni Nikoloulia, co-owner of Diffords Guide Greece, who highlighted the importance of Greek products and their place in the bar, but also top issues such as seasonality and sustainability.

The first day of the Business Lab closed with the presentation of the Case Study of Ourse Athens, with the founders Mr. Spyros Pediaditaki and Stefanos Tsoukalas, to explain the success of their pioneering project, which now creates the new generation of confectioneries in our country, based on the excellent premium product and its proper promotion.

See the schedule below: