HORECA Lab

The mapping of the most important topics of the hotel industry for 2023, but also all the new trends dominating the catering industry, were presented during the four day event HORECA Lab, which took place during HORECA 2023 exhibition.

The event took place throughout the duration of the exhibition, on a special stage in Hall 1. Through discussions, speeches and presentations, all issues related to the integrated and commercially effective digital presence of tourism businesses as well as the organization and management of hotel establishments units and mass catering businesses, were developed.

Monday, February 13 – Post show

The 4-day work of HORECA LAB was completed with important issues that concern the catering industry today. The parallel event for hotels and mass catering, held as part of the HORECA 2023 exhibition, was a great success, with an impressive audience participation, interesting topics and high-level speakers.

The day started with a dialogic discussion on the cutting edge topic of Zero Waste management. Coordinated by Mr. Spyro Kerkyra, Restaurant Entrepreneur, the speakers Dr. Filippos Kyrkitsos, Chairman of Ecological Recycling Society, Mr. Michalis Marthas, Chef of the Marathia restaurant in Tinos, Mr. Dimitris Dafopoulos, co-owner of the all day bar Line Athens and Ignatios Litsas, Bureau Veritas Hellas Lead Auditor, analyzed the importance of implementing Zero Waste practices and how restaurants can increase their revenue with proper material management.

The speakers focused on the one way that will now be led and the catering industry, which should immediately adapt and start applying Zero Waste practices and principles, both for the protection of the environment, and for the fact that it is a requirement of more and more consumers. Afterwards, Ms. Kerkyras, Mr. Marthas and Mr. Dafopoulos revealed techniques and gave advice to the audience, who follow this now dominant philosophy.

The baton was taken by Ms. Lina Bakalexis Co-Founder & Brand Manager of the company Linear, who presented the topic “Social Media & Focus: Proper Management and Customer Attraction”. She analyzed all the steps for a proper strategy in social networks, which can bring bookings, but also help promote a restaurant business.

HORECA LAB finished with Mr. Tasos Pediaditis F&B Consultant and General Manager of White Coast Milos, analyzing all points of proper quality control in the kitchen, bars and hall of a restaurant. As he explained, quality control at all stages of operation has a significant impact on customer satisfaction, but also on cost savings.

Sunday, February 12 – Post show

The most important issues that concern the organization, development, operation and promotion of hotel businesses today, were analyzed during the third day of the HORECA LAB event.

The work started with a discussion on the financial programs for hotels, with Ms. Vicky Tryfona, journalist of Powergame.gr and speakers Mr. Vasilis Zimni Partner of Revival, Konstantinos Papadopoulos CEO of PK Consulting Group, Konstantinos Pantelis Founder of Anodos Group and Kostas Vamvakas CEO of VK Premium. During the discussion, all the financial programs that are in force today were analyzed, with an emphasis on the Development one only. The speakers gave, among other things, advice to hoteliers on how to properly draw up a file, how to organize to execute the project and get the funding soon.

Afterwards, Mr. Dimitris Ganoudis, General Manager of Great Place To Work, analyzed the issue of Hotel Staff and explained how hoteliers can build a strong team, with training and motivation

How modern payment solutions and computerization of hotels increase profits, was put under the microscope of experts. Mr. Kostis Alexiou, Commercial Director of Worldline Greece, explained to the audience the most innovative digital payments solutions that the company already provides to 130,000 physical and electronic businesses in Greece, while he specialized the solutions provided specifically for hotel businesses and catering businesses. Mr. Lambros Lambrianakis, General Manager of HiT Hospitality analyzed the many and useful tools that computerization programs provide to hotels, allowing them not only to have control over all operations, but also to facilitate their customers, simplifying many procedures.

The baton was taken by Mr. Apostolis Aivalis, CEO & Syllabus Manager of KnowCrunch, who spoke about Digital Marketing, how a hotelier can create a campaign abroad and how much does it cost. The unit concluded with the analysis of the main Social Media. Ms. Katerina Fotopoulou and Μs. Dimitra Moraiti Key Account Managers of Travelworks gave advice to hoteliers on how they can create the right content for the right targeting.

Saturday, February 11 – Post show

The second day of HORECA LAB, the parallel event of HORECA exhibition, was completed with impressive audience participation and highly interesting discussions.

The program started with industry experts analyzing “how to create a successful and profitable catering business from A to Z”, on a panel moderated by Ms. Lila Karapostoli, head of Public Relations and Marketing at SEEME and speakers Mr. Vasilios Doumas, Product Portfolio & Innovation Manager of Wordline, Mr. Spyros Kerkyras, Restaurants Entrepreneur, Mr. Alexis Giannopoulakis, SEEME Board Member & Owner of Estiasi, Mr. Nektarios Notis, journalist and publisher of FnB Daily and Mr. Andreas Batsis, Digital Strategist of Linked Business. The speakers presented their knowledge and experience, explaining the steps that must be followed by those who want to succeed, emphasizing, among others, on issues of organization, strategy, correct selection of equipment, flexible and modern payment methods. Mr. Ioannis Bouzouris, ManDynamic Commercial Director, analyzed the current situation in catering staff and the major shortages that have existed since the pandemic. He focused on training issues and explained the framework and best practices for incentives, working conditions and wages to build a team of loyal collaborators.

Online and Offline management of complaints and reviews in catering establishments was the topic of a panel discussion, organized by SEEME. Ms. Katerina Dimitrakopoulou, CEO of the Social Mellon company, and Mr. Yiannis Protopapadakis, Marketing & Customer Service Expert and Author, gave the audience advice, as well as the best practices for the proper management of incidents that catering businesses often face, under the coordination of Ms. Lila Karapostoli, Public Relations & Marketing of SEEME.

Event from the National Accreditation System

HORECA LAB also hosted two important panels organized by the National Accreditation System (ESYD) on the impact of green hotels on the future of tourism, but also on the role of accreditation and certification in the supply chain.

In the first panel entitled “Green Hotels: The Present and the Future of Tourism”, the opening speech was made by the CEO of ESYD, Mr. Christos Nestoras, who emphasized that tourism is an industry and the green transition is of fundamental importance for its next day.

Mr. Charalambos Voulgaris, hotelier and president of Corfu Hoteliers, said that the choice of the “green hotel” is not only an ecological measure, but a social and economic one, while the Member of Parliament for the Southern Sector N.D. and the Minister of Tourism, Mr. Haris Theocharis, emphasized that customers now combine the logic of luxury with sustainable development, which makes today’s time ideal for “green investments”.

On the same wavelength, Mr. Nikos Papathanasis, Deputy Minister of Development and Investments, referred to quality tourism, while Mr. Agis-Georgios Digas, President of Renewable Energy Sources, pointed out that today, more than ever, there is full acceptance by the world for the need to apply sustainable solutions to the tourism product. Finally, Mr. Charalambos Angeloudis, Acting General Manager of TUV AUSTRIA HELLAS, member Board of Directors of HELLASCERT, referred to another important parameter, compliance with the legislative framework, which is required before certification, so that companies can approach constructively the “green” logic.

In the second panel, entitled “Accreditation-Certification: The role of quality in supply chain management and the trust it engenders in the consumer”, the initial presentation was made by the president of ESYD, Mr. Konstantinos Kourtalis, who set the framework by emphasizing that the Accredited certification is synonymous with quality, because it establishes trust between the partners of the tourism product.

Afterwards, the CEO of TÜV HELLAS (TÜV NORD), member of the Board of Directors of HELLASCERT, Ms. Vasiliki Kazazi referred to the global character of the supply chain network, saying that ISO creates common communication criteria and a common language between the links of the chain, while Mr. Grigoris Tassios, president of the Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers, spoke about the importance of certification in securing the work of professionals in the hospitality field, saying that the Greek hotel is at the heart of the concept of certification.

Mr. Michalis Mistopoulos, representative of S.EV. pointed out that the certification alone does not solve the problems of every company, but is a tool for its development, while Mr. Vassilis Oikonomou, Member

of Parliament of the Province of Attica, ex-Head of the Health Department of the Republic of Greece, emphasized that accreditation is a necessity, which gives priority to any company that has it. Finally, the Minister of Development and Investments, Mr. Adonis Georgiadis stated that the success of HORECA is a precursor on how tourism will fare this year, stressing, at the same time, that in order for tourism to rise, accreditation is a necessary weapon.

The two panels were moderated by the journalist Mrs. Mary Kontaridi.

Friday, February 10 – Post show

The HORECA Lab started with a panel discussion on “Which Greek destinations are tourists looking for summer 2023 and how will hoteliers target them”, moderated by Mr. Panos Leontopoulos, Founder of Hotelistas. The speakers Mr. Maximos Tzanos, Head of B2B of PrimalRes and Mr. Dimitris Serifis, CEO of Nelios revealed the explosive increase in online bookings for the 2023 summer season compared to last year, which in fact exceeds 60%. Markets such as Australia are returning, while the first country in bookings for summer vacations in Greece is USA. Afterwards, Mr. Marios Kounelis, Group Sales Director of Webhotelier, analyzed the best practices that hoteliers must follow in order to make sales directly from their hotel’s website.

Mr. Nikos Amanakis, Senior Revenue Manager of Revitup.direct gave his speech on the content of contracts and the management of customers who book their rooms through the two largest platforms in the world, Booking and Expedia. The baton was taken by Mr. Federico Santos, Founder of the company Puro Management, who explained to the hotel audience about Online channels and Offline travel agencies and gave advice on how many and which one a hotelier should choose, in order to have an excellent mix of bookings. Regarding the correct pricing of hotel rooms, Ms. Dimitra Siapatis, Reservations & Revenue Manager of the Nikki Beach Resort & Spa hotel managed by SWOT Hospitality, analyzed the Decalogue of profitability. The second part of the HORECA LAB was dedicated to catering, restaurants and coffee bars.

The module started with a panel discussion, where the latest trends in focus were analyzed, moderated by Ms. Penny Georgakopoulou CEO of Smart Ideas and speakers Ms. Denny Kallivoka journalist and co-owner of Diffords Guide Greece, Mr. Konstantinos Theodorakopoulos co-Owner of Bar in front of a Bar and Mr. Nektarios Notis journalist and Publisher of FnB Daily. The speakers analyzed the trends in Restaurants, Bars and Cafés for 2023, emphasizing that the pandemic has changed many of the public’s habits, while accelerating some trends, such as sustainability. As they pointed out, people are now looking for real experiences and want to live them through the environment of the place, the people and the products.

The Gastronomy Guides, the Awards of restaurants and bars and how a business can enter the golden lists and win distinctions, were analyzed by Ms. Denny Kallivoka journalist and co-owner of Diffords Guide Greece and Ms. Penny Georgakopoulou, CEO of Smart Ideas, in a discussion moderated by Ms. Viki Vamiedakis, journalist at NEWS 24/7. Mr. Dimitris Lazaridis CEO of the Lazaridis Hospitality company gave advice on how restaurants will attract tourists, a particularly important but also demanding and diverse public. Immediately after, the co-owners of Line Athens, Mr. Vassilis Kyritsis and Nikos Bakulis, presented the case study of the most viral bar in Athens, analyzing their philosophy and strategy as well as the appeal of the public.

The first day of the event closed with a panel discussion by the Stirizo_HORECA Alliance entitled “Hospitality and Hospitality – Less indirect taxes means a boost to growth”. The topics were developed by Mr. Grigoris Pavlou, Economist of IOBE, Mr. Grigoris Tasios, President of the Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers, Mr. Yiannis Daveronis, Secretary General of the Panhellenic Federation of Restaurants & Related Professions and Ms. Sofika Papanikolaou General Manager of the Association of Alcoholic Beverages Businesses. Official partner of the HORECA LAB event is Worldline Greece, one of the largest card payment acceptance and settlement companies in the Greek market.

Official partner of HORECA LAB is Worldline Greece, which is one of the largest card payment acceptance and settlement companies in the Greek market. The company was established on 1/7/2022, as part of the new strategic partnership between Eurobank and Worldline #1 in Europe for digital payments, combining the strengths of both companies. 130,000 Greek businesses with physical and online stores already enjoy the advantages of its products and services. Worldline offers integrated card payment solutions in physical locations as well as online.