Mike’s Anthony Veneziale and Neil Patrick Harris opened the celebration.
While Katy Perry, Adele and Luke Bryan headlined the mega-resort towering over the Las Vegas Strip, other kinds of stars took home the highest bills at Resorts World Las Vegas. Forbes Travel Guide’s Summit logo and its trademark star honor the resort’s 100,000 annual celebration of the world’s finest luxury hospitality on March 1 and his 2nd. Square feet of his LED screens shone from the red tower facade.
And the invite-only gathering brought in celebrities — Neil Patrick Harris hosted the gala and Tony winner Anthony Veneziale (Lin-Manuel Miranda in the critically acclaimed hip-hop comedy The group, which co-created Freestyle Love Supreme, hosted the event — an honored celebrity hailed from the world of hospitality. The summit was FTG’s first and largest since his 2020. Nearly 800 hoteliers, business executives, travel advisors and other leading luxury travel professionals from five continents and more than 80 countries congregate in Las Vegas, with annual travel revenue equivalent to his $20 billion. increase.
The summit was held at Resorts World Las Vegas, home of Conrad, Crockfords and Hilton.
This year, FTG has reinvented the event, expanding opportunities for attendees to interact with experts not only in the hospitality industry, but also in technology, sustainability, the investment sector, wellbeing, corporate culture and more. Veneziale and beatboxer Carlos Aguirre kicked off The Summit with some lyrics and beats.
Keynote speakers included J. Christopher Burch, Founder and CEO of Burch Creative Capital, which owns NIHI Sumba in Indonesia and opened Faena Hotel Buenos Aires; Peter Greenberg, Travel Editor of CBS News; We met and discussed luxury and travel updates. James Beard Award nominee and FTG Global Ambassador for Food and Beverage, Elizabeth Blau, shared how hotel restaurants can stand out more in today’s booming dining environment, and will be the next 18 He pointed out that 50 to 60 new hotel restaurants open every month. Las Vegas alone.
Anthony Veneziale and beatboxer Carlos Aguirre entertain the crowd.
Since then, Ben Navarro, CEO of Sherman Financial Group and owner of Beemok Capital (who owns the historic The Charleston Place), said intentions foster culture, challenge the status quo and continually raise the bar in hospitality.
Robert Webster, President of CBRE Hotels Institutional Group, concluded the afternoon by advocating investments in leisure hospitality. “For decades, leisure assets have delivered higher growth with lower volatility. Periods,” he said.
Peter Greenberg and J. Christopher Burch discuss travel.
The next day’s symposium was followed by another influential speaker. One of her most talked about sessions was the one featuring Celebrity Cruises President and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo. She spoke with Greenberg about the thriving cruise industry. “She’s up 206% compared to the same period in 2019,” she said.
Greenberg also delved into Rutoff-Perlo’s efforts to bring gender diversity to celebrity’s male-dominated bridge teams. said. “They’re 32 percent right now.” Then Instagram-famous Kate McCue wowed audiences with a live video of her becoming the first American woman to captain a large cruise ship aboard Celebrity Beyond. .
Dr. Henry H. Tin, Senior Vice President and Chief Health Officer, Delta Air Lines, then spoke about pursuing strategies that focus on employee health. “We truly believe that by taking care of our employees, they will take care of our customers,” he said. He said one in six of his couples had trouble conceiving, so Delta Air Lines offered fertility coverage, as well as adoption, surrogacy and parental leave, to the birthing and non-bearing parents. decided to provide. He reported that despite such advanced measures, Delta Air Lines’ medical expenses remained flat for his fifth straight year.
Dr. Sandro Galea explained health and hospitality.
Another health-related keynote address was from Dr. Sandro Galea, Dean of the Boston University School of Public Health. Galea explored how health and hospitality will intersect in the coming decades. “The idea that our health, post-COVID health, and health recovery is the responsibility of, and driven by, doctors is just plain wrong,” he said. It will be driven by the sector that creates the world around it, and that’s largely what you guys are doing.”
Selfbook co-founder and CEO Khalid Meniri reveals how fintech can improve the online booking process. He told the story of staying in a hotel in Marrakech, where he was reunited with his mother for the first time in eight years. As they hugged and cried in the lobby, a front desk agent interrupted and demanded a credit card. “The moment was immediately shattered,” said Menili. This has prompted us to look for ways to eliminate this type of transaction without diluting the hospitality.
Virtuoso CEO Matthew Upchurch closed the symposium. “People-to-people connections are the key to greater and more defensible economic success, and the key to protecting and increasing margins in the face of commoditization,” said Upchurch. “We are seeing record high ADRs, but there are some issues, such as the widening discrepancy between pricing and service. ringing.”
Virtuoso CEO Matthew Upchurch was the keynote speaker at The Summit.
In addition to the keynotes, The Summit included a small discovery session, with speakers tackling topics ranging from how ChatGPT can enhance travel to the evolution of spas. . One of his timely sessions was “Navigating the use of gendered language in a gender-fluid world,” by Aby Hawker, founder and CEO of TransMission PR. Hawker helped navigate a gender-diverse language in an industry that relies on “sir” and “madam” to interact with guests. Hawker said. Megan Torrance, FTG’s senior vice president of learning and development, gave an example.
The “Sustainability and Luxury Can Be Friends” Discovery Session tackled one of the hottest topics in the industry. Led by Hervé Houdré — FTG’s Global Ambassador for Responsible Hospitality was the man who coined the term ‘sustainable hospitality’ — the talk featured the Triple Bottom His Line: People, Planet and Profit . “Stopping being sustainable comes at a price,” he said. “Sustainability can help hotels.” He also took a sneak peek at FTG’s upcoming Responsible Hospitality, a self-verifying tool, and an evolution of his Health Security Verified platform. . The program awards badges to hotels that meet professional standards for protecting the environment and supporting the well-being of employees, guests and communities, and recognizes the global standards of the world’s finest hotels and the global standards of excellence for guests and travellers. Create a trusted third-party verification of Advisor.
Harris goes out on the high seas at the Gala.
After the meeting ended, the party began. On March 1, attendees came to Resorts World’s Rose Ballroom to enjoy ice bars filled with caviar, shrimp, oysters and more, and stations offering everything from wagyu beef to sushi. Afterwards, everyone hit the floor and danced to pop hits from the LA All-Stars Band.
The next night was the much-anticipated gala. Harris joined a troupe of Venezial and Vegas dancers to perform an exhilarating musical number that opened the show. He quickly won the hearts of the crowd with his joke: “For the first time in its 65-year history, Forbes His Travel His Guide launched the first rating of a cruise ship,” he said. “Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Flora and Celebrity Millennium each earned four stars and five Celebrity Cruise Lines made the list. Is there one celebrity missing from that list? Celebrity Neil. Patrick Harris I can’t find a better candidate to advertise a cruise company with. [my husband] David looks great in Speedo. Harris sailed on a water theme and later arrived on stage in a pirate ship wearing swashbuckling regalia.
Harris presents Lisa Lutoff Perlo with Forbes Travel Guide Award of Excellence.
During The Summit, FTG presented numerous employee awards along with significant first-time honors. Lutoff-Perlo wins first ever Forbes Travel Guide Award of Excellence produced by Baccarat. Amanda Frazier, President of Ratings at FTG, said: “This award is given to individuals who have made a significant economic or social impact on the hospitality industry and left it in a better place for others to thrive. Lutoff-Perlo was recognized for its commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Elgar presented Miami Mayor Francis X. Suárez with FTG’s inaugural Tourism Resilience Award, which honors a country or destination that demonstrates strength in the face of climate, economic and safety challenges. “From our city’s leading brands in the hospitality industry like the Ritz, to small businesses like Boucher Brothers, we wouldn’t be number one in the country in recovering from the pandemic without you.” said Suarez. “When we think of cities as a service-based industry, we serve by being positive, preferably with a smile and preferably in a hospitable manner.”
