EHL Open Innovation Summit

The Open Innovation Summit 2025 at EHL Hospitality Business School (EHL) brought together a global mix of thinkers and doers to explore the future of hospitality, food, and travel through open innovation. What made it special was the mix of ideas, formats, and people. It was not only about tech or talks. It was also about people showing up, working together, and sharing energy in real time.

Key Figures

• 385 participants
• 48 speakers and contributors from more than 20 countries
• 7 innovation challenges collectively addressed
• 45 sessions
• 25 student volunteers
• 15 F&B startups letting us taste the future
• 1.5 days of connection, learning, and co-creation

Key Insights from the Summit

1. 1. A new benchmark for hospitality innovation
   The summit set a new standard by weaving together AI, sustainability, regeneration, and human connection - showing that innovation in hospitality, luxury and food must be holistic, human-centric, and purpose-driven. Participants repeatedly highlighted the need to go beyond efficiency and into meaningful transformation.
2. From knowledge exchange to real-time co-creation
   More than just a series of talks, the summit was an activation space - a living lab where diverse minds worked together on pressing challenges, from regenerative tourism to circular luxury to AI in guest experience. It was a showcase of collective intelligence in motion.
3. Collaboration as the engine of systems change
   Open Innovation came alive not as a buzzword, but as a relational practice. From panelists to students, from global explorers to startup founders, everyone was invited to co-create, connect dots, and contribute. Participants repeatedly said they experienced true collaboration across boundaries, industry, sector, age, and background.
4. The power of presence: hearts, minds, and hands
   Whether walking in the forest, painting together, or debating future systems, attendees embraced the idea that innovation isn’t only about tech and metrics - it’s also about embodied experience, slowing down to speed up, and nurturing a regenerative mindset.
5. The future is “AND” – not “either/or”
   A recurring takeaway: we must stop choosing between extremes. The future is tech AND human, healthy AND delicious, profitable AND impactful. This “integration mindset” is already informing how leaders, startups, and educators present are reshaping their strategies.
6. The beginning of a long-term movement
   Attendees described the summit as the start of something much bigger - a platform for experimentation, learning, and alliance-building. The EHL Innovation Hub was recognized not only as an academic powerhouse, but as a true catalyst for regenerative innovation across hospitality, service, food, and travel.

HN members exhibiting at EHL Open Innovation Summit