Entrepreneurship under debate at the Grupo Hotusa's first Venturing Day

Hotusa held its first Venturing Day at the deluxe five-star Eurostars Grand Marina Hotel, a professional meeting which brought together over 200 people linked to the tourism and business sectors, and those from the world of start-ups. This initiative, which is part of the Grupo Hotusa's corporate capital fund, Hotusa Ventures, introduced last March, "guarantees the quest for new ways to get ahead and adapt to changes", according to the Chairman of the Grupo Hotusa, Amancio López Seijas.

"This is a time for great opportunities in the tourism sector. Growing is not just an objective, but a strategy for becoming stronger", López added. With more than 60 projects assessed by the Hotusa Ventures team; this initiative strengthens the company's commitment to economic investment in innovation and technology for the development of the tourism sector. "After our first year as a corporate capital fund, we know that people think that whoever thinks that everything has already been invented can think again", stressed Marina López, Marketing Director of the Grupo Hotusa.

Lecturer at IESE Business School, Joan Roure, opened the conference with a speech on Corporate Venturing and entrepreneurship and argued that "tourism is an industry with tremendous growth, perfect for entrepreneurship". During her speech, Roure highlighted that many of the companies that started and based their development on entrepreneurship "have achieved success by detecting future business models and different approaches".

Under the title "Believe in your venture, challenges and opportunities for developing a start-up", the first round table included the Chairman and Founder of Grupo Intercom, Antonio González Barros; the CEO of INSPIRIT, Didac Lee; the owner of CentraldeReservas.com, Ricardo Buil, and member of the board of Barcelona Global, Josep Lluís SantFeliu.

In his speech, Didac Lee expressed his optimism, stating that "partnerships with start-ups are a very efficient way to innovate, as this type of joint venture is the future". He also pointed out that "when you develop an entrepreneurial spirit, you get entrepreneurs working for you", to which Ricardo Buil added that a project's success requires its participants to work in equilibrium. Along the same lines, the President and Owner of Grupo Intercom stressed that "we shouldn't just focus on project analysis, but we should focus particularly on people".

The second session of Venturing Day, "Entrepreneurship with a focus on the future. The companies of tomorrow" had Jordi William Carnes, CEO of Turismo de Barcelona, as moderator. Ann Reilly, Vice President International Sales at Adara pointed out the importance of Big Data, using information and analysing new products and projects. "If you manage to understand the different parameters of trips, you can focus more on the needs of each customer type", she clarified.

Specifically, the issue of customising services and spaces via the technological development took a starring role in the meeting's debate. "My vision of the room of the future is a customised space of total comfort, which results in a personalised area for well-being" said architect and designer, Juli Capella. "Every visit to a hotel should bring about different sensations. Technology can revolutionise this experience". On the other hand, Deloitte partner Jordi Schoenenberger commented that "the concept of experience from an emotional and virtual point of view is paramount". For Schoenenberger, "having a community around a project is a guarantee of its success".

About Hotusa Ventures

Hotusa Ventures, the corporate capital fund of the Grupo Hotusa, intends to invest in technological and innovative companies and start-ups focused on the hotel and tourism sectors. This is an initiative which has arisen from within the business group to favour the transformation of the hotel concept and tourism services; and to meet current requirements for the user, the company and the economic and social context. Hotusa Ventures presents itself as an opportunity for budding, pioneering entrepreneurs to establish synergies and build their businesses with one of the major tourism companies on a national and international level.

Hotusa Ventures is kicking off with a team dedicated to the analysis of investment opportunities which brings together direct experience in the tourism sector, experience in technological risk capital activities and which will provide financial resources and strategic expertise for developing the selected start-ups. With the objective of accessing diverse projects, Hotusa Ventures collaborates actively with business schools such as ESADE or IESE and is in active contact with technology incubators such as Wayra or Conector to assist in identifying and investing in projects.

Clara Cano
Communications Manager
Grupo Hotusa