Source: HSMAI Europe

With European advisory boards within Revenue Management, Marketing, Sales, and Distribution already in place for several years, HSMAI Region Europe is now announcing the introduction of an advisory board focusing on innovation, calling for board members and a chair.

'In addition to an Innovation Advisory Board we have decided to focus on Culture and People, in relation to our Winning for Customers – The Service Pledge program and the Mike Leven Mentor program. We will soon be calling for Advisory Board members even for these areas,' says HSMAI Region Europe President and CEO Ingunn Hofseth, now calling for the establishment of an Innovation advisory board, based on one of the six pillars HSMAI Region Europe will focus its efforts on.

The initiative to an Innovation Advisory Board came last year, from Mr Morten Rynning, co-founder of Aispot.

'His idea immediately resonated with us, so we invited him to the HSMAI Region Europe Leadership Day in Frankfurt last September, to present his ideas, and decided to follow up on them, and now I am very happy to announce that we will initiate this board with members from both outside and inside the hospitality industry' Ingunn Hofseth says.

HSMAI is currently inviting a few very interesting people from outside the industry – to join together with the representatives from the hospitality industry. If you have candidates you think we should contact regarding the board – we would appreciate it. And this is the time to do so.

A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT THE BOARD:

With the increasing speed of changes within our industry as well as related industries such as travel&tourism, fintech and new technology – we see the function of this Advisory Board to bring the 'outside world' into our inside discussions about changes of our industry.

Major changes to the hospitality industry has in the past and may even in the future come from outside the industry.

As with most industries, many within the hospitality industry view innovation mainly based upon on operational challenges – while major innovation might regard a broader overview and method – in combination with early warning monitoring and analysis. This includes spotting and discussing impact and timing of new disruptive business models, new players or technology trends – such as: blockchain, Alibaba mobile, public-private partnerships, VR-AR etc.)

The hospitality field should for this reason also be seen in a wider perspective, this would make participation for non-hotel related hospitality partners extra attractive.

We are looking for an innovative Hospitality leader to chair this board.

We are also looking for experts and representatives of other industries too.

Participation in this AB should not be a 'sacrifice for the good cause' of innovation oriented HSMAI members, but we will offer a notion of being 'close to where it's happening'; some kind of network that offers direct spin-off advantages to the participants too. It will keep spirits high and makes continuation easier.

How to improve the customer experience, offer new services and better communication will also be of interest for this group.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN?

Please contact Sylvia Kolk at [email protected] for more information.

The first face to face meeting will take place in London in September, in connection with the HSMAI event Curate and The HSMAI Day.

Let's join forces!

Benedicte Gilroy Bøgh
HSMAI Europe