Track: The Shift

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Inflation, product costs, and labor costs today form the Holy Trinity that determines the survival of restaurants and hotels. In this roundtable, we address, from an economic and strategic perspective, how these three factors are reshaping margins, forcing changes in operational models, and compelling uncomfortable but necessary decisions. A conversation to understand what is really happening, which impacts are coming from outside the sector, and which levers are within the entrepreneur’s control to protect their business, team, and medium-term viability.

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There are few truly relevant trends, but they all have one thing in common: they are already making an impact. They affect how we operate, how we sell, how we structure teams, how we purchase, and how we design business models. In this session, we identify these ongoing forces that demand immediate tactical responses, not five-year plans. What changes are urgent, where the greatest risks of inaction lie, and what decisions the most attentive operators are already making. An essential session for those who understand that today, not moving is the riskiest decision.

The hotel industry is experiencing a technological and operational shift driven by AI, automation, and sustainability. This session provides context on these changes and their direct impact on costs and competitiveness.

The hospitality industry is experiencing a hybridization shift where traditional restaurants, retail, automation, and vending coexist. This session focuses on understanding this new landscape and its real implications for the business.

In this talk, we explore how an iconic product can become the foundation of a solid and scalable multichannel business model. From retail to foodservice and major transit hubs such as airports, the conversation reveals how opportunities are identified, formats are adapted, and multiple channels are managed without losing brand coherence. A talk to understand how to think about distribution, business models, and expansion when the product is the starting point, but vision is what makes the difference.

As a synthesis, the key elements of the new hybrid environment are outlined, identifying risks and opportunities, and drawing practical conclusions to adapt business models, diversify revenue streams, and compete more effectively in a transforming market.

Procurement is no longer just an operational function, but a strategic decision. This roundtable analyzes how restaurateurs build an intelligent purchasing mix by combining purchasing groups, distributors, strategic suppliers, and local products. A hybrid model that makes it possible to maximize competitiveness in price and terms, gain efficiency, and at the same time preserve value-driven relationships with key suppliers while generating differentiation through local sourcing aligned with brand identity, storytelling, and positioning.

Sustainability has ceased to be just a narrative and has become an operational imperative in the hotel industry. Energy, water, waste, products, talent, and the guest experience converge in high-impact, highly complex establishments. This roundtable addresses sustainability from a comprehensive and realistic perspective: how to design sustainable models from the outset, how to transform existing operations, and how to balance efficiency, profitability, and responsibility. A key conversation to understand which decisions truly matter, how to avoid greenwashing, and how to turn sustainability into a solid, measurable competitive advantage for the hotel business.

The closing section summarizes the main conclusions on distribution, operational efficiency, and sustainability, integrating key lessons to help hotels make smarter decisions in a highly competitive environment.

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An immersive workshop for restaurant professionals that explores how to design gastronomic experiences that connect with diners on a sensory, emotional, and cultural level.

We are experiencing a competitive shift: the rules of the game have changed. This session provides context on how business models are evolving and which new factors now determine success in the hospitality industry.

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In this interview, Jennifer Pettinger, founder of the Global Restaurant Investment Forum, invites us to step beyond the local framework to understand how a HORECA business is evaluated today in the most competitive international markets. From Dubai, one of the world’s leading laboratories for restaurants and hospitality, we explore what investors look for, which models inspire confidence, which mistakes capital penalizes, and which attributes make a concept scalable, or not. A key conversation for operators who want to attract investment, expand internationally, or approach their business with a global mindset.

In a highly competitive environment, the difference between surviving or growing lies in the design of the business model. This talk explores the role of the consultant as a strategic figure to create, evolve, or scale HORECA concepts more quickly and with greater guarantees of success. Methodology, structure, tools, and experience help shorten the entrepreneur’s learning curve, identify critical competitiveness factors, and make better decisions. A key reflection on how external vision and professional methods strengthen the Business Power of businesses.

The executive summary integrates lessons from various operational models, identifying which factors drive competitiveness today and which strategic decisions a business should prioritize to remain profitable and relevant.

Digitalization is undergoing a decisive shift: data is moving from optional to strategic. This session provides context on how technology is changing the way decisions are made and operations are managed in the hospitality sector.

The kitchen is undergoing a structural shift: from an operational space to a production hub. This session provides context on how workflows, equipment, and the relationship with the business are changing.

Workshop presenting the new working systems currently needed in the hospitality sector, including a live demonstration of the speed and efficiency that can be achieved.

A workshop presenting the new work systems that the hospitality sector needs today, including a live demonstration of the speed and efficiency that can be achieved.

As a closing, the session synthesizes lessons on productive efficiency, kitchen organization, and adaptation to multiple channels, drawing key conclusions to improve timing, costs, and profitability.

The HORECA sector faces a critical mismatch between what employers offer and what new generations of professionals are seeking. Working hours, career development, flexibility, purpose, and benefits are now interpreted through different lenses. This presentation addresses the real gap between employees and employers, analyzing why traditional models no longer work and which changes are urgent to remain attractive. Understanding this generational mismatch is not optional, it is essential to ensure talent retention, continuity, and future competitiveness.

Talent is the true invisible infrastructure of the HORECA industry. People, trades, and roles make possible the experience, efficiency, competitiveness, sustainability, and social impact of a sector that represents a country’s identity, drives its economy, and generates employment. This closing is a collective recognition of those who, from very different positions, support and evolve hospitality and tourism. It is an organized celebration of the human, professional, and strategic value that defines the industry today and projects it into the future.

The dining room is the space where the experience is interpreted, humanized, and differentiated. In this recognition, we celebrate the professionals who make the dining room a real lever of competitiveness, storytelling, and value. Reading an excerpt from the Dining Room Manifesto gives voice to an essential craft, often silent, yet absolutely decisive in the customer’s perception and in the identity of Spanish gastronomy. We recognize: Leading dining room professionals in Spain. In collaboration with PROSA.

Excellence is also measured in technique, precision, and mastery of the craft. This segment recognizes professionals who represent the best of hospitality through key disciplines in direct contact with the customer. Crafts that demand knowledge, consistency, and great responsibility in the final experience, and that continue raising the standard of the sector in hotels and restaurants across the country. We recognize the 5 finalists for Best Buffet Chef in Spain and the 5 finalists for Best Hotel Maître in Spain. In collaboration with Club Clave.

Sustainability is no longer a discourse, but an integral practice that spans people, product, planet, and community. This recognition focuses on professionals who lead businesses with a 360° sustainable vision, demonstrating that it is possible to be profitable, responsible, and consistent at the same time, and that well-understood sustainability is a real competitive advantage. We recognize professionals who are leaders in 360° sustainability. In collaboration with Fundación Restaurantes Sostenibles.

Spain is a leading country in tourism thanks to people who influence, decide, and set the course from multiple disciplines. This segment recognizes professionals in the hotel sector included in the list of the 150 most influential in tourism in Spain 2026, as a symbolic representation of a group that drives innovation, reputation, and international leadership. We recognize hotel professionals from the list of the 150 most influential in tourism 2026. In collaboration with the List of the 150 Most Influential in Tourism in Spain by Segestur.