Digital conference to unite hospitality sector

Web Conference with business people

An online conference is set to bring together industry leaders to discuss the unprecedented economic circumstances caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, and what can be done collectively to rebuild confidence.

Created by Bench Events and titled Hospitality Tomorrow, the virtual conference will take place on 7 April from 10am to 4pm BST (8pm to midnight AEST) and registration is free of charge for all participants.

An optional donation will be requested to selected charities helping out those in the hospitality industry, suffering from the worst effects of the coronavirus.

Speakers for the event include US Travel Association CEO Roger Dow, resilience consultant Paul Stoltz, Capital Economics founder and chairman Roger Bootle, and Kenyan politician Najib Balala.

The conference agenda will cover the economics of coronavirus, how to survive the greatest adversity of our time, the nine essential leadership behaviours needed in a crisis, the outlook to recovery, how to capitalise on the upturn when it comes, and the new post-COVID reality

State of the art video conferencing technology will be used to bring virtual main-stage panel sessions to an audience of up to 100,000 online participants.

The plenary debates will be complemented by more focused roundtables, drilling into the detail of specific subjects. People joining remotely will be able to ask questions and post comments in real time using a live chat facility.

Other activities popular at Bench Events’ regular conferences will also be replicated online, including speed networking, which will give participants a series of three-minute one-on-one video calls with other delegates.

There will also be an online exhibition for attendees to browse through virtual exhibition booths and engage in a live video conversation with a representative of the exhibitor.

Jonathan Worsley, founder and chairman of Bench Events, said: “Devastating is the word most governments are using to describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on society and the economy. The sector that stands to suffer the most is travel and hospitality.

“Today, nothing is certain, except that our world will never be the same again. We need business leaders to come together to discuss the best strategies to cope with the immediate crisis and to plan how to capitalise on the recovery when it comes. That is what Hospitality Tomorrow will do.”

More information about the conference agenda, speakers and registration can be found here.

Featured image credit: iStock/sorbetto

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