Tourism of Tomorrow

Speakers

George Alexakis
Associate Professor at Florida Gulf Coast University’s School of Resort & Hospitality Management

Since 1995, Dr. George Alexakis has taught hospitality and business full time. He is currently an associate professor of hospitality at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida, USA. He is also a professional speaker and training seminar presenter for a many domestic and international organizations. He worked for Cini•Little International as a hospitality consultant. His 15 years of operations experience involved managing his family’s businesses: a formal dining room, a banquet hall, and a casual restaurant near Toronto, Canada. Dr. Alexakis holds the following degrees:

• Doctor of Education with concentration in Hospitality Management
• Master of Science in Hospitality Administration
• Bachelor of Commerce in Hospitality & Tourism Administration
• Associate’s (Canadian equivalent) in Hotel and Restaurant Management

Learning from the “Sharing Economy:” Providing Authentic Touristic Experiences
The sharing economy has revealed the benefits of staying in a stranger’s home and travelling in a stranger’s automobile.  The emotional connections that can result from such interactions with locals can be instructive for all tourism and hospitality industry businesses.  The presentation centers around the power of collective positive experiences provided by multiple providers during a tourist visit.  The likelihood of repeat destination visits if a sense of place and emotional appeal are achieved will be discussed, with examples from Southwest Florida, USA.

Panos Almyrantis
General Manager Daios Cove Luxury Resort & Villas

Mr. Panos Almyrantis has an academic background in post-graduate studies in the United States and several distinctions in sales management, operational services and hotel management in Greece and abroad.  Outstanding results achieved in the hotel key performance indexes in conjunction with innovation capacity, detecting opportunities to cooperate, exchange and enhance activities at Daios Cove Luxury Resort& Villas, awarded him with the distinction of European Hotel Manager for 2014 by the European Association of Hotel Managers.

The role of the General Manager in today’s world

• How important is it for a good GM to look not just at his/her hotel, but also to work on improving the region the hotel’s located in as a whole
• How much has the role of the GM changed over recent years and how has the GM adapted to a fast-evolving sector?
• Key recent changes/developments in the hotel sector that have impacted how GMs operate?
• How much have new technologies – both back of house and guest facing – impacted the role of the GM?
• When it comes to the role of the GM, what hasn’t changed and will never change?
• How important is it to have an excellent team behind you as a GM?
• Finally, what new tools will GMs need going forward?

Antonis Avdelas
Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Sani Resort & Ikos Resorts

Antonis Avdelas is the Chief Sales & Marketing Officer of SANI RESORT & IKOS RESORTS, a Group of innovative and fast-growing 5* hotel brands, that presently owns and manages eight individually unique hotels in Greece. Prior to becoming Group CSMO, Mr. Avdelas was Director of Sales & Marketing at SANI RESORT for 5 years, leading SANI’s growth and development in the domestic and the international markets. Mr. Avdelas has also held senior executive positions in the hospitality sector, both in Greece and abroad, such as at Dalhousie Castle & Spa, at Athenaeum InterContinental Athens and at Club Hotel Casino Loutraki. Mr. Avdelas studied Finance and Management and holds anM.Sc. (Merit) in International Hotel & Tourism Management from the Oxford Brookes University.

Nikos Hadjos
Director of International Hotel Development Europe (Greece & Cyprus)

Nikos Hadjos is Director of International Hotel Development for Marriott International and is based in Athens.  He is heading the development efforts of all Marriott’s brands in Greece and Cyprus. Before joining Marriott in the headquarters for Middle East and Africa in 2013, Nikos worked for hotel investment companies in the Middle East such as Kingdom Hotel Investments and Abraaj Capital, as Vice President of Acquisitions, covering Middle East, Africa and Southwest Asia. Nikos has also held positions within the fields of consultancy with industry experts HVS in New York and operations with Marriott and Intercontinental in New York.  He is a graduate of the University of Guelph, Ontario and holds an MBA in Finance & Investments from City University of New York.  He is also a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in the UK.

International Hotel Brands in Greece – Past, Present, Future
An overview of the presence of international hotel brands in Greece, examining the reasons of their weak performance in the past, their gradual positive turnaround in the present, and what the potential could be in the future.

Tilemachos Mavrakis
Chief Executive Officer, Admine Group

Tilemachos Mavrakis (37) was born and raised in Thiva. He now lives in Thessaloniki, married with Fenia father of two mind-blowing daughters. He studied International Relations in the Un. of Macedonia, HRM & Planning in Leeds University Business School and Strategic Management in Zurich. He started off his career in London in the Strategic Planning dpt of Canon EMEA and his second mission was in Amsterdam (Canon European Operations) as a Project Manager in Organizational Design & Planning. His love with marketing and advertising became intense while in Vienna, where he stayed 2.5years, serving Canon Central East Europe as the Marketing Director for Consumer Products for 16 countries. In mid-2007 he co-founded Admine with George and Nick, opening up the first office out of today’s 4 offices of Admine: Thessaloniki (‘08), Nicosia (‘11), Athens (‘12), Porto (‘15). Since 2008, he is the CEO of Admine, today’s biggest independent digital-first agency in Greece and Cyprus, manned with 60+ Adminers and clients in over 10 countries. Tilemachos has been a speaker in numerous conferences and a judge in Greece’s most prestigious awards.

From Big Bricks to Immersive Experiences: Hospitality is drastically changing
Hotels used to be big -sometimes nice- buildings with -sometimes- nice spaces and surroundings. The Millennials, gen Z and now baby boomers, change the tide.  Can hospitality shift from being big to be immersive?

Theodoros Papakonstantinou
Principal | Deloitte Central Mediterranean (Greece) | Strategy & Operations

Theodoros is a Principal in the Strategy & Operations (S&O) Consulting practice of Deloitte Greece. He is the Advisory Services leader of Deloitte’s office in Thessaloniki and also responsible for all S&O services related to the Travel, Hospitality & Leisure (THL) in Greece. He has more than 12 years of management consulting experience and has participated in numerous projects in the areas of M&A advisory, debt and operational restructuring, strategic and business planning, feasibility studies development, business process and organizational redesign for numerous clients in various industries with focus on the THL Greek market.

His experience in the THL sector includes, among others, the following:

• Project Principal (Hotel Operations team) in the first – and so far only - Special Liquidation case in the Greek tourism market concerning a complex of luxury resorts on Kos island
• Managed various M&A advisory projects in the Greek tourism sector
• Advised numerous multimillion funds in the development of their investment strategy for Greece
• Advised Greek banks on financial and operational restructuring of hotel groups and individual hotel units
• Conducted several feasibility studies for large investment projects regarding hotel resorts, second / holiday homes, golf courses, ski areas, cruise ports, etc.
• Led various tourism market analysis projects
• Led the development of the strategic and operational plan for the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE)
• Advised major Greek athletic clubs on the feasibility of multipurpose sports stadiums and indoor arenas with various profit centers

Theodoros holds a degree in Applied Informatics from the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece, a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from Cranfield School of Management, UK, a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK and a Certificate in Team Management from Harvard, USA.

Gabriele Secol
Senior Manager | Deloitte Central Mediterranean (Italy) | Officine Innovazione

Gabriele Secol started his professional career in Deloitte in 2003. During his years with the Firm, Gabriele has had extensive experience in attending audits and special services of national and multinational companies.

Over the last three years he is leading Officine Innovazione, the Innovation Department of Deloitte Central Mediterranean in Italy.

He has specific responsibility on delivering Idea Management projects and he is skillful in the design, execution and management of Innovation Challenge for Deloitte and for its customers with the aim of develop an innovation culture and eminence, stimulate their innovation process and develop of innovative solutions, internal processes and services/products. He’s also in charge of the incubation of Deloitte innovative solutions to innovate Deloitte services and its clients products and services through vertical application on specific industries, sectors and clients.

He designed and managed all the Deloitte Italy’s Corporate Challenge (Netwok and function dedicated challenges) having as main clients Universities and Public Institutions (S2P, Startcup Lombardia).

Gabriele studied in the Milano Univesity “Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore" where he received his degree in Economics.