Tourism of Tomorrow 2021
Building Resilience Through Disruption
Friday, April 23rd, 2021 at 4 PM (GMT+3)
online zoom webinar
The ACT Hospitality & Tourism Management program is organizing its 4th conference in a row, and this time it'll be online so everyone can join.
Society and tourism in particular are facing an unprecedented crisis. This year's "Tourism of Tomorrow" theme focuses on building resilience through disruption. How can the hospitality and tourism industries emerge stronger after a pandemic?
Our speakers will attempt to shine a light on the following issues:
- How will people travel from now onwards, be it a family vacation, a business trip, or a conference?
- What will change in the traveler experience?
- How should the industry differentiate their products and services? How can hotels, airline companies, tour operators, travel agents and others prepare for the future?
- How can a sustainable management approach help in this direction?
Conference Details
Program & Speakers
16:00 - 16:15 Welcome & Greetings
Welcome - Greetings
Anestis Anastasiou
Coordinator, Hospitality & Tourism, ACT
Dr. Panos Vlachos
President, Anatolia College
16:15 - 16:35 Keynote Speech
“What competitiveness can tell us about resilience?”
Dr. Christos Cabolis
Chief Economist at the IMD World Competitiveness Center
16:35 – 16:50
“Tourism of Tomorrow: Evolution not Revolution”
Andreas Scriven
Lead Partner, Hospitality & Leisure, Deloitte
16:50 – 17:05
"The future role and purpose of business events"
Matthias Schultze
Managing Director, GCB German Convention Bureau e.V.
17:05 – 17:15 Break
17:15 – 18:30 Experts e-Roundtable
Dr. Angeliki Kosmopoulou
Executive Director of the A.C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation
Vice President of the Greek National Tourism Organization
Tim Ananiadis
Hospitality Executive / Business Leader
Eleni Andreadi
Head of Sustainability, Sani Resort & Ikos Resorts
Tarek Kouatly
Director of Marketing & Development – Asia Pacific, Swiss Education Group
Yiannis Tsakalos
CEO, AQ Strategy
18:30 - 18:45 Q&A session
Closing Remarks
Dr. Nikolas Hourvouliades
Chair, School of Business, ACT
Moderator
Nikos Sapountzis
CEO & Marketing Strategist, Tourism Plus
Registration
Admission is free. Online registration is required to reserve your seat as places are limited. Please note that the conference will be conducted in English; no interpretation will be provided.
Speaker Bios
Tim Ananiadis
Hospitality Executive / Business Leader
Tim Ananiadis was born and raised in Greece and at the age of 17 went to Canada to study Business Administration at Ryerson University in Toronto, subsequently moving to the USA where he started his career in the hospitality industry.
Tim has over 40 years of international experience in the hospitality industry, beginning with Hyatt Hotels where he started his career at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, and subsequently holding the position of Director of Food and Beverage in several hotels (including Hyatt Regency New Orleans, Hilton Head, Nashville, Buffalo, and Columbus). In 1988 he moved to Chicago as the Corporate Director of Food and Beverage for Hyatt Hotels with main responsibilities being menu engineering, product development, recruitment, development and implementation of service standards and training, concept development and hotel pre-opening support.
As General Manager he held positions in the USA at the Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh, Hyatt Regency Coral Gables and Hyatt Regency Miami. In 1999 he joined Hyatt International as the General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki in Greece and later moved to India as the General Manager of the Grand Hyatt Mumbai.
In 2003 he joined Starwood Hotels and Resorts returning to Greece as the General Manager/Managing Director of the Hotel Grande Bretagne. In 2006 through 2012 he was given the additional responsibility of Area Manager for Greece, Turkey & Cyprus overseeing 18 Starwood affiliated hotels. From 2013 the area responsibility included the Balkans until Marriott International merged with Starwood when he took over the responsibility of Marriott Business Council for Greece and Cyprus while remaining the Complex Managing Director of the Hotel Grande Bretagne and King George until October 2020. Presently, he is the Senior Hospitality Advisor to the Laskaridis family and on the board of Directors for Lampsa Hellenic Hotels and Luckman Park Estate both part of the Laskaridis Family.
Tim is an active member of a number of civic and non-profit organizations including Vice Chairman of The American Community Schools (ACS) of Athens, Vice President of the Athens Hotel Association, board member of the Greek Health Tourism Organization and Board of Directors for American Hellenic Institute.
Eleni Andreadis
Head of Sustainability, Sani and Ikos Resorts
Eleni Andreadis is Head of Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility at Sani/Ikos Group. She is a Harvard graduate, where she gained an Masters in Public Policy with a focus on environmental policy and media, and she has worked as an environmental consultant in Greece, the US, the UK, and Germany. In 2009 she founded the non profit organization Planet Agents, which delivers educational programs that engage thousands of children and have been awarded by the Ministry of Education for their innovation. She is also a writer, and has penned the children's book series Planet Agents among others, which received the National Children's Education Book award. The book series has been translated in many languages for its release in the US, China, Korea, Turkey, and Egypt. She is a member of the Greek Leadership Council of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN).
Dr. Christos Cabolis
Chief Economist, IMD World Competitiveness Center
Christos Cabolis is the Chief Economist at the IMD World Competitiveness Center where he manages the publication of the competitiveness rankings and most recently the Smart City Index. He studied Economics at the University of Athens, Greece, holds an MA from the California State University, Long Beach, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has taught at Yale, where he was also the Executive Director of the International Center for Finance at the Yale School of Management, at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, and was an Associate Professor of Economics and Finance at ALBA Graduate Business School-ACG.
Dr. Angeliki Kosmopoulou
Vice President, Greek National Tourism Organization | Executive Director, A.C. Laskaridis Foundation
Angeliki is the Executive Director of the A.C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation. She holds a PhD in Classical Archaeology from Bryn Mawr College (USA) and an MBA from Leicester University. Following a career in archaeology and cultural management she worked in communications, as a consultant and content specialist for multinational companies, small businesses, public and private organizations, politicians, artists and scholars. She has also served as advisor and speechwriter for several politicians, on the national and local level.
She is Vice President of the Greek National Tourism Organization and has been appointed National Coordinator for Greece’s transition towards the ban of single-use plastics. She mentors women in public life and entrepreneurship, and sits on the Board of Directors of The People’s Trust and the Advisory Board of DIANEOSIS. A published scholar in classics and archaeology, she is a regular contributor to Greek media.
Tarek Kouatly
Director of Marketing & Development – Asia Pacific, Swiss Education Group
Tarek Kouatly is an experienced business and marketing executive, and the Director of Marketing & Development for the Asia Pacific region at Swiss Education Group since 2019. He previously held the position of Head of Marketing and Development for E. Europe and N. America for three years (2016-2019) inside the Group, showcasing his commitment to the hospitality and education industries.
He has served as a Director of Enrollment Management for ACT for over four years (2011-2016), holding many other key positions within the institution since 2007. Tarek also worked as a Key Account Manager for Nokia Dubai (2005-2007) before his career in recruiting, enrollment and marketing.
His areas of expertise include International Recruitment, New Market Development for Higher Education Institutions, Enrollment Management and Higher Ed Marketing, sales, and business development.
He is the Co-Founder of Edmundo Greece and International University Fair (IUF) Greece, as well as the Head of Global Sales Training and the founder and Head of Tomorrow's Hospitality Leaders for Swiss Education Group. He has also been ta core group member of the "Study in Thessaloniki" initiative.
Tarek holds a BA in Business Administration & Management as well as an MBA with a concentration in Marketing from ACT, and an MBA focused on Hospitality from Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne.
Nikos Sapountzis
CEO & Marketing Strategist, Tourism Plus
Nikos Sapountzis has worked as an employee and later as an executive officer in the family hotel business “Galaxias Beach Hotel” with experience working at all levels within the hotel hierarchy, reaching the position of General Manager, which he held for many years. In 2011, he started working as General Director for the Prefecture of Thessaloniki’s Organization for Tourism Promotion and Marketing. In 2013, he founded the Tourism Plus-Tourism Consultants Company, which specializes in Destination & Hotel Management & Marketing and in Growth Planning of Companies & Destinations in Greece and abroad, alongside a network of associates. Being a Hotelier and Tourism Consultant himself, participated as an exhibitor in dozens of tourism exhibitions in Europe, Asia and Middle East. Organized many Familiarisation trips (Travel trade & Press) around the world, B2B meetings and presentations, and has helped and supported collective organization efforts such as Thessaloniki Hotels Association, Thessaloniki Convention & Visitors Bureau (TCVB), Skal Club Thessaloniki-Macedonia and the Greek -Turkish Chamber of Northern Greece as a member of the Board of Directors. He studied law in Konstanz, Germany and at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and holds an MSc from the Thessaloniki Institute of Tourism Studies.
Matthias Schultze
Managing Director, GCB German Convention Bureau e.V.
Matthias is passionate about driving change and innovation, focusing on future proofing meetings and events as vital platforms for knowledge exchange. With a degree in business administration, he started out in hotel and congress management at Hilton International in Germany and has now almost 20 years of management experience, including as CEO of the World Conference Center in Bonn, which is part of the United Nations Campus. In 2010, he took up his current role as managing director of the GCB German Convention Bureau that represents and markets the German meetings and conference sector on a national and international level, with offices in Frankfurt, New York and Beijing. Together with industry partners, Matthias has initiated various projects, such as the “Future Meetings Space” innovation alliance, that focus on the opportunities and challenges brought about by the digital transformation.
Andreas Scriven
Lead Partner, Hospitality & Leisure at Deloitte UK & Deloitte NS Europe
Andreas is Head of Hospitality & Leisure. He has extensive consultancy and M&A experience across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the USA.
His key areas of expertise include commercial due diligence, strategic reviews and advice, bank support, feasibility, and market analysis. In addition, Andreas has advised on over £30bn of debt exposure across the hospitality & leisure sectors in recent years, providing operational reviews, independent business reviews, strategic advice, as well as defining workout options and evaluating rebranding/positioning opportunities. His client experience includes many of the leading global brands/operators, private equity and hedge funds, property investors and developers, as well as overseas investment funds.
Prior to joining Deloitte, Andreas was the International Managing Director at Christie & Co where he had responsibility for 16 offices across Europe and the Middle East, as well as the China Desk. Furthermore he headed up the Consultancy service line across the firm. Andreas previously worked for both Arthur Andersen and Deloitte across the US and Europe and has operational hotel experience in Hong Kong, the USA and Europe.
Yiannis Tsakalos
CEO, AQ Strategy
Yiannis Tsakalos is the CEO of AQ Strategy. He has a 30-year long experience in the tourism and hospitality sectors. His studies include tourism management, and he also has an MBA from the University of Hertfordshire. He has also worked as a lecturer for over 10 years, teaching strategic marketing and management. Recently AQ Strategy & Ogilvy (strategic partners) have initiated a 3 years strategic plan and also the campaign for the Greek National Tourism Organisation. His professional experience in the industry includes executive positions at several companies in Greece. He is also a member of the board for tourism at the Hellenic-American Chamber. His key skills focus on strategic marketing, business development, and strategic management.
-
