The new addition will discuss the challenges and outlook for the F&B industry
The Hotel Show; the MENA region’s longest-running and most influential hospitality trade exhibition has announced the addition of a free-to-attend F&B Stakeholders Summit as part of the 2021 exhibition programme, which will run within the wider event, held from 31st May – 2nd June 2021 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
The F&B Stakeholders Summit has been introduced to address the major issues the industry has faced after a pivotal year for the food and beverage industry. The two-day summit will feature leading professionals sharing their insights, case-studies and market forecasts in panel format, while also providing the community a long-overdue opportunity to network and reunite face-to-face.
Now celebrating 21 years of connecting people, products and insights live and in-person, The Hotel Show remains a catalyst for change and growth in the industry through its annual gathering and feature experiences. The F&B Stakeholders Summit is timed perfectly at a critical moment for this market, as it moves from a challenging period to the gradual return of ‘normal’ business conditions with renewed vigour, ideas and invention.
The F&B Summit will take form of a series of highly focused and candid live discussions, with participation from a host of renowned speakers and panelists including Andy Cuthbert, Chairman of the Emirates Culinary Guild and General Manager for Jumeirah Creekside Hotel and Jumeirah Hospitality, Madinat Jumeirah Conferences & Events, Samantha Wood, Founder of Foodiva, Joey Ghazal, Founder & Managing Partner at The Maine New England Brasserie Company, Edward Harvey, Director, Elevate and Antonio Gonzales, CEO of Sunset Hospitality Group.
Naim Maadad, Founder of Gates Hospitality who will be speaking at The Hotel Show F&B Stakeholder Summit comments, “‘Trendsetting forums like The F&B Stakeholders Summit will certainly go a long way in the path to recovery of the food and beverage industry. As we arrive at the threshold of a vital year – with the medical authorities encouraging the vaccination drive climax, it will be imperative to pump in new ideas into the industry and jointly commit ourselves to the betterment of all stakeholders. Great initiative.”
MENA Research Partners predict that the GCC’s F&B market will achieve growth of 7% this year, climbing to an estimated $196 bn. This recognizes forecast for a significant rebound in tourism as countries gradually relax travel restrictions. For the UAE, this is further fueled by government drive to complete hospitality projects ahead of Expo 2020 in October 2021, expecting to welcome an additional 3mln tourists during its opening period.
All F&B professionals are welcome to attend to listen, ask questions and take advantage of the opportunity to network face-to-face with their peers and colleagues, safely with the dmg events ‘All Secure’ COVID-19 Safety Protocols in place. The concentration of knowledge and insight combined with this gathering of experts and networking will in no doubt spark ideas and innovations that will shape the region’s restaurant and hospitality culture for years to come.
Samantha Wood, Founder of Foodiva comments, “On the back of the crisis where the world moved to conduct business online, in-person industry conferences like The F&B Stakeholders Summit at The Hotel Show are now more important than ever. The hospitality and F&B industries are people businesses, so we need this platform to communicate our ideas, to innovate and to network.”
Jasmeet Bakshi, Group Event Director of The Hotel Show (dmg events) adds, “The F&B industry has experienced the most challenging year in living memory and there is an urgent need of collective discourse and problem solving. We are therefore delighted to be able to open our doors to the community, offering a world-class program discussing a breadth of relevant topics.”
Under this year’s theme, ‘Redefining Hospitality’, The Hotel Show offers the industry professionals in the Middle East a powerful platform from which to source products, connect and learn about critical topics over the course of three days. The Hotel Show will once again benefit from being part of the Middle East Design and Hospitality Week, which brings the biggest and most important celebration of all things design and hospitality with
co-located events: INDEX, Workspace and The Leisure Show.
Find out more about the F&B Stakeholders Summit at The Hotel Show here: https://www.thehotelshow.com/show-features/the-fb-stakeholders-summit/