Successful online event for the Hotel Industry by CITY College Europe Campus

Watch the event on our Youtube Channel

The online event for the Hotel Industry was held with great success and ended with useful conclusions and suggestions by the invited speakers. The event organised was by the Business Administration and Economics Department of CITY College, University of York Europe Campus on 14 February 2023.

The event, themed 'Hotels: Sustainable profitability and human resource management', was opened by Ms. Aggeliki Papakonstantinou, Head of the Business Administration and Economics Department of CITY College who warmly welcomed invited speakers and guests.

Experienced and well-recognised professionals participated as speakers in the event, shared their valuable insights and perspectives on the topic, namely, Alkis Sotiriou, Managing Director, Makedonia Palace-Porto Carras, Panos Almyrantis, General Manager Grand Hyatt Athens & President European Hotel Managers Association (EHMA), Dimitris Perrakis, General Manager of Grecotel Cape Sounio, Olga Tsapanidou, General Manager Blue Bay Hotel, Nassos Fanos, Independent Legal Services Professional - GDPR and Hotel Contract Specialist, Kalliopi Karantemiri, Human Resources Director, K.BADOUVAS Group of Companies and Sotiris Milonas, Civil Engineer, ΜΒΑ, Sustainability Health & Safety Risk Auditor.

The main topics discussed during the event were sustainable profitability and human resources management in hotel industry, which represent the two critical challenges that are interconnected and require careful management.

Specifically, as the speakers mentioned in their presentations, hotels are highly dependent on natural resources and therefore produce a significant amount of waste. To achieve sustainable profitability, hotels must prioritise resource efficiency, reduce waste and adopt environmentally friendly practices that can help reduce their environmental footprint. This can include investing in energy efficient technologies, using renewable energy sources and implementing waste management strategies.

However, all guest speakers highlighted that sustainable profitability cannot be achieved without the support and commitment of the hotel workforce. Human resources management plays a critical role in creating a culture of sustainability and driving change within the organisation. One of the important challenges highlighted during the event is that the alarmingly high staff turnover rate in hotels that represents a limiting factor affecting the quality of services provided. Hotels must implement strategies that prioritise employee engagement, recognise and reward employee achievements, and create opportunities for growth and career advancement. Investment in employee training and development is also necessary to ensure that employees have the necessary skills to provide high-quality services and experiences to customers.

Some other interesting suggestions that emerged from the event are the need for proper infrastructure to achieve sustainability, the need of adequate workforce to create competitive advantage, proper collaboration between hotel managers and entrepreneurs, financial support of work and not unemployment, better contracts and increasing direct bookings rather than reducing operating costs. As was characteristically mentioned at the event "The new term "anthropocracy" is the one that will provide the solution to the hotel industry....the investment in people and human resources."

The event was moderated by Dr Giovanni Oscar Serafini, Associate Professor, και Dr Lemonia Papadopoulou - Kelidou, Lecturer at the Business Administration and Economics Department of CITY College, University of York Europe Campus, who asked key questions and facilitated the discussion between the speakers.

It is worth mentioning that this was the third successful virtual event organised by CITY College on Tourism, an industry particularly important for the Greek economy, but also for the sector of education.

Watch the event on our Youtube Channel: