Christchurch played host to AHICE Aotearoa last week, and once again it reminded me just how much talent, innovation and experience we have across New Zealand’s hotel and accommodation industry.
It was fantastic catching up with so many people from across the industry, including David from Myma, Cicero from Lighthouse, Edwin from MarketInn, Darren and Carol from Mews, and Antony from Altitude.
It was also fantastic to see Booking.com sending some of their big guns down from Auckland. I really enjoy seeing companies like Booking.com making the effort to attend these conferences, talk directly with accommodation operators and share what they are seeing across the industry.
And what can you say about Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre? What a fantastic conference venue. Christchurch should be very proud to have a facility of this standard right in the heart of the city.
From revenue management and AI through to PMS technology, hotel automation and the changing guest journey, there are some incredibly clever solutions available to accommodation operators right now.
That is one of the things I enjoy most about conferences like AHICE. You get the opportunity to talk directly with the people behind the technology, ask questions, exchange ideas and get a genuine feel for where our industry is heading.
Christchurch hospitality on show
The evening events were absolutely top class as well. A big thank you to EVENT Hotels & Resorts and Scenic Hotel Group for their hospitality over the two nights.
And then there was One New Zealand Stadium!
What an impressive venue and what a fantastic addition it is going to be for Christchurch. The food and service were excellent — although I have to admit, those fresh whitebait fritters were a highlight! 😉
Congratulations to the team at One New Zealand Stadium. It was pretty special having the opportunity to experience the venue as part of AHICE.
A special thank you to Sleepyhead Commercial
A very special thank you to Damien and the team at Sleepyhead Commercial for sponsoring my AHICE ticket.
It was genuinely appreciated and gave me the opportunity to spend two very worthwhile days catching up with people from right across our industry, learning about new developments and having plenty of conversations about what accommodation operators need.
And, of course, quite a few of those conversations have already created ideas for future HospoGuy Chats!
There are some great people with a huge amount of knowledge in our industry, and I’m looking forward to sitting down with a few of them over a coffee and sharing those conversations with HospoGuy readers and viewers.
Thanks to everyone involved in putting together another excellent AHICE Aotearoa.
Plenty of conversations. Plenty of ideas. And plenty more to come from HospoGuy.