PROGRAM 2020

Welcome remarks and Conference Overview

Unexpectedly for the world and for Italy, this decade started with the shock created by the impact of COVID-19 on life, economy, finance and tourism. One of the key questions is today: how will the Italian economy react to this crisis and how long will it take?
If we continue to look at Italy as an isolated system, we will not learn from global perspectives beyond the virus shock. Since in the last decade Italian tourism has relied the more and more on international demand, how is the restricted mobility, which we have recently experienced, going to impact? What is to be expected in terms of pressure on hotel development? Should we expect a slow-down in investments for this asset class due to a changed perception of investors? How to adjust yield expectations for the mid-term to avoid losing opportunities and correctly target investments?
We will bring the vision, dilemmas and answers of eminent opinion leaders in the field of finance, banking, investments, real estate and hospitality to this session and display supportive figures to share the understanding of the long-term future for investments in Italian hospitality. “Supportive predictions” is the reason why to join this first session.

2. Trading hotels through portfolio, NPLs, M&A deals: where are we now?

The business of lodging in Italy has never been so financially sophisticated as it is today. 10% of all real estate secured NPL of Italy are backed by lodging assets. Traded small NPL portfolios, M&A happening between main chains, investment management companies developing their own hospitality funds, small chains thinking about their going public, sell & lease-back agreements more frequent, white label operators partnering with private equity funds, and so on.

Structured finance and institutional/corporate ownership ask for an acceleration in performance, efficiency, transparency and …yield. All this will drive the industry to change.

Where are we now? How is domestic and international finance impacting the structure of a system that for centuries has relied on “prudent” family-funded and family-owned businesses? We will discuss this change with the protagonists of hospitality financing, key opinion leaders from advisory, transactions, banking and operations.

3. Top investments panel: learning from deals > 50 millions

Within this session you will listen to keynotes presenting the reason why they invested in great and trophy assets of the Country, their expectations for the near future, the challenges faced and all this based on real examples of recently transacted or developed properties.

Moreover, you will get the opportunity to follow panellists discussing and presenting on the market opportunities and recently closed deals worth over 50 million. A session not to miss if you want to listen to the international protagonists of the investment market.

4. High risk = high return? Levering the potential of mountain, seaside and wellness resorts

Offering internationally-recognized pearls such as the Dolomites, Taormina, Amalfi Riviera, Salento, Cinque Terre, Courmayeur, Verona and tens of others UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Italy is not just reputed for the biz hotels in Rome or Milan. And investors are now discovering the hidden reasons behind investing in secondary locations: fundamentals are strong, deals are possible and happen, especially for distressed assets and value-add strategies. But what is the expected return or the ideal holding period when investing in seaside, mountain or wellness resorts? Do they require a special approach compared to other product type? Are they worth the effort? This session addresses the topic of performance, expectations and future opportunities for investments in resorts, supported by the field experience of owners, resort operators and investors, dealing with resorts in Italy and the Mediterranean.