Asmita Mukherjee 
Asmita Mukherjee | Hyderabad
The maiden Exclusive hospitality Summit HOPE 2023 (Hospitality Overview Presentation & Exchange) was recently held by HVS over two days at the Taj Resort & Convention Centre in Goa. With the massive success of the event, the organisers have already planned for its second edition which is scheduled for February 29 and March 1, 2024 at the Taj Cidade de Goa. Mandeep Lamba, President, South Asia, HVS ANAROCK informed, “The theme for HOPE 2024 is ‘The India Story: Up, Up & Beyond’ which will highlight how India is shaping itself as a global economic powerhouse while continuing to fuel domestic consumption with the largest population in the world.”
The maiden summit of HOPE 2023, which witnessed several power-packed discussions, and sessions, highlighting the recent pressing issues and opportunities witnessed by the hospitality industry has gained a lot of traction. Speaking about the success of the event, Lamba said, “We wanted to bring together not only the top hospitality leaders for differentiated out-of-the-box discussions on industry trends, but also highly esteemed and coveted keynote speakers and presenters from outside the hospitality fraternity to deliberate on the latest global technology trends such as Metaverse and India’s rise as an economic powerhouse to give the conference attendees a much broader view into the India growth story. Above all we wanted to package this into never-before-seen production standards through creative design and cutting-edge technology.”
He also informed that due to the unique nature and flow of the event, it has managed to achieve high rated success. “With HOPE 2023, I believe we were able to achieve this goal and more, successfully raising the bar for hospitality conferences in the region. However, our own measure of success is not what guides us; it is the feedback from the attendees that truly matters, and I am humbled by the results of our feedback survey, which besides rating the event very high on several other parameters, showed that 61% of the respondents rated HOPE 2023 a 5 on 5, while 33% gave us a 4 on 5 on the overall quality of the event, with 85% stating that they would surely be returning back next year,” he added.
According to Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Group, the hard work behind the plan and execution of the summit is the only reason for the grand success of the event. He said, “Considering the amount of forethought and groundwork that went into making it a reality, we never had any doubt about HOPE 2023 being a complete success, and our confidence was fully vindicated. The event achieved everything it was meant to, and much more. We are gratified at having conceived and launched the hospitality industry’s definitive networking and information exchange platform in India,” he informed.
Puri is confident that this kind of summit can lift up the Indian hospitality sector to a global level. He added, “Every thriving industry needs occasions to celebrate its successes, examine and discuss current affairs that impact it, and plan the way forward. Indian real estate has a vibrant culture of such events across sectors, and the hospitality industry cannot be an exception. After the disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic, the hospitality sector staged a decisive and convincing comeback. This success needs to be both celebrated and leveraged further. HOPE will live up to its name in every respect, providing direction and a strategic roadmap to ensure that the current forward momentum is maintained.”
Lamba further elaborated on the attractions of the upcoming edition of HOPE, “We will return with the second edition of HVS ANAROCK HOPE on February 29 and March 1, 2024 at Taj Cidade de Goa, our Host and partners for HOPE 2023. HOPE 2024 will be a “can’t-miss” summit for all the hospitality and travel professionals in the region, where they can network, learn from, and engage with the who’s who of the global and Indian hospitality & travel industries, leading economists, celebrated Chefs and F&B entrepreneurs, private equity & banking leaders, architects, travel technology stalwarts, start-up gurus, and more. HOPE 2024 will be carefully curated to feature panel discussions, keynote presentations and beachside one-on-one chats that will reveal and deliberate the trends that will shape the industry’s fortunes in the coming years.”
