The Hospitality Asia Event Series officially made its debut in East Asia with the successful staging of its inaugural Hospitality South Korea Conference (HSKC) last 4th June.
Held at the prestigious Sofitel Ambassador Seoul Hotel & Serviced Residences, the premier leadership summit brought together the region’s senior executives, institutional investors, and hospitality developers, taking them on a high-intensity tour of a new roadmap for South Korea's fast-evolving hospitality landscape.
The event drew in around 158 travel and hospitality professionals from 104 companies from within the region and beyond.
Backed by a strong contingent of 37 event sponsors and partners, the conference served as a powerful networking and commercial showcase, facilitating high-level matchmaking and pre-scheduled business meetings in the dedicated Match & Meet Area.
Mark Zwerner, vice-president of strategic partnerships and business development at ABB, said of the conference: “We are very pleased to be a part of the first HSKC because we believe in that interesting format that brings together all the main players in the hospitality market. For us especially, we're very excited to meet potential customers and be able to show off our portfolio here and have a 1o1 conversation with customers.”
Opening the conversations on strategy, yield, and market potential
36 expert speakers took to the stage at HSKC to dissect South Korea’s rapid industry shifts, real estate economics, and global capital influx.
The conference provided 360-degree market intelligence spread across four meticulously curated tracks: The Macro Stage, The Yield & Ops Block, The Execution Stage, and The Future Frontier.
Key panels and solo briefings confronted the industry’s most pressing topics, including the intense institutional investment environment, asset alpha strategies via branded residences, office-to-hotel spatial conversions, design ROI, and navigating the regional workforce crisis.
Building synergy among experts
The conference's uniquely focused business environment drew widespread praise from international partners looking to establish local roots.
STR Costar sales manager for North Asia Sunny Mu was moved to say: “My main purpose here is mainly about meeting people, meeting my contact, prospect in person. By far I've met many potential clients and also existing clients. I also book several meetings to do product demos. It was very productive for me. The content of the event is quite good and very intense.”
Mercure Seoul Magok general manager Kevin Lee added: “I think the biggest advantage is that many people in the hotel industry, from business development to management personnel who must increase revenue and profitability in the field, as well as those involved in operations who contemplate service quality and development, can come together in one place to share experiences. Furthermore, it seems to be the biggest advantage that they can meet various opportunities to apply different things in the future, enhance productivity and efficiency through advancement, and comply with ESG management. In the future, I hope that more international events will be held in Korea, providing more opportunities to discuss and exchange opinions in depth, even if the events are small.”
