Prof. Simone Bianco – School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University – Assistant Professor

Advance Strategy Masterclass: The Startup Revolution Transforming Hospitality Towards MICE Industry

Hospitality has never been known as an innovative industry. For decades, incumbents optimized operations but rarely disrupted themselves. That is changing: Not because hotel companies suddenly became inventive, but because outsiders arrived. A new wave of startups is transforming how hospitality operates, and these ventures are not founded by hoteliers. They are built by engineers, data scientists, and technologists who see our industry’s inefficiencies as engineering problems waiting to be solved. This shift carries profound implications. When innovation comes from outside, it brings different assumptions, different business models, and different definitions of value. It also demands different competencies from the people who will lead hospitality forward. The skills that made careers in this industry (e.g.  operational excellence, service intuition, relationship management) remain necessary but are no longer sufficient. Understanding algorithms, partnering with tech ventures, and integrating software-driven solutions into human-cantered service are becoming core requirements.

This talk examines where hospitality innovation actually comes from today and how can application made to the MICE industry, why the industry’s traditional players struggled to generate it themselves, and what this means for the capabilities organizations and professionals will need to remain competitive.