2021 Events

We kicked off the 2021 Winter Webinar Series with Tom McDermott, Managing Director of Agility Hospitality. Tom spoke to attendees on a Six Sigma approach to “continuous improvement” by involving front-line team members to create sustainable win-win solutions for the guest, team member, and owner.

Next, John Brennan FIHI, non-Executive Chairman of leading hotel investment and management group, Amaris Hospitality and is also Founder and Managing Director of Cloudbrook Partners, spoke with President Oonagh Cremins in a fireside chat on the scale of the pandemic and the shape of the Irish hotel market, government supports and sustainability.

Next, Elbha Purcell, Head of Dietetics & Wellbeing at Aramark Northern Europe shared her insights on well-being from a nutrition perspective. Mindful that our members and the larger sector were still dealing with the stress and uncertainty caused by the pandemic, we kicked off our Mental Health & Wellness Series with guest speaker, Dani Sheil. Dani, a personal development coach, spoke to members on the importance of finding healthy methods to manage anxiety and stress.

As a former co-owner & Chairman/CEO of Insomnia Coffee Company, Bobby Kerr shared his thoughts on how to steer businesses through panedmic and remain motivated.

Continuing our objective to promote and encourage mental health awareness, we were delighted to welcome Niall Breslin, who shared with members his personal experience with and struggles with mental health.

Changing our focus to businesses, IHI President Oonagh Cremins, was joined by CEO of IDA Ireland and IHI Fellow, Martin Shanahan. Martin spoke to Oonagh about FDI in Ireland and IDA’s new strategy and economic outlook.

As an industry, we looked to the rest of the world for direction in the recovery process and so we welcomed our next webinar guests from across the globe but all with Irish roots. Our panellists for Recovery from a Hospitality Perspective, shared with us great insights on how they were finding the recovery and re-opening process, the challenges they faced, and what changes they made and embraced. Panellists include: Brian Gleeson - GM Radisson Hotel Group Moscow, Mark O Sullivan - Area GM Minor Hotels Bangkok, Matthew Mullan Cluster GM Hilton Abu Dhabi, Damien O'Riordan - GM Ritz Carlton Sarasota, Florida and Sarah Duignan - STR

Wrapping up the summer season, we kicked off the Autumn 2021 series with "Staffing Challenges in the wake of COVID-19: Talent management strategies and practices", with guest speakers Dr Stefan Jooss, Cork University Business School, UCC & Dr Ralf Burbach, School of Hospitality Management and Tourism, TU Dublin.

Our next guest speaker Raquel Noboa MIHI, Founder & CEO of Fifty Shades Greener shared the importance of understanding the impact sustainability changes can make.

IHI President, Brian Bowler next caught up with hotelier and IHI Fellow Francis Brennan, who spoke about his career, opportunities in the sector, and the importance of taking care of our teams.