Mark Struik is a Hospitality & MICE strategist, consultant and founding partner at Conventus Consultants. With extensive experience in the international hospitality, meetings and events industry, he helps venues, destinations and hospitality organisations turn market insights into clear strategies and commercial growth. As a moderator, Mark combines industry expertise with an engaging and energetic style, keeping conversations focused and connecting speakers, topics and audiences.

Inge van der Beijl is Cyber Psychologist and General Manager Innovation at Northwave Cyber Security. She supports boards, executives, and crisis teams during ransomware and data extortion incidents, with a focus on decision-making under pressure, negotiation, and crisis communication. With a background in social and organisational psychology and experience in high-stress environments, she bridges the gap between technology and human behaviour, helping organisations stay in control when it matters most.

Dr. Alexander Lennart Schmidt, a distinguished European scholar born in Germany and based in Amsterdam, is Professor of Technological Innovation at Hotelschool The Hague (The Netherlands). With a rich academic background, including a PhD from the VU University in Amsterdam, Dr. Schmidt specializes in disruptive business models and technological innovations within the hospitality industry. His positions at various universities across Europe have been marked by significant contributions, particularly in understanding the intersection of digital technologies, such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and immersive technologies, with business model innovation. His research, recognized for its practical applicability, offers management tools tailored for navigating the challenges of continual industry disruption. An advocate of cross-industry collaboration, Dr. Schmidt's work explores the transformative impact of digital technologies, propelled by market players outside traditional industry boundaries. Dr. Schmidt identifies as an insightful innovation enthusiast, tirelessly pushing the boundaries of possibility. His interactions with students, founders, and seasoned managers have sharpened his skills in delivering personalized education and training formats. His passion for innovation and entrepreneurship has inspired many innovation-makers.

More information will be available soon.

More information will be available soon.

Erik has over 20 years of hotel tech experience in the Asia Pacific and EMEA regions.  Originally from Australia, Erik relocated to the UK 14 years ago and has deep experience in hotel online distribution, property management and revenue management technologies.

Sérgio Serra is a technology executive with over 25 years of software development experience, including more than 14 years in travel and hospitality. He began his career in 1999, specialised in web application development from 2004, and founded a web-based veterinary software startup in 2010. In 2012, he joined GuestCentric as a Senior Software Engineer, progressing to Chief Technology Officer.

Today, Sérgio leads technology strategy, product innovation, and the application of Artificial Intelligence in hospitality. He helps independent hotels use emerging technologies to compete in an increasingly AI-driven market and has led the development of solutions including GuestCentric’s Melissa, an AI Sales Assistant supporting guests during the final stages of booking.

Sérgio regularly contributes to discussions on AI’s impact on travel, including how travellers discover, plan, and experience journeys and the development of conversational travel agents (COTAs). His insights have appeared in HospitalityNet, Hospitality Technology, Hotel Online, HSMAI, and TNEWS, as well as industry podcasts, events, and university programmes.

For 12 years as Sector Banker Hotels & Leisure at ABN AMRO, Stef has advised entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers across the full cycle - growth, investment, restructuring and succession. As a specialist, he forecasts trends, monitors impact, and identifies potential. Stef helps businesses overcome challenges in management, capital structure, and strategy to build stronger foundations. He regularly shares insights on hospitality’s future with NOS, RTL Z, and DFT and welcomes connections with those shaping the industry.

Janneke ten Hoor is a young professional in the hotel industry specializing in hospitality and financial performance. Working at ABN AMRO Corporate Banking's Leisure Sector team, she studies the financial and operational resilience of the hotel industry while completing an MBA and an MSc in International Business at the university in Cambridge (UK).Her recent publication explores how Revenue per Available Square Metre (RevPAM) can support hotel performance and value creation.

Ralph van Hooijdonk is a second-generation hospitality entrepreneur and founder of VenueSuite. Growing up in his family's hotel and conference centre, he experienced firsthand the pace and complexity of hotel operations, particularly the significant manual effort involved in turning meeting enquiries into confirmed business. Inspired by those early experiences, Ralph founded VenueSuite to simplify the way hotels manage meeting and event sales. Today, the VenueSuite platform helps hotels streamline enquiries, proposals and booking workflows, enabling commercial teams to respond faster, work more consistently and spend less time on administration. Working with leading hotel groups across Europe, Ralph combines operational hospitality experience with a pragmatic approach to innovation, helping hotels improve commercial performance, strengthen direct relationships with corporate bookers, and create more time for what hospitality does best: bringing people together.

Jan leads a distributed team of Sales Managers across Europe and Africa, driving adoption of Shiji's Daylight PMS with hotel groups from DACH to the UK and beyond. Over 20+ years in hospitality technology — spanning GuestTek, Hoist Group, where he built and ran the DACH entity as Managing Director — he's worked both sides of the PMS/guest-tech stack, from network infrastructure to cloud property management. Based in Nuremberg, Germany.