BERLIN — Hotel executives from around the world are cautious about the geopolitical headwinds present from conflicts in the Middle East but remain believers in the resiliency of hospitality and tourism.
Hoteliers, analysts and hospitality industry stakeholders convened for the first day of the International Hospitality Investment Forum EMEA. Below are highlights from the conference's opening day.
Photos of the day
Quotes of the day
"When [countries with leaders in their 70s or older] make the generational shift, it could be easier with more predictability, and therefore the degree of volatility as we approach the end of the decade the world could be easier for you to navigate. So, look forward to what we can delicately call 'staff turnover' in the global leadership positions as these men enter the November and December of their lives."
—Janan Ganesh, associate editor, Financial Times, explaining why geopolitics could settle down over the next decade, particularly as older leaders relinquish power, noting those older leaders are seeking to cement a legacy in the form of territorial expansion.
“The K-shaped economy is real. It is very real.”
— Mark Hoplamazian, president and CEO, Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Editors' takeaways
The first day of the 2026 edition of the International Hotel Investment Forum EMEA coincided with the fourth week of hostilities in the Middle East in the conflict against Iran, and that was the center point of discussions.
What really shone, though, was the hotel industry’s determination to continue its legacy of togetherness moving forward.
Attendees spoke about not just how much the global hospitality industry is coming together but how much it is aware that the latest noise is just that. Some others said that in the United Arab Emirates, the crisis’ downward effect on occupancy already has seen hotel owners and partners accelerate capital-expenditure plans, knowing that the current doldrums might likely be the only occasion in which occupancy is so low.
Pivot. Strategize. Plan for tomorrow.
Carlos Khneisser, chief development officer for the Middle East and Africa at Hilton, said the war is likely temporary.
“This is a short-term challenge. Most of our agreements are for between 20 to 25 years. The [Middle East] is resilient, and Hilton is 105 years in age,” he said.
Memories have gotten shorter, for good or for worse.
The hotel industry will rise, and it will get better, and travel will continue to be a force for good.
—Terence Baker, news editor EMEA
I’ve developed a habit in recent years of regularly asking hoteliers with at least some exposure to Europe whether they believe the outsize performance of international travel to the continent — particularly to leisure-driven countries like Spain, France and Italy — is likely to continue. The region's outperformance compared to the rest of the globe, and more specifically the U.S. — which has struggled to draw international travelers this decade — is so stark that it’s easy to understand why you’d question whether it’s sustainable.
The answer to this question on the first day of this year’s IHIF EMEA seems to be, yes, it will continue, and could even gain more steam. As the global economy is likely to undergo a significant transformation driven by artificial intelligence, there seems to be a sense, shared on the main stage by Deutsche Bank economist Robin Winkler and IHG Hotels & Resorts CEO Elie Maalouf, that Europe’s economic future will be increasingly tied to travel.
Winkler noted that Europe is less likely than the U.S. and China to be the driver of AI growth, but will increasingly be looked at as the place that people want to go to have fun.
Maalouf agreed, adding that while Europe could possibly see stagnating GDP in the relatively near future, he believes the growth of travel and hotel performance will increasingly decouple from that metric and will grow unabated.
—Sean McCracken, news editor