2025 Agenda
Sydney, 17 - 18 September 2025
Schedule
Create your personal agenda –check the favourite icon
Future Leaders Summit Host
Lachlan will lead a day designed to inspire the next generation of hospitality talent. He’ll introduce incredible speakers, keep the conversations flowing and make sure every attendee walks away with fresh insights, practical tools and new connections to help shape their careers in the industry
Marketing Summit Host
Lizzie will keep the energy up and the Marketing Summit running smoothly. She’ll guide you through the program, introduce sessions and make sure the transitions feel seamless so you can focus on soaking up insights from all sessions.
Small Hotelier Summit Host
Charlotte will create a welcoming space where independent operators can share challenges and successes. She'll introduce speakers who know the industry inside-out, spark conversations that matter and help every attendee leave with ideas they can put into practice straight away.
"Room With A View" Live Podcast feat. Melinda Lampier
Modernising check-in: What to automate and what to keep human
The 'unplugged' advantage: Why digital detox drives demand for small properties
TikTok campaigns: New audiences, new revenue
Regenerating our cities through hospitality
The design of storytelling: Weaving history into modern hospitality
Beyond the booking to the future of hotel selling
With more choice than ever before, guests expect more than just availability, they expect personalization. From room preferences to add-ons and amenities, travelers want to shape their stay around what matters most to them. This session explores how hotel distribution is evolving from static room sales to a more modern, retail-inspired approach — one that puts the guest at the center while unlocking new revenue opportunities. We’ll dive into topics like attribute-based shopping, bundling non-room products, and more that enable hotels to sell smarter, convert faster, and build stronger guest connections.
Cross-functional skills for leaders in today's hotel industry
Masterclass: Influencer strategy for independents
How to simplify your digital presence for maximum impact
The art of creating luxury experiences without the luxury price tag
1 perfect photo is worth 1,000 bookings
A picture is worth a thousand words, and in the case of a small hotelier, it can be worth a thousand bookings. A visually appealing photo gallery can help guests envision their stay and create a strong desire to book with your hotel.
From click to check-out: How we’re using tech to make stays feel personal
What hotels are doing with tech to make stays feel smart, seamless and personal.
Conscious conversation: How to design luxe spaces with better product choices
How you can build exposure
How to hack the #1 hospitality trend in 2026
How to make daggy cool
Buying, selling and valuing your asset
Behind the PMS & POS Screens: Guest facing, staff-facing, or headless interfaces?
Beyond Google: How hotels can win in the age of ChatGPT and AI search
Book direct strategies meeting & events
Unveil the secret to boosting your group revenue potential. Discover how our instant booking system can transform your approach to small meetings and events, providing unparalleled convenience and efficiency. This is your opportunity to streamline your operations, delight your customers, and unlock a new realm of revenue opportunities. Don't miss out on the chance to elevate your business strategy with this game-changing solution.
Leading from strength: Positive habits that build great teams
Game changers: If you’re new to AI, this is where you start
Our Story - From demolition to destination: Preserving vs. building new
Building a sales culture in guest-facing teams
What's influencing booking behavior in 2025?
Manly Pacific's F&B transformation: Designing hotel spaces that generate revenue beyond rooms
Balancing comfort and cutting-edge tech: How much is too much
Microdose the mainstream: Storytelling with edge in a crowded market
Unlocking the accessible tourism market: Why it matters for small hoteliers
How to make the most of an opportunity
Ask me anything: Roundtables with design experts
Architecture
Art
Branding & Wellness Design
Design Vision
F&B Design
Interior Design
Nailing your influencer strategy
Sustainable practices for small accommodations
What does a smart tech stack look like in 2025?
From hidden gem to fully booked: Practical steps to get found and get booked
As an accommodation provider your goal is to be desirable and effortlessly bookable. Join us for a focused session where we'll reveal10 simple, actionable strategiesyou can implementtodayto significantly enhance your:
- Reach:Get seen by more potential guests.
- Visibility:Stand out in a crowded market.
- Bookability:Make it irresistible and easy for guests to secure their stay.
Pushing boundaries: Bold brand moves that work
Travel Intelligence made actionable with AI
Harness the transformative power of AI-driven data to unveil actionable insights that propel your strategies to new heights. Learn how to identify top Agencies/Corporations where your property has declined and moved into your competitive set or market. Learn how to analyse your top 25 Travel Agents and Corporations to target and grow the profitable corporate business channel for your hotel.
Values-led growth: Practical leadership habits to build high-performing teams
AI-Powered hospitality: Redefining the hotel guest experience
Strategy first: Why your creative plan beats random posting
A framework to drive bookings, not just likes
Regenerative tourism: Designing hotels that give back to nature
Preparing for AI: Opening up data channels
Developing leaders for the future
Scaling success in boutique accommodation
Turning guest wellbeing into brand value
Activating brands with local experiences & media collaborations
Case studies: Where is AI going in hotels?
Masterclass: Leveraging AI for your hotel business
Book direct strategy to a seamless guest journey
Explore how technology has fundamentally transformed the hotel website direct booking journey, driving it towards a more retail-oriented approach. As hotel booker expectations shift and new standards emerge, it's vital to stay ahead in the increasingly competitive landscape of the online shopper. Have you ever wondered how to adapt your strategies to reimagine the customer booking journey? Do you today have independent technology solutions by different partners that provide you with an individual brand.com website, a different hotel booking engine and CRM? In this session, we'll discuss how to create a seamless, integrated booking path that drives direct bookings. By simplifying the booking process, encouraging direct interactions, loyalty, and crafting value-packed experiences, you can truly resonate with your booker and create a lasting impact. Join us to learn how to convert more direct bookings and stay at the forefront of hotel technology.
The Sundays resort: Designing for today's traveller
Empowering hospitality together: Human and robot collaboration that works
One industry, many paths: How we shape hospitality together
Smart budgeting: Maximizing ROI on paid ads
Tackling the challenges of small operators
Your cloud budget: Planning for subscription tech
The small operator's toolkit: Improving systems, bottlenecks, and balance
- Straightforward systems to bring more order to their operations and reduce daily overwhelm
- A framework to identify what’s holding them back and where small changes can make a big difference
- Strategies for creating more balance: between work and life, guest needs and business goals
From afterthought to anchor: How 437 artworks shaped The Mondrian Gold Coast
Create your personal agenda –check the favourite icon
Strategic & bold: How women are using strategy, storytelling & entrepreneurship to lead
Women In Hospitality Networking Breakfast:
7:30-8:00 | Breakfast
8:00-8:45 | Panel
8:45-9:00 | Q&A
People & Culture Summit Host
Nicole, our People & Culture Summit host, will guide you through a day of insightful discussions.She'll introduce incredible speakers, keep the conversations flowing, and make sure everyone walks away with real insights and new connections that'll actually make a difference in the workplace.
Revenue & Distribution Summit Host
At the Summit, Samuel will guide attendees through a day of practical insights, introduce leading speakers and ensure every conversation delivers real takeaways and inspiration for revenue leaders.
Sustainability Summit Host
Michael, our Sustainability Summit host, will steer a day of practical, solutions‑focused conversations. He’ll introduce our speakers, keep discussions focused and lively, and make sure attendees leave with actionable insights and connections that actually advance sustainability outcomes.
Beyond leisure: The positive impact of sustainable travel
Hotel commerce 360: Strategy, systems & success
Leadership with heart, diversity, allyship and making a difference
Tourism outlook: Geopolitics & guest trends
Biophilic luxury: How 1 Hotel Melbourne’s green design drives revenue and community
"Room With A View" Podcast w/ Kailash Sarma
Build once, scale everywhere: Modular design systems for multi-asset portfolios
Inside hotel demand: The revenue opportunity gap
Drawing on SiteMinder's largest ever hotelier survey, Chief Product Officer Leah Rankin reveals the realities shaping hotels today, from changing market dynamics and operational pressures, to the critical barriers limiting their growth. She explores how the gap between revenue-driving opportunities and hotels' ability to capture them is creating an invisible drain on profitability, and demonstrates how AI-powered intelligence holds real potential to bridge this divide. For Rankin, the direction is clear - success will increasingly come to hotels that anticipate demand, not merely react to it.
Beyond the booking to the future of hotel selling
With more choice than ever before, guests expect more than just availability, they expect personalization. From room preferences to add-ons and amenities, travelers want to shape their stay around what matters most to them. This session explores how hotel distribution is evolving from static room sales to a more modern, retail-inspired approach — one that puts the guest at the center while unlocking new revenue opportunities. We’ll dive into topics like attribute-based shopping, bundling non-room products, and more that enable hotels to sell smarter, convert faster, and build stronger guest connections.
Overcoming fragmented tech adoption: How to secure owner buy-in
The agility advantage: How strategic revenue pivots drive commercial success
Bringing the X-Factor to your property
The money is there: How to access Australia's growing sustainability-linked loan market
What is ReLove? How hotels can help - and why it matters
Building a Billion Dollar Playground: How we took Australian hospitality global
Cutting-edge techniques and tools for optimizing RM strategies
CPD session: Designing for restoration and ‘No Vacancy’ rooms
Cultivating growth: How development boosts retention and outcomes
Book direct strategies: Meeting & events
Unveil the secret to boosting your group revenue potential. Discover how our instant booking system can transform your approach to small meetings and events, providing unparalleled convenience and efficiency. This is your opportunity to streamline your operations, delight your customers, and unlock a new realm of revenue opportunities. Don't miss out on the chance to elevate your business strategy with this game-changing solution.
Industry-leading approaches to green procurement
Precinct development: Blending hospitality, retail & community
Cross-functional commercial strategy: Aligning teams for growth
Practical frameworks for aligning Sales, Marketing, and Operations to maximize revenue opportunities.
The science of design: The hidden ways in which architecture shapes human behaviour, success, health and wellbeing
Building career pathways: Insights from an Indigenous training academy
Fit for purpose: Pros & cons of operating models
Pop-up opps and meanwhile use: Rethinking “empty” hotel assets
Using the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower to improve workplace culture, inclusivity and build stronger teams
Building data into meaningful conversations
How ProInvest's 12 hotels won their NABERS stars (and how you can too)
Beyond the menu: Making F&B a destination
Building guest loyalty and staff belonging through LGBTIQ+ Inclusion
Defits that do good
Rethinking operations: What high-performing hotels do differently
Upskilling: Utilizing AI & other tools to benefit your role
The EVE's global-local formula
The hidden revenue drivers of eco-certified hotels
The immigrant & refugee workforce here to help your hotel
What’s driving Australia’s hotel investment surge?
Turning hospitality data into Decisions: An interview on unlocking value with Power BI
Travel intelligence made actionable with AI
Harness the transformative power of AI-driven data to unveil actionable insights that propel your strategies to new heights. Learn how to identify top Agencies/Corporations where your property has declined and moved into your competitive set or market. Learn how to analyse your top 25 Travel Agents and Corporations to target and grow the profitable corporate business channel for your hotel.
Hotelier to hotelier: AI shortcuts that changed our operations
Why are kids not staying in hospitality: What can we do about it?
Explore the role of hospitality training in shaping workplace culture and values early on. Hunter Education’s Global Mentoring Program is as a powerful example of how positive culture can be shared and modelled from the start of a career.
Driving excellence: Building a unified commercial strategy
NoVacancy 2025: The Pitch Series
Emerging businesses will pitch their boldest ideas to a panel of industry judges, investors, and potential partners. From game-changing guest experiences to smarter operations, see what’s next in hotel and accommodation innovation.
- Cyberstash
- JACK Hospitality
- Pulse Defibs
- Sonola
- FreeGuides
The wellness premium: How nature-infused design commands higher room rates
My First Job: Innovative Gen Z engagement and new ways hotels can connect with young talent
NSW’s 40,000 Rooms: Pipe dream or plan?
Leveraging neighbourhood identity in accommodation design and experience
Book direct strategy to a seamless guest journey
Explore how technology has fundamentally transformed the hotel website direct booking journey, driving it towards a more retail-oriented approach. As hotel booker expectations shift and new standards emerge, it's vital to stay ahead in the increasingly competitive landscape of the online shopper. Have you ever wondered how to adapt your strategies to reimagine the customer booking journey? Do you today have independent technology solutions by different partners that provide you with an individual brand.com website, a different hotel booking engine and CRM? In this session, we'll discuss how to create a seamless, integrated booking path that drives direct bookings. By simplifying the booking process, encouraging direct interactions, loyalty, and crafting value-packed experiences, you can truly resonate with your booker and create a lasting impact. Join us to learn how to convert more direct bookings and stay at the forefront of hotel technology.
Where & When
ICC Sydney Exhibition Centre
Darling Harbour, Sydney
Wednesday 17 September 2025
Thursday 18 September 2025
Open 9:00am – 5pm daily
Contacts
Sponsorship Enquiries
Matthew.Gatfield@terrapinn.com
Speaking Enquiries
Katarina.Mesarovich@terrapinn.com
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Terrapinn is proud to be a member of isla.
Working together to build sustainable events