7,244 attendees at interihotel BCN23 “The Journey of Change”

EXHIBITION SPACE

On this occasion, interihotel has presented a carefully curated exhibition space, featuring a total of 184 exhibiting brands showcasing their solutions for the hospitality sector. Additionally, the organization has taken charge of the design and configuration of common areas, including the lounge, the cafeteria, the conference room, and the Concept Rooms, among others. These areas have been adorned with product placements from the exhibiting brands, serving not only to expand their own exhibition spaces but also to create resting and networking areas for visitors.

TOP-NOTCH CONFERENCES

In this edition of the event, 119 speakers have participated in conferences, debates, and workshops. The conferences and panel discussions have been moderated by Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, a journalist specializing in architecture at ‘El País’, Marisa Santamaría, an expert in innovative design trends, Cecilia Camacho, a strategic consultant specializing in communication and content creation, and the founder of the magazine ‘Arquitectura y Diseño’, Soledad Lorenzo. The Agora space has provided the perfect stage for talks by prominent speakers such as Isern Serra (Isern Serra), Luis Gil, and Lorenzo Gil (Plantea Estudio), Isabel Pintado (Four Seasons), Manuel Fernández (Roth Architecture-AZULIK), Christian Schallert (Brummell Projects), Géraldine Durieux (Rotor), Felipe Turell (Proyectos Conscientes), Carme Pinós (Estudio Carme Pinós), Daniel Ibáñez (IAAC), and Cecilia Tham (Futurity Systems).

The workshops held in the Atelier space, with a practical focus, have also been very successful, with participation from studios such as Anoche, Intsight, inèdit, The Chelsea Gardener, and Livit Design. These workshops have covered topics as interesting as acoustics, sustainability, lighting design, or brand strategy in combination with artificial intelligence, among others.

For the second year in a row, the Lounge space has hosted various discussions featuring entities such as Mujeres en Hospitality, the APDI, the COAC, and the CODIC, as well as the roundtable discussions “Los Diálogos”, an initiative by interihotel in which professionals from design studios and industry brands discuss various themes that have shaped this year’s edition.

INTERIHOTEL BCN23 AWARDS

This interihotel’s edition has announced six categories of awards: the new award for sustainable products in hotel and restaurant design, the award for innovative products in hotel and restaurant design, the award for the best stand design at interihotel, the award for the best restaurant design, the award for the best hotel design, and the award for an outstanding career in hotel and restaurant design.

The winners were as follows: the sustainable product award went to Feltina Recycled, by Textil Olius. The innovative product award was presented to System®_Linear lighting plug-in IP54, by Simes. The best stand design award was awarded to EcoCero, with their exhibition space designed by The Room Studio. The best restaurant design award went to Sandra Tarruella, for Restaurant Brutus. The best hotel design award was given to Ilmio Design for the Hotel Canfranc Estación project. Finally, the jury recognized the professional career of Francesc Rifé in the hotel and restaurant design sector for his undeniable artistic and personal merits.

The jury consisted of Jordi Ginabreda, executive board member of the Associació de Dissenyadors Professionals (ADP); Mariel Fuentes, president of the Asociación Profesional de Diseñadores de Iluminación (APDI); Laura Blanch, board member of ARQUIN-FAD; Sònia Monclús, cluster manager of Barcelona Centre de Disseny (BCD); Miquel Àngel Julià Hierro, member of the Retail working group at the Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Catalunya (COAC); Xavier Martín Báez, dean of the Col·legi Oficial de Dissenyadors d’Interior de Catalunya (CODIC); Isabel Ordóñez, industrial designer, PhD., teacher & researcher at ELISAVA; Norma Galofré, member of the Gremi d’Hotels de Barcelona; Pau Pérez, member of the Gremi de Restauració de Barcelona; Pedro Coelho, head of interior design area at LCI – Barcelona; Gema Alfaro, vice-presidente at Mujeres en Hospitality (MH) and Joaquim Solana, cluster manager of AMBIT Living Spaces Cluster (as the jury’s secretary).

INTERIORS LIVING LAB

The Interiors Living Lab, an open innovation space developed by AMBIT Living Spaces Cluster, the organizer of interihotel, has exclusively prepared two unique projects for this edition: two physical Concept Rooms and five Concept Rooms in holographic virtual reality.

The Capella-García Arquitectura studio has conceived and designed the concept and design of the Vitality Haven Concept Room, inspired by the Senator Hotels & Resorts hotel chain. On the other hand, the Eco-Jin Concept Restaurant has been designed and executed by the Francesc Rifé Studio team based on an idea inspired by the UDON Asian Foods restaurant chain. Both projects involved the participation of a total of 23 brands associated to AMBIT, which contributed their products to these spaces.

Besides, the Interiors XR space (Concept Rooms in holographic virtual reality) has allowed attendees to immerse themselves in five conceptual hotel rooms and interact with others thanks to real-time multi-user holo-communication technology, a pioneering innovation at an event from the sector.

The Concept Rooms have allowed us to envision what hospitality spaces for new guests will be like, through applied trends and solutions in products and materials designed for different traveler profiles.

The interihotel team wishes to express special thanks for the collaboration of the exhibiting brands that have made the design of this edition’s Concept Rooms possible by providing their products: Artemide, Bassols 1790, Bolon, Calma, Casual, Ceilica, Decosan, Doccia Group, EcoCero, Fama Solutions, Finsa, Gancedo, Jung, Kave Home, Luxcambra, Novolux Lighting, Peronda, Porcelanosa Grupo, Riel Chyc, Rols, Tres Grifería, Smart & Zennio.

INTERNATIONAL EVENT

interihotel consolidates itself as an international event, having received attendees from 46 countries and roughtly one-third of exhibitors from outside our borders.

In addition, within the event, several activities with international guests have been organised, including face-to-face meetings, lunches, working groups, and panel discussions. These have involved specification studios and hotel groups from Mexico and the Caribbean, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East.

RESULTS

interihotel BCN23 “The Journey of Change” closed its doors at 3:00 PM on Friday, October 20, with the attendance of 7,244 interior design professionals, developers, and contract-hospitality industry managers.

2,193 of the registered professionals declared their main reason for attending was to find suppliers for a hotel or restaurant renovation or new construction project, demonstrating the significant business volume generated by the event for participating brands.

The program of activities for the 2023 edition featured a total of 45 sessions of conferences, panel discussions, and workshops with the participation of 119 speakers, setting record numbers for an in-person edition, both in terms of the number of sessions and the number of professionals, considering the high caliber of the speakers and topics.

With these figures, interihotel solidifies its position as a leading event in Europe in the hotel and restaurant interior design sector.

More information: https://interihotel.com/en.