Hotel Innovation Award

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The “Hotel Innovation Award” is for hotel groups, hotel brands or individual hotels across Europe, considering innovativeness, excellence in implementation, economic viability, and the overall impact on society, guests and stakeholders. Every year the award goes to the most pioneering hospitality concept in alignment with the focus of the theme of the 196+ forum Vienna. This year, with the focus of the conference being on innovation & technology, the Hotel Innovation Award was awarded to an outstanding concept within this field.

Want to know more? Please find all details on the Hotel Innovation Award or contact awards@196plus.com

Hotel Innovation Award Winner 2024

A round of applause and heartfelt congratulations to our winner Maistra Hospitality Group, Croatia - where cutting-edge technology and innovation redefine hospitality! Maistra has transformed its digital landscape with a pioneering microservices architecture, integrating advanced tools like Cloudinary for optimized media delivery and an AI-powered search engine for personalized experiences. Leveraging cloud-edge technology for lightning-fast content delivery and scalable performance, they’ve seen remarkable growth in engagement and online revenue. With a focus on seamless functionality and flexibility, they’re setting new standards in the hospitality industry!

Dr Benno Zerlin, CEO of award sponsor Occhio, handed the trophy to Vanja Medakovic, Marketing Manager at Maistra: “Being innovative means embracing change and requires the courage and self-confidence to break new ground on unknown roads. Maistra has managed to harmonize innovation with digitalization and implement it in a holistic approach. A well-deserved winner!”

Other finalists in alphabetical order:

NILS am See, Austria, has partnered with Loxone, a pioneer in automation and user-friendliness, to implement several advanced technology solutions which includes automation, access, monitoring, intelligent energy management, lighting control and multi-room audio. Additionally, the hotel offers an innovative, fully automatic check-in system that is directly connected to the hotel's booking system thanks to the open Loxone system.

[PLACES] by Valamar, Croatia, is a lifestyle hotel concept for modern travelers seeking freedom of choice and a vibrant holiday in unique properties and destinations with respect for nature and the environment. [PLACES] guests can enjoy a range of digital solutions for a simplified guest experience and more efficient hotel operations.

Jury Members 2024

Thank you also to our jury for your dedication and expertise in selecting our nominees:

Previous Winners

Congratulations to Kulturhotellet Højhuset for winning the Hotel Innovation Award 2023!

Massive congratulations to our winner Kulturhotellet Højhuset - where culture, art, and community collide and provide the true spirit of hospitality! Built in 1961 as a folk high school and revitalized as a cultural hotel with organic farming, culture house, restaurant and several social activities, Højhuset is an iconic building and a landmark in the city of Herning. The Kulturhotellet promotes a space of community while preserving a piece of local cultural heritage. Congratulations to our winner for their outstanding concept!

Congratulations to Seminaris Hotels for winning the first Hotel Innovation Award 2022!

The hotel group particularly impressed the jury with its New Work concept! Seminaris Hotels have successfully established a cross-departmental, cross-site and cross-hierarchical transformation team, the so-called Trafo Team, which is shaping the cultural change from within. This internal change led to a realignment of Seminaris' own product. Seminaris has recognized the changing world of work and its disruptive potential for its own business model, as it has become increasingly difficult to recruit and retain skilled employees over the long term. That's why Seminaris is focusing on change from within the workforce. They demonstrate that New Work is possible in the hotel industry. "We make people grow" is not only a slogan, they live by it!

Want to know more about our Hotel Innovation Award Finalists? Have a look at our selected Award Videos on our YouTube channel

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