Best Stay 2017

The third edition of Best Stay 2017 event was held in a new location, in Split, on October 19-20. With new formats and focus on luxury tourism, during both days, Best Stay attracted more than 250 attendees, including leading representatives of the following companies: Bluesun Hotels & Resorts, Brenum (One Suite Hotel), Dogus Marina Hotels, Dorchester Collection, Falkensteiner Punta Skala Resort, Hotel Bellevue, Mali Lošinj, Hotel Gotham, Hotel Kazbek, Hotel Mepas, Hotel Palais Erzherzog Johann, Hotel Tesla Smart Stay, HRT, Hyatt Regency, Kempinski Palace Portorož, Maistra, Olympia Vodice, Orbis/AccorHotels Eastern Europe, Projectum, Radisson Blu Old Mill Hotel, Rixos Libertas Dubrovnik, Soulmade Hotels, STR, Sunčani Hvar, Terme Tuhelj, Tourist board of Split, Valamar Riviera, Hoist Group, Aruba Networks, Coca-Cola Hellenic, Julius Meinl Bonfanti, Samsung Electronics Austria and many others.

The main topics of the event included education for luxury tourism professionals, building a great team to deliver an exceptional guest experience and raising the quality standards in every detail. Specific areas of the conference programme were dedicated to defining the meaning of luxury today, satisfying the most demanding guests, ensuring that the technology supports guest experience rather than complicating it (“high touch over high tech”), creating a wow effect through design and architecture, as well as revealing insights into what’s yet to come in future years when we talk about luxury and quality in tourism. At Best Stay 2017, special emphasis was put on the personalisation of each guest’s experience, as a way to provide a luxurious experience to each individual, based on his or her needs, no matter the location, hotel categorisation or type.

It is important to highlight the presentation by Ana Brant (Dorchester Collection), who, through several examples, pointed out the meaning of a personal touch and the effect it can have on hotel guests - and it all starts with your hotel team. The General manager of Radisson Blu Resort in Split, Michael Caspar also stressed this: “Without the corresponding team, it [the luxury hotel] will never be a luxury resort”. The panellists on the last panel, “Uncovering the next big thing in luxury travel” agreed that luxury is about
getting back to the basics, with focus on the detail, the human touch and the connection with the guest, where the hotel team plays the most important role.