The International Luxury Hotel Association (ILHA) has expanded the agenda for INSPIRE 2026, adding five sessions focused on capital allocation, development strategy, and margin management for luxury hotel operators. The conference takes place December 15–16 at JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort & Spa.
The Ownership Conversation
Closing the Encore Summit Stage on December 16, Barry Bloom, President and COO of Xenia Hotels & Resorts, and Keith Space, President of Fort Hospitality, will join a fireside chat titled Owning Luxury in 2027: Value, Risk and What Comes Next, moderated by Jonathan Falik, Founder and CEO of JF Capital. The session will tackle what luxury guests will pay for in the year ahead, where costs are pressuring margins, and how owners are currently underwriting new investment.
"Every owner is going into 2027 asking the same two questions: what will the luxury guest pay for, and what will it cost to deliver it?" said Falik. "Barry and Keith answer those questions from the ownership seat every day."
Four More Sessions on Deals and Design
The expanded program also includes Value Creation Roadmap: Where Smart Capital Is Moving in Luxury Hotels, which brings together executives from Crescent Hotels & Resorts, Accor, and JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, moderated by EY-Parthenon's Carolina Lacerda. A separate panel, Building the Brand: Luxury Development in 2027, features representatives from Equinox Hotels, Mandarin Oriental, and Hilton discussing feasibility and pipeline strategy.
For operators focused on the bottom line, Quiet Margins: Protecting Profit Without Touching Guest Experience examines what the best operators cut, automate, or restructure — and what cost-saving moves quietly erode brand equity. Panelists include senior leaders from BRE Hotels & Resorts, CBRE, and Evolution Hospitality. The session's framing reflects a growing tension across luxury hospitality operations: delivering premium experiences while absorbing labor, energy, and supply-chain cost pressures that have intensified since 2023.
A fourth addition, Luxury Branded Residences & The Future of Design Identity, examines how branded residential projects are reshaping how luxury hotel brands present themselves physically and commercially, with participants from The One Atelier, Lagardere Active Enterprises, and Vertical Developments.
A Full Luxury Agenda
The new sessions join a program that already includes a fireside chat with Tina Edmundson, President of Luxury at Marriott International, and a conversation with Carolyne Doyon, President and CEO of Club Med North America and Caribbean. Additional sessions cover AI integration, wellness programming, and guest experience design — topics that continue to drive hospitality investment and renovation decisions across the luxury segment.
With more than 300 industry leaders participating in ILHA's think tank and a global community the association describes as exceeding one million professionals, INSPIRE draws a concentrated audience of owners, asset managers, developers, and brand executives. Registration is open at ilha.org/inspire.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
