The International Luxury Hotel Association's flagship North American conference, ILHA INSPIRE 2026, will take place December 15–16 at JW Marriott Bonnet Creek Resort & Spa in Orlando, Florida — drawing an expected 900 to 1,000 senior investors, developers, owners, and operators from across the global luxury hospitality sector.
Two marquee speakers are already confirmed: Tina Edmundson, President of Luxury at Marriott International, and Carolyne Doyon, President & CEO of Club Med North America & Caribbean. Both executives lead organizations that sit at the intersection of luxury lodging, food and beverage programming, and high-end guest experience — topics of direct relevance to hospitality operators and restaurant and hotel F&B teams attending the event.
Why Operators Should Pay Attention
Luxury hotel conferences have increasingly become proving grounds for ideas that filter into broader hospitality and foodservice strategy. As luxury brands set new benchmarks for culinary programming, beverage curation, and on-property dining concepts, the decisions made and partnerships formed at gatherings like INSPIRE tend to shape investment and development pipelines well into the following year.
With attendance projected to reach four figures, the Orlando event represents a substantial gathering of decision-makers who control capital allocation across the full luxury lodging and food-and-beverage ecosystem. For operators, suppliers, and developers tracking where luxury hospitality is heading, the speaker roster and session agenda will be worth monitoring as December approaches.
What's Next
The conference is scheduled over two full days, offering structured programming alongside networking opportunities. The ILHA has not yet released the full session lineup, but the headline speaker confirmations signal a focus on brand strategy, ownership structures, and leadership at scale. Industry professionals seeking to engage with Food & Beverage Magazine coverage of the event and its implications for the broader F&B landscape can expect further reporting as the program is announced.
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.
