Luxury Hoteliers Magazine 1st Quarter 2021 | Page 3

PRESIDENT ’ S LETTER

Greetings hoteliers ,
We are seeing signs of recovery as we head towards the middle of 2021 and the vaccine rollout continues its hard work . Life as we know it will take a while to come back but we are confident and excited for when travel returns in a meaningful way .
INSPIRE2020 virtual conference was very successful , with over 5000 attendees and almost 80 speakers from luxury hospitality worldwide . Our newly formed European Chapter played a significant role in putting together a series of videos for the conference , as did our Northeast Chapter , who worked with the ILHA on creating our initial webinar series when the pandemic hit .
Our sponsors are the backbone of our event and have supported the industry in so many ways , quickly innovating to address the changing needs of the hospitality industry and supporting communities and hoteliers wherever possible .
This issue of Luxury Hoteliers magazine plays homage to our sponsors with the article Supporting the Industry they Love . Jason Kruse , General Manager of Amilla Maldives writes about the challenges of the past year in Reopening Maldives Tourism on a Wing and a Prayer . Elaine Glusac talks about slower , more mindful travel in The Year of the Travel Reset , taken from the Global Wellness Summit ’ s report .
We have Spotlight On interviews with leaders in the industry , who share their strategies for getting through a challenging year and also words of inspiration with new projects , innovations , and preparations for recovery .
Until we meet again , take care ,
Barak Hirschowitz , President , International Luxury Hotel Association
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