International Luxury Hotel Association Adds Investment, Development and Brand Sessions to INSPIRE 2026 Agenda

Xenia Hotels & Resorts President and COO Barry Bloom joins Fort Hospitality's President Keith Space and JF Capital's Founder & CEO Jonathan Falik for a conversation on where luxury hotel capital is heading in 2027

The International Luxury Hotel Association (ILHA) today announced new sessions for INSPIRE 2026, its flagship North American luxury hospitality conference, taking place December 15–16 at JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort & Spa. The latest additions bring owners, investors, developers and brand leaders to the stage to address the capital, development and margin decisions that will shape luxury hospitality in 2027.

Closing the Encore Summit Stage program on December 16, Barry Bloom, President and Chief Operating Officer of Xenia Hotels & Resorts, and Keith Space, President of Fort Hospitality, will sit down for a fireside chat, Owning Luxury in 2027: Value, Risk and What Comes Next, moderated by Jonathan Falik, CEO of JF Capital. As the final conversation of the conference, the session will give an ownership perspective on what luxury means heading into the new year, from what guests will pay for and where costs are pressuring margins to how owners are underwriting new investment and what they expect from operators and brands.

"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 Jonathan Falik, CEO of JF Capital. "Barry and Keith answer those questions from the ownership seat every day. Ending INSPIRE with their view of the year ahead means everyone in the room leaves knowing where capital is heading and what it will reward."

Other new sessions include:

• Value Creation Roadmap: Where Smart Capital Is Moving in Luxury Hotels brings together Lily Hu, EVP Business Strategy, Crescent Hotels & Resorts, Sonia Egyhazy, VP Luxury Hotel & Mixed-Use Development, Accor, and Kristina D'Amico, Vice President, Hotels Asset Management, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group. Carolina Lacerda, Executive Director, Transactions & Corporate Finance, EY-Parthenon, moderates.
• Building the Brand: Luxury Development in 2027 features Shafi Syed, Global Head, Hotel Development and Acquisitions, Equinox Hotels, FeiFei Wang, Feasibility and Development, Mandarin Oriental, and Rika Lisslo, VP Lifestyle & Residential Development U.S. & Canada, Hilton, moderated by Dr. Clay B. Dickinson, Managing Director, Horwath HTL and Professor at FIU.
• Quiet Margins: Protecting Profit Without Touching Guest Experience applies the discipline of quiet luxury to operations, separating what the best operators cut, automate or restructure from the savings that quietly erode a brand. Panelists include John C. Tolbert, Senior Vice President, BRE Hotels & Resorts, Zach Demuth, Head of Strategic Growth & Asset Management, Eight Form, Matthew Boettcher, Senior Vice President, Evolution Hospitality, and Susie Park, EVP, Global Hotel Asset Management, CBRE, with Darrin Phillips, CEO and Founder, Top Shelf Project Management, moderating.
• Luxury Branded Residences & The Future of Design Identity looks at how branded residences are shaping the way luxury brands define themselves through design, with Anna Masello, Marketing & Real Estate Branding Director, The One Atelier, Anne Billaz, CEO, Lagardere Active Enterprises, and Fernando De Nunez, CEO & Founder, Vertical Developments. John Lancet, Senior Managing Director, Practice Leader – Southeast and Caribbean Regions, HVS, moderates.

The new sessions join a program that already includes a fireside chat with Tina Edmundson, President of Luxury at Marriott International, a conversation with Carolyne Doyon, President and CEO of Club Med North America and Caribbean, and sessions on AI, wellness, culture and guest experience.

Registration for INSPIRE 2026 is now open. Visit ilha.org/inspire to learn more and secure a place.

About the International Luxury Hotel Association (ILHA)

The International Luxury Hotel Association (ILHA) is the leading trade association uniting the world of luxury hospitality across its three core pillars: real estate, hospitality, and travel. With a global community of more than 1 million professionals and a think tank of over 300 industry leaders, ILHA drives the conversations, partnerships, and innovations shaping the future of luxury experiences. Its ILHA INSPIRE flagship event brings together senior leaders from across the industry for high-level networking, insights, and collaboration, alongside a year-round content platform connecting owners, operators, developers, and brands. For more information, visit https://ilha.org/

SOURCE International Luxury Hotel Association