The IX edition of interihotel BCN, in which 150 exhibiting brands participated, has generated great interest among the visitors of the event, due to both the polished appearance of the exhibition area and the full programme of activities available. Another reason attracting the attention of visitors was the design of the unique spaces prepared for the event: The Recepción, the Conferencias, the Talleres and the Fotos, conceived by the Inprojekt studio and the Salon, on this occasion designed by professionals from CODIC.

But the most outstanding novelty of interihotel BCN19 has been the Concept Rooms, that have allowed the visualization of new hotel concepts through interior design and to reflect specific tendencies for these consumer-persona profiles, emerging within the hospitality sector: Millennial Parent, Authenticity Seeker, Healthy Traveller and Zen Traveller. These unique spaces, designed by Quintana Partners, Tarruella Trench Studio, Estudio Caramba (directed by Tomás Alía) and Piedra Papel Tijera interiors are part of a pioneer study in this sector, framed within the Interiors Living Lab open innovation initiative developed by CENFIM, the organiser of interihotel.

First rate conferences

A total of 73 speakers took part in this edition at conferences given by Pilar Marcos, director of the magazine Diseño Interior ¡, Marcel Benedito, director of the magazines Proyecto Contract and Distrito Oficina, and Marisa Santamaría who is director and founder of the Global Innovation Trends Unit. The Conferencias space filled up order to listen to talks by speakers such as Tomás Alía, founder of Estudio Caramba; Sandra Tarruella & Ricard Trenchs, creative directors of Tarruella Trenchs Studio; José Manuel Fernández, founder and executive director of Cuarto Interior; Marisa Santamaría, director and founder of Global Innovation Trends Unit; Gudy Herder, Interior Design & Lifestyle Trends at Eclectic trends; and Andrea Navarro, associate architect at GCA Architects.

At the same time, the workshops turned out to be a success among the attendees, who were able to learn useful methodologies and practice them in areas as interesting as design thinking, olfactory marketing, the specification of colour through the NCS system, the creation of experiences through light, sustainable architecture, lean design, acoustic comfort or the evaluation of sensory perception of materials, among others.

International Mission

The activities of the international mission that took place in the framework of interihotel included, apart from face to face meetings and work lunches, work groups and discussion panels with world-renowned prescription studios together with hotel groups from Mexico, the United States and United Arab Emirates. The Mexican delegation was represented by Brenda Madrigal, deputy equipment director at City Express Hotels; Ignacio Cadena, president and creative director at Cadena+Asociados Design Concept; Diana Correa, lighting project leader at AoMa Estudio; and Jorge del Olmo Frese, design and equipment director at Grupo Posadas. From the USA, interihotel welcomed Rebecca Milne, director of design strategy & board director at Perkins Eastman; Jese Medina, design director, principal at Wilson Associates; Glen Coben, president and owner at Glen & Company; and Manuel Clavel, CEO/principal at Clavel Arquitectos. From the United Arab Emirates, we also welcomed Kristina Zanic, CEO at Kristina Zanic Design Consultants; Paul Aychouh, area director engineering at Roda Hotels; and Elias Maalouf, regional director of technical services - EMEA at Dusit International.

interihotel 2019 Awards

CENFIM announced three award categories: best interihotel interior design, best innovative product for hotel interior design and best digital posting. In the first category, the jury awarded the prize to the Brucs company, the award for the best innovative product was given to Rigid Wall Covering by the brand Floover, while also distinguishing Bruno Lanuza's work on the posting "Hotels with a name". Besides CENFIM, the jury included representatives from designers' associations, professional schools for architects and interior designers, as well as leading entities and schools in the field of design: The ELISAVA school, the Association of Interior Designers of Catalonia (CODIC), the Association of Architects of Catalonia (COAC), the Barcelona Design Center (BCD) and the Association of Professional Designers (ADP).

Results

Interihotel BCN19 concludes with a 25% increase in the number of exhibiting companies compared to the 2018 edition. The number of visitors increased by 20%. Furthermore, 1,265 of the registered professionals declared that they were going to visit interihotel because they have a refurbishment or new hotel construction project in progress, which shows the numerous business opportunities that are created by the event, year after year.

As for the programme of activities, the 2019 edition has held a total of 35 conference sessions, discussion panels and workshops, in which a total of 73 speakers have participated, record figures, both by the number of sessions and by the number of professionals, always taking into account the high level of speakers and topics.

Based on this information, interihotel positions as a leading event in Europe in the niche market of hotel interior design.