Barcelona welcomes the Short Stay Summit: Review
Spain: The team behind this year’s successful first-ever Short Stay Show in London hosted the inaugural Short Stay Summit in Barcelona this week.
The event, in partnership with Booking.com and powered by the European Holiday Home Association [EHHA], was organised by Quartz Smart Events co-founders Jim Curry and Diane Lloyd, and took place at the Hesperia Tower Hotel. It integrated a number of keynote speeches and focused panel discussions.
As well as housing more than 30 exhibitors, 40 guest speakers were present and representing the whole spectrum of the global short-term rental ecosystem, including an increased emphasis on European property managers and Spain-based startups.
The evening prior to the Summit, Rentals United welcomed attendees to the venue for the latest event in its VrTech edition series. Each edition of the event, which launched earlier this year, takes on a different format and in this case, it entailed a series of five-minute pitches from 10 exhibiting innovative tech startups, who spoke about their respective businesses and the gaps they are filling in the current short-term rental space for the benefit of property managers.
Pitching startups at the VrTech event were: KeyNest; Modo; Stasher; YourWelcome; Domo; PriceLabs; HaveYouGot; and Doinn.
This was followed by a relaxed networking session on the 29th floor of the hotel, as sponsors, guests and exhibitors looked forward in anticipation to a busy event schedule the next day.
Kicking off the Summit in the morning, Carlos Villaro Lassen from the EHHA welcomed attendees with an opening address on the Showtime Stage, accompanied by Joan Canadell [Cambra de Comerc Barcelona], David Font i Simon [Catalan Tourist Board] and Patricia Valenzuela [FEVITUR].
Before the day concluded, the EHHA held its Holiday Home Awards ceremony on the Showtime Stage, where it announced the winners across a number of European-wide short-term rental categories
- Best Accessible Holiday Home: Winner – Le Petit Chevrier [Switzerland]
- Best Family Friendly Holiday Home: Winner – Cakovec-Dragoslavec [Croatia]
- Best Green Holiday Home: Winner – Hobbit Hideaway [United Kingdom]
- Best Health and Wellness Holiday Home: Winner – Palma [Croatia]
- Best Holiday Home Beach House: Winners – Vista Azul [Spain] and Vista Alegria [Greece]
- Best Holiday Home in European Capital: Winner – Island [Spain]
- Best Pet Holiday Home: Winners – Landhuis Kwintelooien [Netherlands], Little Briar Cottage [United Kingdom] and Saltum Beach [Denmark]
- Best Unique Spot Holiday Home: Winners – Norddal, More & Romsdal [Norway] and Hillagammi [Finland]
Other highlights from the day included:
- A discussion on “Technology future gazing for the short stay industry” with Vanessa de Souza Lage [Rentals United], Alessandro Pacilio [Booking.com], Ignacio Suarez [Roomonitor] and Andrea Momcilovic [Guesty] on the Marketing Stage
- Wolfgang Pagl’s [Expedia] speech on “International markets in demand” on the Marketing Stage
- “Enhancing guest experiences” with Sila Camaselle-Vila from TripAdvisor Experiences on the Marketplace Stage
- “Discover new worlds” with Alvaro Terry from The Plum Guide
Reflecting post-event, Diane Lloyd, co-founder of the Quartz Smart Events, said: “The success of the Short Stay Summit last week exceeded our expectations on this new format show.
“Like any great event it wouldn’t have been possible without our amazing partners including the incredible ball of Danish energy that is Carlos from the European Holiday Home Association as well as our Showtime Partner, Booking.com, our supercharged partners, speakers and marketplace exhibitors.
“At the heart of it all is the visitors and businesses who are delivering the short stay industry to travellers and guests all around the world.
“We will be returning to the beautiful city of Barcelona next year on 12 November 2020 as it joins our other roster of events including the Short Stay Show at ExCel London in March, which is already twice the size of its inaugural outing and heading for a sell-out,” she added.
Keep up to date with all of the latest exclusive interviews recorded at the Summit here on ShortTermRentalz!
The next Short Stay Show will take place in London on Thursday 12 March 2020 [the day after IHM’s Shortyz Awards] at ExCeL London, while news will follow on the organisation and dates for the Short Stay Summit in 2020.
For more information, visit the Short Stay Summit website here and the Short Stay Show website here.
