The leaders who drive the transformation of tourist gastronomy gather in Barcelona to anticipate the major changes of an industry where artificial intelligence, automation, and new management models coexist with identity, product, and territory.
The future of tourist gastronomy is also built when those who make decisions coincide; when they share experiences, question models, and speak without filters about the changes that are already transforming their organizations.
This is the philosophy of the CLAVE Meetings, a community that brought together on September 29 in Barcelona an exclusive selection of executives, professionals, and leaders from the hotel, restaurant, and its value chain.
An innovative format and exclusive participation, which bets on the quality of conversation and shared knowledge, bringing together profiles with decision-making capacity to anticipate trends, contrast experiences, and generate reflection on the evolution of the sector.
Barcelona laid out an accelerated transformation. Artificial intelligence, automation, robotics, and new management models are changing processes, productivity, costs, and the relationship with the customer. Technology ceases to be a promise of the future to progressively integrate into the entire value chain.
In this context participated Joan Escarabajal, Deputy Director of Operations at H10 Hotels and member of the CLAVE F&B Club; Eugeni Serranos, General Manager of Dolce & Resorts–Hotel Miramar Barcelona 5 GL; and Rebeca Muñoz, responsible for concepts and project development at LIVIT*, addressing some of the main challenges currently facing the industry.
Among them, the management of people and productivity occupied a prominent place, in a scenario where there are cases of up to 40% absenteeism, alongside the need to simplify operations, incorporate technology, and respond to a consumer who demands greater freedom, flexibility, and personalization.
But the more digitalization advances, the greater the relevance of what differentiates an experience: identity, authenticity, talent, product, and territory. Innovation and essence thus appear as two elements called to advance together.
The members of the Club CLAVE F&B collectively represent nearly 10,000 hotel establishments, a dimension that turns the knowledge and shared experiences within this community into an important thermometer of the changes that the sector is undergoing.
"The transformation of the sector is not just about incorporating technology, but about using it to manage better and create experiences with more value, without losing sight of people, the product, and the identity of each destination," said José Luis Mejías, vice president of the Club CLAVE F&B.
The conversation started in Barcelona will continue on March 9 and 10, 2027, when Santa Cruz de Tenerife will host the National Congress CLAVE F&B.