Innovation is needed to ensure that the Swiss hospitality industry remains competitive. With the Hospitality Booster, HotellerieSuisse enables and promotes innovation. The aim is to proactively implement new services, products, processes or business models and with a high level of utility for our members. To this end, the Hospitality Booster takes up needs from the industry, develops ideas and involves various partners. This is the only way to create new, efficient and needs-oriented solutions.
Here you will find current News & Updates surrounding the project Hospitality Booster.
News from the BoosterLet yourself be inspired and connected through the newest innovations, startups & trends in the Hospitality industry
Inspiration & TrendsHere you can find information to the current pilot-projects, that we are developing in cooperation with various partners
Pilot-projectsAbout us
Who is behind the Hospitality Booster?
The Association of the innovative and sustainable Lodging Businesses in Switzerland. As a business association, we are consistently oriented towards the success of our members. HotellerieSuisse is the initiator of the Hospitatlity Booster and is responsible for the operative & startegic build-up of the Booster.
Pioneers of Hospitality – Training which sets the standards of excellence. In Village de l`Innovation – the Business incubator of EHL – are successful Startups that are active in the Food & Hospitality industry.The innovative ecosystem actively promotes entrepreneurship and provides a space for the direct research.
Leading practice-oriented management school for the hospitality and gastronomy industry in Switzerland. In the newly opened THE LAB HOTEL and the associated lab rooms, the latest innovations and concepts can be tested directly with guests and evaluated for their effect. A unique meeting place between students, guests & entrepreneurs.
Innotour is a governmental funding programme for national innovation projects, which aims to improve the innovation climate in destinations, trigger innovations and thus strengthen the competitiveness of destinations. The Hospitality Booster is supported & promoted by Innotour. Click here for the exciting Innotour projects..
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FAQ
Your burning questions!
What is the Hospitality Booster?
The Hospitality Booster is a platform with the aim of enabling the networking of hoteliers, partners from the hotel industry, start-ups and interested third parties. Thanks to this exchange and cross-sectoral cooperation, ideas for new services, products, processes or business models emerge. The solutions that are developed should create real added value for the hotel businesses or for the entire industry. The Hospitality Booster accompanies the idea generators during the implementation.
What does innovation mean anyway?
The word innovation is derived from the Latin verb “innovare”, which means “to renew”. In essence, the word has retained its meaning to this day. Innovation means optimising, developing or replacing something. This can be, for example, a service, a process, an offer or an entire business model.
Why should innovation be promoted?
Innovation is crucial for the long-term competitiveness of entire industries – including the hotel industry. The needs, wishes and requirements of guests for products, services and processes are constantly changing. Accordingly, the offers and services that respond to them must also be further developed. New offers, improved services or simplified processes help businesses to achieve the necessary competitive advantages.
Does innovation have to be expensive and complex?
Definitely not. It doesn’t always need a big budget, new job profiles or the latest technologies. Innovation can also mean making smaller improvements or innovations that can easily be implemented in a very short time and with few or even no resources.
An example: Three hoteliers establish a bonus system for their guests. The guests collect points per overnight stay in one of these hotels, which they can in turn use to purchase additional products or supplementary services in these hotels. In a next step, they would like to extend the bonus system to the entire region in order to strengthen it as an attractive holiday destination – which is why they are submitting their idea to Hospitality Booster.
Who can contribute ideas to the Hospitality Booster?
Ideas may be entered by you as a hotelier, partner of the hotel industry, start-ups or interested third parties. It can be an idea to improve or change the hotel industry, or a request for support. For example, if you would like to receive feedback on an idea or do not know how to bring the necessary partners together for your project.
It does not matter if you already have a developed concept or even a prototype, or if you have initial ideas floating around in your head. What is important is that the idea deals with the accommodation industry.
An exciting example of this is the wine list, thanks to which the wine selection can be made more efficient and better for guests and hosts.
What support can idea providers expect?
The Hospitality Booster offers different services depending on the development stage of the project or idea. We are guided by the innovation funnel and have divided up the various service packages within it.
You can find all services on the Hospitality Booster menu card
What is the added value for the idea givers?
For the individual idea creators, the concrete added value of the Hospitality Booster is that their idea is advanced and supported all the way to implementation. The Hospitality Booster is your partner to further develop your idea or to provide test customers, workshops or other support.
The additional benefit of the Hospitality Booster can also be seen in its effect as an innovation network. New services, products and processes emerge from the Hospitality Booster, contacts are made, experiences are exchanged and contact is established with the right decision-makers and partners in the industry. In this way, new, efficient and needs-oriented solutions can emerge that create real added value for the industry.
How can I submit my idea, what do I have to do?
The idea can be entered here at any time with a simple, short description or already with a complete concept. One of our Hospitality Booster team members will then contact you, clarify any questions and discuss everything else with you.
What happens after I have entered my idea?
The innovation process of the Hospitality Booster is divided into seven steps, which the respective projects go through. Depending on the maturity of the idea and the type of support from the Hospitality Booster, only some steps are relevant for certain projects. The complete process can be found here.
- Input of idea / need via the Hospitality Booster website, feedback within 48h.
- Initial meeting with Hospitality Booster team member to clarify need, questions and expectations.
- Coaching session with Hospitality Booster team member
- Reality check by the hospitality booster team
- Pitch to the Booster jury (4 times a year) The dates are published on our website.
- Project work accompanied by Hospitality Booster team member
- project completion
Who owns the idea entered?
The idea entered and the results or products that emerge from it always belong to the idea givers. The Hospitality Booster supports the process from the idea to the conclusion of the project as a sparring partner and helps the idea givers on their innovation paths. If the idea does not have a concrete owner, the Hospitality Booster takes over this role.
How can I test my idea?
Thanks to the large network of HotellerieSuisse and the cooperation with various partners in the economy, access to pilot businesses, test customers or other stakeholders can be established quickly and easily. In this way, you receive direct feedback from customers in a short time and can make improvements to your project.
Through the close cooperation with our partner schools, the Hotel Management School Thun and the associated The Lab Hotel, as well as the EHL with the Village de l’innovation, we have the opportunity to put ideas, concepts and projects through their paces and receive honest feedback!
What are the limits of the Hospitality Booster?
We are happy to support all projects and ideas that add value to the industry. However, the Hospitality Booster does not offer direct financial support. However, we will be happy to connect you with suitable partners or agencies and, if necessary, also support you in submitting a funding application.
Who is behind the booster?
The Hospitality Booster is an initiative of HotellerieSuisse, the association of innovative and sustainable accommodation businesses in Switzerland. The project is developed together with the partner schools EHL Group (EHL), Hotelfachschule Thun (HF Thun) and with the involvement of numerous partners from the economy as well as the HotellerieSuisse member businesses. The innovation project is also supported by Innotour, the funding instrument of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).