Guests do not travel to the Maldives for the restaurants, yet in a captive island environment F&B makes or breaks the experience. Six structural shifts are reshaping how ultra-luxury properties approach their F&B programmes.

A quiet arms race is underway in the world's luxury residential markets, and it is not about square footage or views. It is about the clubhouse, where F&B has become the primary differentiator most developers still treat as an afterthought.

The hospitality industry has spent a decade searching for a technological silver bullet. Yet the guest experience has not improved. The problem is not that technology has failed, but that the industry reached for it before understanding what was broken.

The British pub has survived plagues, wars, recessions and the invention of the sofa. But survival in 2026 is no longer sufficient. Six observable shifts are separating the pubs that lead from those that lag.

Something structural is happening in European foodservice. Operators of every size are concluding that producing food from scratch in every kitchen, every day, is no longer viable at scale. The response is central production, and the gap between success and failure is almost entirely execution.

James Hacon reflects on family travel, children’s dining and hotel experience design, drawing on stays at Auchrannie Resort, Royal Caribbean, Great Wolf Lodge and others to explore why family-centred hospitality is a commercial strategy, not an afterthought.

At Nova SBE's Female Empowerment Workshop in Lisbon, Think Hospitality Consulting joined global hospitality leaders and researchers to explore the future of leadership, inclusion and organisational culture across hospitality and tourism. Founder & Managing Partner James Hacon opened the event with a keynote examining outdated leadership models, operational realities within hospitality and why the industry must move from awareness to meaningful action.

At Restaurant Marketer & Innovator, James Hacon sat down with Markus Thesleff to explore the realities of building and scaling multi-concept hospitality brands in today’s market. From the rise of Los Mochis and the reinvention of heritage concepts to international expansion, experiential dining and hospitality as entertainment, the conversation unpacked why the future of hospitality belongs to brands capable of creating culture, emotional connection and unforgettable experie

At Restaurant Marketer & Innovator, Michael Ingemann sat down with Duncan Stirling to explore why experiential hospitality continues to outperform in an attention-driven world. From immersive storytelling and nostalgia-led concepts to “world building”, absurdity and customer psychology, the conversation unpacked how brands including Cahoots, Mr Fogg's and Bunga 90 are creating emotionally memorable experiences that go far beyond food and drink.

At this year’s Restaurant Marketer & Innovator, Heleri Rande hosted a forward-looking discussion exploring one of hospitality’s fastest growing movements: the convergence of wellness, community and social experience. Joined by leaders from across hospitality, lifestyle and wellness-led concepts, the panel unpacked how changing consumer behaviour is transforming what people now expect from restaurants, bars, clubs, hotels and social spaces. The discussion featured: Chris Mille