Show Director

Ted Horner is Managing Director of E. Horner & Associates, a technology consulting practice specializing in the hospitality industry. Ted is widely regarded as Australia's leading consultant in this area.

Over the last 22 years he has consulted for a variety of clients from developers and international operators of large resorts, boutique hotels golf clubs, convention center‘s and licensed premises.

Ted has been involved in staging a number of conferences and exhibitions for the industry from as early as 1996.

In 2002 he was a founding member of HTNG (Hotel Technology Next Generation) a non-profit body which was established in the US to promote open systems integrations between vendors in the industry and today he is an Executive Advisor to HTNG. In 2004 he was the first non-US person to be elected to the HITEC Technology Hall of Fame for his contribution to the advancement of technology in the hospitality industry

Ted’s mission at the Summit is to raise the level of awareness of technology within the hospitality industry to ensure that it is seen and used properly as an important management tool.

Christian is Strategic advisor and responsible for introducing new business models, technologies and solutions for both guests and employees for all Nordic Choice 220 hotels. He is involved during the incubation and concept phase of new projects and hotel concepts.

He has run several "world first" projects, such as mobile keys, digital guest journey, blockchain inventory, voice assistance (Alexa), project mapping and many other hotel related solutions for staff and guests.  He has had over ten years in hotel operations at many different hotels with the Winn Hotels Group.

In his role as the CTO of RendezVerse - the VR platform for hotels and venues, Steve leads both the R&D and creative teams to build the platform that enables businesses to leverage Virtual, Augmented and Mixed reality tools to make the existing processes more effective as well as seize new opportunities from these emerging technologies.

Prior to joining RendezVerse, Steve founded a software consultancy, DeepSine, which helped FTSE250 companies, as well as start-ups, build complex software solutions - from data-processing pipelines to real-time mass multiplayer gaming platforms.  His team's work has been recognised and featured by media outlets such as The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, NewsWatch TV, TechCrunch and WebSummit.

Jan is CEO & Deputy Chair APAC at Pro-invest Group, focussing on the businesses of the Pro-invest funds and their assets and working closely with the senior management team to maximise the value of the portfolios and is the key representative to increase the hotel portfolios across key industry platforms. In addition to this role, Jan is also Non-Executive Director for Pro-invest, responsible for monitoring of the executive directors and acting in the best interest of the company’s stakeholders.

A 35-year industry expert, Jan was most recently the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) for Asia, Middle East and Africa’s region, responsible for the growth and operations of 300 hotels and resorts in close to 50 countries operating under six globally renowned brands. During his tenure, Jan led a 60,000-strong workforce, launched several brands and created new business models to grow the region into a US$4 billion business. Jan’s knowledge of the hospitality industry spans across multiple functions, including operations, human resources, branding, marketing and risk management. 

Further, Jan is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is part of the Advisory Board for the National University of Singapore.

Simon McGrath AM is the Chief Executive for Arkadia Hospitality Services.

Prior to this Simon was Chief Executive Officer for Crown Sydney and Group Head of Hospitality for Crown Resorts.

From 2019 to 2021 Simon was the Chief Executive Officer for Accor Pacific, responsible for over 397 hotels, 62,276 rooms and 18,000 employees in the region.

Simon has had an extensive and highly respected career having worked in executive management positions in both main cities and iconic leisure destinations throughout Australia. Simon has also worked throughout Asia in key locations including Malaysia and Thailand.

Simon currently sits on a number of Boards including Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF), Aboriginal Hostels Limited (ALH) and Genesis Care.

Simon has played a major advocacy role in advancing Indigenous employment in hospitality and wider economic employment. He has also championed and taken a lead role to greatly improve gender diversity in the tourism sector.

Simon is also a recipient of the Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the promotion of Australian tourism internationally, an accolade bestowed in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List of 2019.

As CEO of Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) and interim CEO of the Accommodation Association (AA) Michael Johnson’s experience within the hotel industry spans over three decades across Australia and New Zealand. Within his current role Michael works closely with both the TAA and AA teams awaiting the amalgamation of the two Associations to be finalised.

Previously in the business of managing four- and five-star business hotels, resorts and tourist attractions Michael shares insight into all facets of the tourism accommodation industry, from operations to senior management.

Michael is a natural ambassador of the hotel industry and is committed to encouraging the next generations to try their hand at building a successful career within the industry, an experience he has found extremely rewarding.

Shane Martin is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Toga Group and TFE Hotels. Shane is also a non-Executive Director of Divvy Parking and has previously been a non-Executive Director of an ASX listed IT services company. 

His diverse career includes previous CIO roles at Mirvac, Stockland, Phillips Fox Lawyers (now part of DLA Piper), ANZ Bank, and QBE Insurance.  Shane has also worked on the ‘IT vendor side’ as a senior executive with EDS Australia (later became HP, then HPE, and now DXC) where he led the outsourced IT services to the Retail Bank of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.  He has experience as an independent consultant, and a technology strategy consultant with Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC). 

Shane commenced his professional career as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy. He has a Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Commerce from UNSW.

Douglas Rice is an industry leader in the global hospitality technology industry. He advises hotels, technology providers, and investors on strategic technology planning, market development, funding, and mergers and acquisitions. Douglas was a founder of HTNG and served as its first chief executive from 2004 to 2015, following 15 years as a strategy consulting advising hotels and technology vendors. Douglas was the 2012 inductee into HFTP’s International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame; is the sole recipient of the Lifetime “Most Valued” Award from China Hospitality Technology Alliance; and was recognized in a Hotel Business cover story as one of the most influential technology executives in hospitality. He is been a frequent speaker at industry conferences around the world and has authored dozens of published articles. Douglas earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Mathematics at Dartmouth College and an MBA with highest distinction from Harvard Business School.