5th Edition of the IPBN Annual Tourism Conference

The Ireland Portugal Business Network (IPBN) is delighted to announce in partnership with Vale do Lobo Golf & Beach Resort the 5th edition of its annual Tourism Conference, taking place on Thursday, October 22nd at WELL Vale do Lobo, from 9h to 13h, followed by a light lunch and networking.

This year’s conference will be bringing together industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and experts from Ireland and Portugal to explore some of the most significant opportunities and challenges facing the sector.

The conference will examine how innovation is changing tourism across three key areas:

• Local Tourism experience – Improve your experience with emphasis on the preservation and the promotion of local products & services. A panel conversation around offering quality assured local Tourism while making a real difference to those who organise and produce it.
• Sport & Leisure activities - A conversation with experts in different disciplines about balancing sport performance with health, wellness, and recovery, including eco-friendly facility management, green event operations, and responsible consumer behaviour.
• Tech - Tourism and AI - Artificial intelligence is transforming rapidly tourism by driving hyper-personalized travel planning, automating back-end hospitality operations, and reshaping destination marketing. Key impacts include intelligent conversational assistants, predictive maintenance for hotels, and data-driven resource management.

The conference will open with keynote perspectives from leading voices in the Algarve.

The conference will bring together IPBN members, Executive Partners, tourism and hospitality professionals, entrepreneurs and key industry stakeholders for a morning of discussion, followed by networking over a light lunch.

Programme (Subject to changes)

0830     Registration and Welcome coffee

0915     Welcome – Geoffrey Graham, Chair of the IPBN Board

0930     Keynote Statement  – Innovation & New challenges of the Tourism Industry – Hernâni Estêvão, General Manager of Vale do Lobo Golf & Beach Resort 

0945     Panel 1 – Local Tourism Experience – A panel conversation around offering quality assured local Tourism experience while making a real difference to those who organise and produce it with guest speakers:

• IPBN Member Jonnie Pratt, Head Chef and Partner at Restaurante Tribulum
• IPBN Member Gerry Fagan, Cofounder NOOVA World ,the first 360° immersive LED multi use event dome 
• IPBN Member Hernâni Estêvão, General Manager of Vale do Lobo Golf & Beach Resort 
• Moderator by IPBN Board Member Sharon Farrell 

1030     Panel 2 – Sport & Leisure – A conversation around Performance, Health, Wellness, Recovery with guest speakers:

• IPBN Member Graham Morgan, Sports/Fitness & Operations at the Campus QdL High Performance Centre
• Richard Hickson, IPBN Board Member, Founder of Apricot.ie and Co-Founder of GAA Portugal
• André Valério, Neroes, Lisbon neurotechnology company. Have worked with professional football squads, elite athletes and corporate teams in Portugal.
• Moderator by IPBN Academic Partner Antonia Correia,  President of KIPt CoLAB and UN Expert 

1115      Sponsors Introductions

1130      Coffee break

1200     Panel 3 – Tourism and AI – This panel conversation will  explore the democratization of AI which allow everyone to develop and execute new ideas and the transformative potential and applications of AI in the Tourism/Hospitality industry with IPBN members and guest speakers:

• IPBN Member Mariana da Rocha, Head of Growth , WitFlow - Demand Orchestration
• IPBN member Tony Judge, Founder & Chief Executive Clubs to Hire
• IPBN Academic Partner Dra Hilal Akdemir, Scientific Director at the KIPT CoLAB, The Hotel of the Future. CROSSTECH explores how digital technologies can support the green and digital transformation of tourism and hospitality.
• Moderated by IPBN Member Carlos Justino, Founder Witflow - Demand Orchestration

1245      Closing Statement – André Gomes, Presidente do Turismo do Algarve 

1300     Networking with light lunch

1400     End

REGISTER TODAY

About our Partners

Vale do Lobo Resort Algarve offers a unique concept in luxury living. 1,500 residential and holiday properties, makes it the largest luxury resort of its kind in Portugal with endless facilities and services in a unique location.

Open since 2021, Well consists of a Beach Club and a Restaurant located at the heart of Vale do Lobo, in the Algarve. Also, we provide beach concessions and watersports facilities with breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean. Ideal for any occasion and group size, this stylish venue overlooking the Vale do Lobo beach is the place to be in the summer. 

As the landscape of property investment evolves, premium investors are shifting their focus from purely financial gains to a more holistic and personalised approach. DDM projects stand as a beacon for those seeking to invest in a destination that offers more than just lucrative real estate but also a fulfilling and purpose-driven life.

About Elite Vinhos. In 2014, after selling part of their business, Christian Vermet and his wife Mary started looking for a new project to work on together. They fell in love with the wine making region of the Alentejo in Portugal and bought Herdade de Ceuta.

They started with 3 hectares of vines and quickly became consumed by viticulture. They became firm friends with their technical advisor Filipe Perdiz and his wife Helena both of whom own vineyards and are qualified winemakers.