Hospitality – Il Salone dell’Accoglienza, Italy’s leading international trade fair for hôtellerie and catering, organized by Riva del Garda Fierecongressi, is all aboutinclusion, the language of tomorrow’s hospitality. The event wishes to give visibility to those who are already transforming this vision into concrete experience by launching a new initiative to give voice and value to projects that break down physical, sensory, cognitive, food and cultural barriers and make tourism truly open to all.
The contest was born in collaboration with WMF – We Make Future, Italy’s largest exhibition dedicated to digital innovation, and the winning reality will have the opportunity to participate in both events by telling their stories: they will take the stage at the next Of the WMF Festival 2025, scheduled to take place at BolognaFiere June 4-6, to present their project during the official awards ceremony and will have access to networking opportunities with professionals and stakeholders from around the world; they will also be starring in the 50th edition of Hospitality – The Hospitality Show, staged in Riva del Garda February 2 to 5, 2026.
Giovanna Voltolini, Exhibition Manager of Hospitality comments, “We welcomed with great enthusiasm the opportunity offered by WMF – We Make Future to bring the Hospitality Award – Inclusivity and Hospitality to life, an award that aims to highlight projects that are already operational or at an advanced stage of implementation that promote truly accessible hospitality.”
He adds, ” The goal is to reward innovative ideas with a strong impact on the sector, sustainable and replicable, accompanied by effective storytelling. All facilities in the tourism sector, from hotels and non-hotels to restaurants, caterers, campsites or spas, are invited to present solutions, services and initiatives capable of improving the guest experience by speaking the language of inclusion “.
Contest participation and evaluation
All establishments in the tourism sector, from hotels and non-hotels to restaurants, caterers, campsites or spas, are eligible to participate, and applications are open until May 2025 at this link.
Nominations are evaluated by a panel of experts in hospitality, accessibility, inclusive design and communication, including Roberto Vitali, CEO and co-founder of Village for all – V4A, a company specializing in Accessible Hospitality.
Four criteria by which they will be examined:
- concrete impact on accessibility and inclusiveness for guests;
- Degree of technological, managerial or experiential innovation;
- Sustainability and replicability of the proposed model;
- Quality of project communication.
The “Hospitality Award – Inclusivity and Hospitality” is part of Hospitality’s broader commitment to hospitality for all, and of which the “Startup for Hospitality” contest , carried out during the last edition of the Fair, and the multi-year DI OGNUNO project, which will also be proposed again at the We Make Future Festival in Bologna, are part. DI OGNUNO is Hospitality’s initiative dedicated to accessible hospitality, developed in collaboration with Lombardini22 and Village for all – V4A, which since 2024, in each edition of the Fair, has proposed concrete ideas in this area to the HoReCa world.
The 2025 edition focused on the Breakfast Room, proposing with an experience between comfort and discomfort that the WMF Festival audience will also be able to experience, touching on how targeted design solutions can enhance different dietary, physical and cognitive needs.
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