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IHIF EMEA 2026: Berlin at the Heart of the Branded Residences Frontier

Stella Manferdini

Events

21.02.26

Keywords:

Hospitality , Investments , Berlin

From 23 to 25 March 2026, Berlin becomes a meeting point for the people shaping hospitality’s next chapter. At the International Hospitality Investment Forum EMEA (IHIF EMEA), held at the InterContinental Berlin and the Pullman Berlin Schweizerhof, conversations move fluidly between capital, creativity and long-term strategy.

For more than 25 years, IHIF EMEA has been a barometer for the European hospitality market. Not simply reflecting change, but helping to interpret and direct it. The 2026 edition will bring together over 2,500 delegates, including more than 700 investors representing a combined $581 billion in assets under management. Across three days and more than 190 speakers, the focus will be clear: how to rethink returns and redefine value in a market that is both more complex and more opportunity-rich than ever.

Design Courier is proud to be a Media Partner once again this year. Readers heading to Berlin can enjoy 10% off the All Access pass using code 26DESIGNCOURIER10 at registration via this link.

IHIF EMEA 2025 ©Simon Callaghan

That evolution is particularly visible in one of the most anticipated elements of the 2026 programme: BxR EMEA (Brand x Residential). Dedicated entirely to branded residences, this focused track on 23 March explores a segment that is rapidly gaining sophistication in Europe.

Rather than treating branded residences as an extension of hotels, BxR EMEA approaches them as a standalone asset class – one that sits at the crossroads of real estate development, global branding and private living. Through case studies and roundtable discussions, participants will unpack how projects take shape in practice: selecting the right brand, structuring agreements, aligning developer and operator interests, and managing residences over the long term.

IHIF EMEA 2025

Contributors include Brian Betel (ASG Iberia), Enrique Benjumea (Blasson), Wiebke Stahl (Bugatti International), Enrico Erba Springorum (Giorgio Armani), Mitra Ghamsari (Persepolis Investments) and Giovanni de Niederhausern (Pininfarina). Together, they represent the spectrum of voices that define this sector — from institutional capital to design-driven global brands.

The conversations are expected to move between contrasts: the fast-paced growth of the Middle East and the measured expansion of Europe; the discipline of deal structuring and the creative power of brand identity; the expectations of residents and the financial imperatives of investors. In that tension lies the real story of branded residences today.

IHIF EMEA 2026, in this sense, is less about declarations and more about direction. It offers a space where data meets design, capital meets concept, and where the future of hospitality, increasingly intertwined with residential living, is examined with both pragmatism and imagination.