The International MICE & Wedding Forum (IMWF), held at Regnum Carya, not only offers its participants inspiring speeches and sectoral exchanges, but also lays the foundations of strategic collaborations that will shape the global business world.

Speaking at the panel titled “Destination Turkey, a Transformative and Insightful Conversation”, Reto Moser, General Manager of Four Seasons Hotels Istanbul, stated that he is passionate about Türkiye's culinary culture as a chef and said: "There are very few countries and very few cuisines in the world that are so diverse, so unique, so fragrant. Turkey's cuisine is obviously a melting pot of many different cultures that have passed through here, different empires that have passed through here, influences from the Silk Road, and I think that makes it very interesting, especially for the Indian destination. Because it's a great cuisine culturally. In the same way, Türkiye's cultural history is unique. Whether it's Ottoman or Roman, all these cultures have influenced the history and culture of Türkiye. And in Istanbul you have a beautiful mix of all this history. And that helps a lot in organizing modern world-class cultural events, whether it's concerts or museums. So when it comes to cuisine and culture, there are very few countries with such a strong diversity."

Emphasizing that all the hotels in Türkiye have a great technological infrastructure, Moser said: "As a company in Istanbul, we have the extraordinary ability to bring all kinds of technology from around the world that our guests know or are used to and make it available to our clients. So while Four Seasons is still the hotel that offers a more personalized experience, we are getting more and more requests and requests for hybrid meetings. I think that's going to continue, it's a trend that the pandemic has brought and it's shown us that it's actually easy to do a lot of these things hybrid and you don't have to fly the whole company around the world for an event. I think that's a big step forward."

Pointing out the importance of artificial intelligence in the use of technology, Moser said, "A few years ago artificial intelligence was nowhere to be found and now it is everywhere. For us, AI has two big advantages. It helps us manage our properties better. So it helps us reduce energy consumption, reduce service consumption, make the way we manage properties more efficient. So financially sustainability. The other very important part is of course the guest experience. For us at Four Seasons, AI is only there to support our people to deliver better, more accurate, more relevant guest experiences. So it's not here to take things away. AI helps our people to have all the information for our guests at their fingertips at all times. It helps us do routine tasks that are not related to the guest experience. But that takes a lot of time for our people to have more time to connect with guests and really deliver those unique guest experiences. Because ultimately hospitality is all about people and the human element. I think and I hope AI doesn't take that away from us. I think that's what makes it so special. Turkey has a very long and strong tradition in this regard. It's part of the culture, hospitality, how we connect with guests, how we take care of guests. It's not just a service, it's a culture. So artificial intelligence helps us, but it does not provide a guest experience for us."