HOTREC, the umbrella association for the European hospitality sector, has elected its leadership for the 2027–2028 term at its 93rd General Assembly, held in Vilnius. The vote closes the association's two-year leadership cycle and fixes who will represent hotels, restaurants and cafés in Brussels through the next mandate.

The General Assembly is HOTREC's highest decision-making body. It convenes the national hospitality associations that make up its membership across Europe, and it holds the authority to elect the president and the board structure that steer the organisation's advocacy between assemblies.

FIPE, the Federazione Italiana Pubblici Esercizi, reported the outcome from Vilnius. Italy's publici esercizi sector, which FIPE represents, sits within the wider membership base that HOTREC draws on when it positions the industry vis-à-vis EU institutions.

What does the vote change?

The election sets the officers and board members who will direct HOTREC's agenda for 2027–2028. That agenda covers the files the association has concentrated on in recent cycles: the operating-cost pressure on hospitality businesses, workforce shortages, digital-booking conditions, and the regulatory flow from Brussels that touches every operator from single-site restaurateurs to pan-European hotel groups.

For operators and investors, the practical significance is continuity of representation. HOTREC acts as the channel through which national associations press sector-specific concerns into EU-level consultation. A newly elected leadership decides priorities, working-group focus and the tone of engagement with the European Commission and Parliament for the term ahead.

The 93rd edition of the assembly marks nearly a century of the format. Each session combines the formal leadership ballot with the association's statutory business: approval of accounts, membership questions and the policy resolutions that guide its positions.

Why Vilnius?

Hosting the assembly in Vilnius places the session in one of the newer EU member states and reflects the association's rotation of venue among its member countries. Lithuania's hospitality market, like those of the Baltic region more broadly, has grown its relevance to European travel flows since accession, and the location signals that the association's centre of gravity includes the east of the bloc, not only the large western markets.

The choice of host city also gives the national association in the host country a platform. Assemblies typically draw delegates from across the membership, along with observers from institutions and partner bodies, for sessions that run from governance matters to policy debate.

What happens next?

The elected leadership takes office for the 2027–2028 term and will set out its priorities in the weeks following the Vilnius vote. Member associations, FIPE among them, will carry the agreed positions back to national level, where they inform lobbying on domestic implementation of EU rules affecting hospitality businesses.

The next General Assembly, in line with the association's cycle, will review the mandate and conduct the subsequent electoral round. Operators tracking EU hospitality policy should watch for the new board's first published positions, which will indicate where the sector's Brussels advocacy concentrates through 2028.