Mövenpick Hotel & Residences Kvarner Bay: A new premium MICE destination in Kvarner
HOW Festival, the leading regional hospitality festival that gathers more than 500 hoteliers from across the region every year, is holding its tenth anniversary edition from 28 to 30 October 2026 at the newly opened Mövenpick Hotel & Residences Kvarner Bay in Novi Vinodolski. Under the theme "Lead. Innovate. Repeat." the tenth HOW does not look back, but asks who is leading the next decade of hospitality and what they need to achieve it.
The location is not accidental either. The newly opened Mövenpick Hotel & Residences Kvarner Bay is the first Mövenpick resort on the Adriatic; a year-round destination featuring 198 rooms and suites and 304 residential apartments, part of an investment worth more than 250 million euros. The largest regional gathering of hoteliers is thus being held precisely where the industry is currently writing its next chapter.
In ten years, HOW has grown into a place where the regional hotel industry truly meets: general managers, department heads, corporate department heads and executive board members; people who lead the industry in practice. It is precisely this community that is the reason why HOW is entering its second decade. That is why this anniversary edition is a celebration, but also a structural leap forward: an investment in the people who will lead this industry tomorrow.
Two major novelties - mentorship programme and award ceremony
The central novelty of the tenth edition is the Mentorship programme - a structured programme connecting experienced hotel industry leaders with young professionals ready for the next step. This programme was developed in collaboration with EHMA (European Hotel Managers Association), based on their well-established model, and is primarily focused on the systematic transfer of knowledge from the generation that built the industry to the generation taking it over. The Mentorship programme is precisely that bridge.
The programme will be officially launched at the festival on 29 October, and mentorship pairs will continue their collaboration throughout the year; through regular meetings, concrete professional challenges and access to a network that is usually built over decades. Applications for mentees are open via the website howfestival.com.
The second novelty, an award that changes the industry and the career of one young person taking it over, will be announced in the coming days.
Three days of programme
The three-day programme is a continuation of the changes introduced back in 2025 - a large number of keynote presentations by international guests, panels and practical masterclasses with local and international leaders; from leading regional hotel groups such as Maistra Hospitality Group, Aminess Hotels & Resorts, Terme Sveti Martin, to names from companies like Aman Group, Numa Hotels and EHL Hospitality Business School. Alongside the official programme, HOW remains faithful to what the industry knows it for: networking, energy and a charitable aspect. This year, proceeds from the welcome evening will once again be donated to a local charitable organisation.
"The tenth year is a major anniversary, but we are treating it as another fresh start. Everything that HOW has become is thanks to this industry, and the best way to give back to it is to invest in the people who are taking it over," stated Marina Franolić, founder of the HOW Festival.
Registrations and the preliminary programme are available at www.howfestival.com.
