The first international conference "Digital Solutions in HoReCa 2026" was held in Moscow

The first international annual conference "Digital Solutions in HoReCa 2026" was held in Moscow on March 26. The event was organized by the leading business conference operator TMT Conference, the Telesputnik portal and IA Telecom Daily.

The strategic partner of the conference was the national satellite television operator Tricolor. MANGO OFFICE, one of the largest suppliers of SaaS solutions for business communications and a leading player in the UC market, took part in the exhibition.

At the visionaries' plenary discussion "Technological Trends of the FeRrEt 2026", the speakers discussed how technological transformation has become a key factor determining the future of the hotel and restaurant business, and why the introduction of modern digital solutions has become not just a desirable, but a necessary step for success in the market. The participants also discussed cloud solutions, which play an important role in optimizing business processes, allowing them to manage resources more efficiently and reduce costs. The professionals discussed examples of how digitalization affects personnel management and customer experience, as well as how telecom operators can support small and medium-sized businesses by providing access to modern technologies. The discussion was moderated by Vitaly Arbuzov, Public Commissioner for IT and Digitalization of the city of Moscow.

Alexander Biba, President of Cosmos Hotel Group, restaurateur and founder of the Ruki Up federal chain, Nebar, SPLETNI by Anna ASTI, and others spoke at the plenary discussion. Pavel Chesnokov, Director of Marketing, Communications and Development of joint projects at Novikov Group & Family Garden Alexander Kroitor, co-owner and Chief Operating Officer of the CIDER Group bar holding and the Be better bar mobile service Vasilisa Volkova and head of the digital product development team at Cofix Global Alexey Klots.

To date, there are a number of problems in the hospitality industry that have not yet been fully resolved: payment services and communications, said Alexander Biba. "Foreign guests who come to us cannot pay with foreign bank cards anywhere. We are currently actively working on this together with our partners: the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, various banks, so that we can comfortably pay via QR codes, links, etc. So far there is no convenient and familiar solution for us," he said, adding that the issue of the operability of SIM cards has not yet been resolved. foreign guests.

Other speakers also added that the industry has recently been negatively affected by the shutdown of the mobile Internet, the restriction of Telegram and popular social networks, which were key tools of business processes and powerful channels for promoting viral projects.

Against the background of these events, the importance of a stable telecom service for market players is becoming especially important. At the conference, several participants praised the collaboration and spoke warmly about MANGO OFFICE, an ecosystem of digital products for business communications.

At the case session "On Innovations and Telecom Solutions", experts analyzed real-world examples of the implementation of telecom solutions in the FERRET industry and analyzed which technologies provide the maximum return on investment, how to avoid typical mistakes during digitalization, and which integrations create an effective ecosystem for hotels and restaurants. The participants shared successful and unsuccessful cases, explained how to properly build a digital infrastructure, reduce costs and improve the quality of services using modern telecom tools. The moderator of the discussion was Yulianna Chuprova, Program Director of the Digital Solutions in HoReCa 2026 conference.

Speakers at the session included Kirill Fedulov, founder of Okdesk, Neil Mikhailyuk, Head of Marketing at Evgenich, and Head of Information Technology at QSR Capital (the holding manages more than a hundred restaurants in Belarus, including KFC, Cofix, and Yes!Burger) Dmitry Perlin and Alexey Klots, Head of the Digital Product Development Team at Cofix Global.

The speakers shared their own cases and successes. So, in the Cofix network, artificial intelligence took the work with customer reviews to a new level, not only reducing the response time, but also prioritized the tone of the reviews and acted as a moderator of the finished response. "If it used to take 7000 minutes to respond, now it takes 1-2 minutes, that is, responses to reviews are generated almost instantly. And then the second important part begins. Artificial intelligence should understand whether it is necessary to create a ticket. And when the employee responsible for this decision is responsible in the ticket system, artificial intelligence reads what the guest wrote, what was the subject of the request and what is discussed in the response. And if there is no solution to the problem in the company's response, it is an unsubscription, then the ticket is immediately returned back," said Alexey Klots.

Speakers of the Smart Spaces session: how technology is changing the physical environment of the FERRET" discussed how digital technologies can change the approach to restaurant management, when working with staff and business analytics, and automatic ordering systems through self-service kiosks, QR codes and voice assistants have simplified customer interaction. The moderator of the discussion track was Alexander Bershadsky, Director of Business Development at GoodWAN.

We talked about the trends at this session: Domina Group CIO Vitaly Davydov, CEO of Russia's first digital restaurant Igristye Ekaterina Sharikova, partner of the Data Insight research agency Fedor Virin, founder of Innocluds Alexander Buravtsov, Development Director and Head of the BatanovPlus Management Competence Center Julianna Matusevich and IT Director of the Rybnaya Manufaktura restaurant chain Maxim Egorov.

The speakers noted that the introduction of digital technologies makes it possible to increase the average check, increase the number of additional sales and reduce personnel costs. The example of the Sparkling restaurant is illustrative, the concept of which is based on the use of interactive touch pad tables that serve to entertain visitors, perform the function of an electronic menu and feedback service.

"The effect of implementing our digital solutions is that staff costs have been reduced by up to 30%, and the average receipt is growing by 15% without the human factor due to impulse purchases and recommendations. We save on marketing because we know which advertising channels are really working for us. All this naturally affects the growth of profitability, and now we are ready to enter the franchisee business," Ekaterina Sharikova said.

The conference was attended by more than 130 people, including representatives of the professional community and leading industry experts. The high level of organization of the event was noted by both the guests and the speakers. The importance and prestige of the Digital Solutions in HoReCa 2026 conference is confirmed by the active participation of key market players. This indicates the high interest of the industry in the format of interaction and the relevance of holding this event next year.