That was the message from Craig Cochrane, senior vice-president of human resources at Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, who told delegates the firm had created a new advisory board run by millennials to suggest ways to improve how it serves the demographic.

Cochrane said that Movenpick had recognised that despite having a high level of experience within its senior management structure, “[for those] with experience it can sometimes be easy to become jaded and focus on things that can’t be done”.

As a result, he said the company wanted to “tap into a younger mind-set”, with around a quarter of business coming from the millennial market and 40% of its workforce fitting into that age range.

“It’s something new for us and something we are very excited about,” Cochrane said. “It’s not a PR stunt, it’s an open forum that we have gotten a lot out of and is giving us the pushback we need.”

Among the 10-strong board are individuals from Movenpick’s hotel operations, marketing and e-commerce divisions, plus four people from outside the organisation, who not being part of the company “see the hotel business purely as a customer”, according to Cochrane.

He explained that the current cohort were all born after 1985 and that subsequent younger members would be added in future years. “It’s one way of making us as future-proof as possible,” Cochrane added.