Simone Puorto

Simone Puorto is a techno-philosopher, strategic consultant, keynote speaker, and the author of five best-selling books exploring the intersection of technology, artificial intelligence, and hospitality.

With more than 25 years of international experience, he serves as Head of Emerging Trends & Strategic Innovation at Hospitality Net, a leading global platform for hospitality professionals, and serves as a board advisor to more than a dozen global technology companies, including RobosizeME, dAIrect, and E23.

He is the founder of Travel Singularity and Elegia, two boutique consulting firms specialising in AI, digital transformation, and the future of hospitality. He organised the HN Meta Meetup, the world's first hospitality event held entirely in the metaverse, later followed by Polybius, a recurring metaverse series he hosted for Hospitality Net.

Simone lectures in MBA and executive education programmes at leading institutions, including EHL Hospitality Business School and Les Roches, and has published more than 300 articles, academic papers, and ghostwritten works.

His research has introduced several concepts now widely referenced across the hospitality industry, including "Humans-as-Luxury," "Post-Human Hospitality," "Reverse Uncanny Valley" (also known as the "Olympia Effect"), "Lacanian Hospitality," and the "Anthropocentric–Technocentric–Hybrid" Hotels framework.

He also conducts academic research on dark tourism/thanatourism, virtual tourism, and music tourism, exploring the intersections of technology, collective memory, ritual, and cultural heritage. His published papers include "Pilgrimage of Joy: Micro-Ritual Practices in the Cultural Afterlife of Ian Curtis" and "Joy Division and Polaroids from Hell: Photography, Ritual Practices, and Virtual Ghost Tourism in the Fatal Frame Video Game Franchise."

In 2026, he was named one of the Top 100 Digital Thought Leaders in Global Hospitality by the International Hospitality Institute.