Simone Puorto

Simone Puorto is a techno-philosopher, strategic consultant, keynote speaker, and the author of five bestselling 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 as a board adviser to more than a dozen global technology companies, including RobosizeME and dAIrect.

He is the founder of Travel Singularity and Elegia, two boutique consulting firms specialising in digital transformation and the future of hospitality.

An early adopter of podcasting in the hospitality industry, in 2019 he launched “Digital: The Top Ten Travel News Stories of the Week. Day In, Day Out”, a weekly recap of the most important developments in travel and technology.

In 2022, he organised the HN Meta Meetup, the world’s first hospitality event held entirely in virtual reality, followed by Polybius, a recurring metaverse series that he hosted for two years.

Simone lectures in MBA and executive education programmes at leading institutions, including EHL and Les Roches, and has published more than 300 articles and academic papers, in addition to numerous 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”, the “Olympia Effect”, “Lacanian Hospitality”, and the “Anthropocentric–Technocentric–Hybrid Hotels” framework.

He also conducts academic research on music tourism and dark tourism. His published work includes “Ghosts in the Suite: Automation, Identity, and the Disappearing Human in the Hotel Room”, “Pilgrimage of Joy”, and “Polaroids from Hell: Photography, Ritual Practices, and Virtual Ghost Tourism in the Fatal Frame Video Game Franchise”.

His new book, “A Cactus in a Dead Land: Pilgrimage and Ritual in the Cultural Afterlife of Ian Curtis and Joy Division (and the Forgotten Story of Cornelia F.)”, containing previously unpublished information about the posthumous history of the post-punk band Joy Division, will be published in October 2026.

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