NEW YORK – The more than 60 million visitors who travel annually to New York City now have a better way to search and book hotel accommodations in the Big Apple: FindHotels.nyc – a full service, one-stop booking site featuring all of New York City's best hotels.

The new platform, launched this month by the Hotel Association of New York City (HANYC) in partnership with Kognitiv, provides nearly 300 member hotels with a direct-to-consumer platform where they can advertise up-to-the-minute deals on rooms and other attractions, organized by neighborhood and by experience.

"We are breaking new ground with this initiative and there is a high level of excitement within the industry around its potential," said Vijay Dandapani, President & CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City. "With FindHotels.nyc, Kognitiv offers New York City hoteliers a turnkey travel program for the Hotel Association that will better connect customers directly with local hotels instead of passing through third-parties who can sometimes be disreputable or advertise deals that aren't one hundred percent accurate."

The site's launch comes at a time when travelers have more options than ever when booking accommodations – including illegal hotels advertised through home sharing services where customers aren't always made aware of their legality. Most home share listings in New York City are illegal under State Law.

"The FindHotels.nyc platform is the next frontier of our longstanding commitment that guests have the best possible experience when they visit a hotel in the greatest city in the world," Dandapani continued.

Ashwin Kamlani, Executive Vice President of Hospitality at Kognitiv, added, "We are excited to be a part of this new initiative that gives New York City hoteliers their own distribution channel that opens a wealth of opportunities to attract travelers by booking through the Hotel Association, assuring them of quality, credibility and integrity with their choice of accommodations."

Kognitiv's focus is on connecting hotel asset owners with consumer audiences worldwide. Within the HANYC program, Kognitiv will add power to the association's digital advertising campaign by ensuring the HANYC logo is positioned on metasearch engines like Tripadvisor, right next to Expedia, Priceline and others. Kognitiv runs travel programs for major consumer brands, including more than 50 unique destination markets to drive consumers to book on official tourism or hotel association websites.

About the Hotel Association of New York City, Inc.

Serving the Hotel Industry since 1878, the Hotel Association of New York City, Inc. is one of the oldest professional trade associations in the nation. Its founders' mission was to establish an association that would serve as the voice of the hotel industry, supporting its members with the highest standard of services and best available resources. Today the Hotel Association of New York City represents more than 280 of the finest hotels in New York City with more than 80,000 rooms and approximately 50,000 employees. It is an internationally recognized leader in New York City's $5 billion tourism industry.

About Kognitiv

Kognitiv facilitates beneficial trading relationships by directly connecting consumer audiences – via brands, corporations and associations – with the owners of travel assets. Kognitiv clients aspire to gain control over distribution and crucial consumer and market data to increase return on assets and to create tangible and meaningful value for their best consumers.

Holly Settle
Public Relations
434 906-0872