HITEC Minneapolis Gathers Thousands of Hospitality Professionals to Cover a Full Range of Hospitality Technology Solutions
The annual event offers an educational program, exhibit hall and networking events
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) last week closed another successful HITEC, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota in its 47th year. Produced annually by HFTP, the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC®) showcases the industry's latest innovations and provides a top-notch education program for attendees. This year 6,073 attendees participated, with 392 exhibiting companies in 888 booths set up in the exhibit hall. HITEC Minneapolis took place from June 17-20, 2019 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Highlights of the event were three distinguished keynote/general sessions. Capping the first day was the HITEC Minneapolis Opening Keynote presentation by Chris Riddell, an award winning global futurist and industry recognized inspirational keynote speaker on emerging trends in our hyper connected world. The following morning was a revealing general session, "Technology Talk in the C-suite: 2020 and Beyond." The session illuminated where top hotel brands are placing priority in their technology strategies, with a panel moderated by Chip Rogers, president and CEO of AHLA. The panel featured: Ken Greene, president, Americas for Radisson Hotel Group; Greg Mount, president and CEO of RLH Corp.; and Peter Strebel, president of Omni Hotels & Resorts. Concluding HITEC Minneapolis was a presentation by Jon Picard, "The Digital Transformation of Sustainability: A Conversation at the Edge of Now."
In addition, a full program of concurrent education sessions was on the schedule covering trending topics including: data security and regulations, IT initiatives, AI, the sharing economy, distribution and more. Other educational opportunities were available on the show floor, including the non-sales oriented exhibitor tutorials and quick, 15-minute Tech Talks.
The Entrepreneur 20X (E20X) Minneapolis innovation competition for hospitality startups featured 8 startups, an expert panel of five judges and 9 industry mentors who coached the entrepreneurs before their four-minute pitch. TraknProtect won the E20X Judge's Award grand prize of $5,000 USD, and SABA Hospitality Technology Solutions was chosen by conference attendees - via the HFTP Multi-event app - as the E20X People's Choice Award winner.
Two hospitality technology industry leaders were recognized and awarded at HITEC Minneapolis: 2019 HFTP International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame recipient Sudharshan Chary, co-founder and president of Datavision Technologies; and 2019 CHTP of the Year recipient Shareef Fahmy, CHAE, CHTP, assistant director of finance for the Portola Hotel & Spa in Monterey, California.
This year also featured the inaugural Women in Hospitality Technology Luncheon, presented by HFTP and the HFTP Foundation. The luncheon presented a moderated panel of female technology professionals discussing industry challenges and those the women have faced due to working in a male-dominated field. The presentation was moderated by Donna Hale, principal consultant with 5P Consulting. Hale interviewed the panelists: Ashley Allard, manager of creative marketing for SafetyNetAccess; Kristen Gassick, CHTP, corporate IT director of Enchantment Group; and Monika Nerger, CIO of Mandarin Oriental and an inductee to the HFTP International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame.
HFTP is already getting ready for next year's HITEC San Antonio scheduled for June 15-18, 2020 in San Antonio, Texas USA, with 78 percent of the exhibit space already reserved. In addition, HFTP has several upcoming events. The HFTP Annual Convention is October 23-25 at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida USA. HITEC Dubai will take place November 12-13 at the Festival Arena in Festival City Dubai in Dubai, UAE. And HITEC Europe is April 21-23, 2020 at Palau de Congressos in Palma (Mallorca) Spain. For more information about HFTP's international events, visit www.hftp.org and www.hitec.org or contact the HFTP Meetings & Special Events Department at [email protected].
View photos from HITEC Minneapolis.
About HFTP
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®), established in 1952, is a hospitality nonprofit association headquartered in Austin, Texas USA with offices in the EU and Middle East. HFTP is recognized as the spokes group for the finance and technology segments of the hospitality industry with an international network of members and stakeholders. HFTP uniquely understands the industry's pressing issues, and assists its stakeholders in finding solutions to their challenges more efficiently than any organization. HFTP offers expert networks, educational resources, career development programs, research, leadership opportunities and conferences and events. HFTP produces international events throughout the year, including the world's largest hospitality technology tradeshow and conference brand: HITEC. In addition, it oversees the hospitality-specific Pineapplesearch.com® and the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI). For more information about HFTP, visit www.hftp.org. For the latest news, visit the HFTP News page at news.hftp.org and the HFTP Connect blog at blog.hftp.org.
Eliza Selig
Staff VP, Marketing and Communications
+1 512 220 4026
HFTP
