Press Releases

April 25, 2014

HITEC 2014 Exhibit Space Sold Out

Exhibit space for the 2014 Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC®), a service of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®), is sold out. A waiting list is available on a first-come, first-served basis for booth space. HITEC 2014 is June 23-26 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, Calif. USA.

Pyramid Global Hospitality

April 18, 2014

Benchmark Hospitality Int'l Announces “Top 10 Travel Trends for 2014”

Benchmark Hospitality International®, a leading U.S.-based hospitality management company, announces the "Top Ten Travel Trends for 2014" as observed through a survey of the company’s extensive database of professional travel agents. In a Benchmark-commissioned study, over 20,000 travel professionals were provided a comprehensive survey on consumer and business travel in 2014, for review and submission to an independent market research firm for compilation and analysis. Hospitality industry experts domestically and internationally, Benchmark introduced two of the hotel industry’s newest consumer brands in February: the Personal Luxury Resorts & Hotels® and the Benchmark Resorts & Hotels® collections.

April 11, 2014

Jeanne Blair, CHTP to be Honored at HITEC 2014 as CHTP of the Year

Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals(HFTP®) will honor Jeanne Blair, CHTP as the 2014Certified Hospitality Technology Professional(CHTP) of the Year atHITEC2014. The CHTP of the Yearhonors the individual that scored the highest on the CHTP certification exam in a given year. HITEC 2014 will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, June 23 – 26, 2014 in Los Angeles, Calif.

April 7, 2014

HITEC 2014 Warns of Pirate Housing Groups

Along with its efforts to prevent pirate exhibitors from devaluing the conference,Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals(HFTP®) is educatingHITEC2014 attendees about housing pirates. A housing pirate is an unauthorized housing provider that may approach exhibitors and attendees with fraudulent offerings of hotel rooms, request credit card information for "existing" reservations and provides false information regarding extended show dates. Only the officialHITEC Housing Bureaucan guarantee room reservations. To ensure attendees have time to make hotel room reservations, the HITEC Housing Bureau is deadline is May 23.

March 20, 2014

Former Google CIO to Open HITEC 2014

Former Google CIO, Douglas Merrill will address the 2014 Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC®) attendees during the opening session on the relevant topics of organizational security and data protection. Merrill will speak to on Monday, June 23 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, Calif. In addition, HITEC has secured two other experts to give keynote presentations later in the week.

Ernest - Lighthouse's AI for hoteliers

March 11, 2014

HOTEC Operations and Technology Closes on High Note, 2015 Dates Announced

The 11th annual HOTEC Operations & Technology event, produced by Questex Hospitality + Travel, came to a successful close after hosting more than 675 one-to-one meetings among 100 leading buyers and suppliers of operations and technology products from key sectors of the hospitality industry.

Questex

New York, United States

Ad AI Hospitality

"Just tell me why my weekend pickup dropped." With Ernest, now you can ask your commercial data anything, and act on the answer.

Lighthouse

Ad Be seen. Be trusted.

Why Hospitality Net Leads B2B in Hospitality

Learn what makes us the industry-leader in what we do.

Hospitality Net

February 19, 2014

Nominations Sought for Distinguished Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame

For more than two decades Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) has honored innovative individuals behind technology-driven developments in the hospitality industry with the International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame. The association continues this tradition by accepting nominations for the 2014 honoree. The newest inductee will be recognized at a Keynote session of HITEC 2014 (Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference®) in Los Angeles, Calif.

February 13, 2014

AH&LA Joins Merchant, Financial Services Associations in Cybersecurity Partnership

Today leading trade associations representing the merchant and financial services industries announced a new cybersecurity partnership. The partnership will focus on exploring paths to increased information sharing, better card security technology, and maintaining the trust of customers. Discussion regarding the partnership was initiated by the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and the Financial Services Roundtable (FSR), joined by the American Bankers Association (ABA), the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), The Clearing House (TCH), the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA), the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), the National Associations of Convenience Stores (NACS), the National Grocers Association (NGA), the National Restaurant Association (NRA), and the National Retail Federation (NRF).

AH&LA

February 13, 2014

Cruise Inn RV Parks Brand Recognized as Most Innovative Concept in the Hospitality Industry

Newly launched Cruise Inn RV Parks℠ was recently recognized as one of the most innovative and new concepts in the hospitality industry during the American Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS), held from January 27-29 in Los Angeles. With over 2,500 attendees, ALIS is the leading and largest hotel investment conference in the world.

Cruise Inn

February 3, 2014

White Lodging releases additional information about data breach investigation

Officials of White Lodging Services Corporation, an independent hotel management company, announce the suspected breach of point of sales systems from the periodMarch 20 - December 16, 2013 at food and beverage outlets, such as restaurants and lounges, at 14 properties. In addition, there was one property where the point of sale system and property management system used at the front desk were also suspected as affected.

White Lodging

January 24, 2014

Online Registration and Housing Bureau Open for HITEC 2014

Attendee registrationand theHousing Bureaufor the 2014 Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC®) are now available online atHITEC.org. HITEC 2014, a service of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®), is the world's largest hospitality technology exposition and conference. The conference is June 23-26 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, Calif., USA.

November 25, 2013

Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos Debuts "The Sound of Your Stay®"

Hard Rock International – with hotel locations from Bali to Cancun, San Diego to Singapore and Chicago to Macau – announces the brand-wide debut of mix., an in-room DJ experience and the latest component of Hard Rock's global all-encompassing music amenity program, The Sound of Your Stay®, available now at all 17 Hotels & Casinos around the globe. Boldly recognized for its ability to provide inimitable and unforgettable encounters, Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos now offers guests the chance to be a part of the EDM movement and turn a hotel room into a mega club. While matching beats like a pro, Hard Rock fans enjoy multi-effects that skip and bend even the most familiar songs into new shapes with complementary high quality, professional equipment delivered in-room.

Hard Rock

September 6, 2013

HFTP Extends the Next Version of GUESTROOM 20X

Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) announces an extension to the GUESTROOM 20X project schedule. A new version of the special exhibit was set to debut at the 2014 Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC®), which displays the hospitality industry's most innovative technologies for the guestroom. Instead it will be moved to a future date to allow time for the development of a wider range of game changing guest technologies. The most recent version was shown at HITEC 2012 in Baltimore, Md.

Why Hospitality Net Leads B2B in Hospitality

Ad Be seen. Be trusted.

Learn what makes us the industry-leader in what we do.

Hospitality Net

July 24, 2013

Experience a night in the sky with the new $50,000 floating bounce house hotel package from Denver’s Curtis – a Doubletree by Hilton

Stay the night suspended more than 22 feet in the air in "the hotel rehearsal," an inflatable hotel room that features a bed, a couch and a small bathroom with a shower, sink and toilet. The "hotel rehearsal," is an architectural art installation by artist Alex Schweder that was created as part of the Biennial of Americas. It will be moving around downtown Denver now through Aug. 23.

Hilton

Denver, Colorado, United States

Smith Micro Software, Inc.

June 25, 2013

Infographic - Convenient Access to Mobile Content Increasingly Important to Consumers Booking Hotels

According to a nationwide survey, 81 percent of travelers desire access to mobile video content at hotels, and 55 percent indicate the availability of mobile content influences their hotel or resort selection process. Additionally, over half of consumers bring tablets with them while traveling, up 18 percent from the same survey conducted last year. The new survey results underscore the need for the hospitality industry to advance guest engagement via consumers' own mobile devices, and increase revenue by offering them on-demand entertainment access.

May 31, 2013

Designs on the Future – Big Ideas Become Reality at Marriott Hotels' New “Underground” Innovation Lab

Marriott Hotels, the flagship brand of Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR), today announced the opening of a new 10,000 square foot Innovation Lab located beneath the company's headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland. The Innovation Lab offers rapid prototyping with instant feedback capabilities, bird's eye views from Internet-enabled cameras, and multiple avenues for customer participation.

Marriott

April 25, 2013

H.I.G. Capital Acquires Pegasus Financial Services from Pegasus Solutions, Inc.

H.I.G. Capital, LLC, a leading global private equity investment firm, is pleased to announce that its affiliate has completed the acquisition of Pegasus Financial Services (“PFS” or the “Company”), the world’s largest processor of commissions paid by hotels to travel agencies, from Pegasus Solutions, Inc.

H.I.G. Capital

April 9, 2013

NFC: In the Hotel Industry

Do you know what NFC is? It is not National Football Conference if that's what you were thinking. NFC stands for Near-Field Communications, an application used through mobile devices to transmit data at close proximity. Check out the picture below for a visual on how an NFC works. Although this technology is still new, leaving a large portion of the market untapped; NFC has proven thus far its abilities to enhance ways in which consumers make transactions, exchange content, connect to other devices and much more.

Milestone Inc.

Santa Clara, California, United States

March 29, 2013

Choice Hotels International Launches New Division to Market Hotel Operating Systems Industry-Wide

Choice Hotels International Inc. (NYSE: CHH), one of the world's largest hotel companies, today announced the launch of SkyTouch Technology, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based technology products to help hoteliers industry-wide improve their efficiency and profitability. SkyTouch Technology launches with the market introduction of SkyTouch Hotel OS, a new property and rate management solution that draws on Choice's award-winning choiceADVANTAGE property management system for handling reservations, guest stays and rates on any device with an Internet connection.

Choice