(September 27, 2016) DUBAI, UAE — Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) is a global hospitality association responsible for organizing the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition & Conference (HITEC®), the world’s leading hospitality technology event. In partnership with Naseba, a business facilitation company based in Dubai, HFTP will now be bringing HITEC to the Middle East for the very first time.
The most recent edition of HITEC in New Orleans, Louisiana USA gathered 6,395 hospitality professionals representing 65 countries. The conference hosted over 106 speakers in daily education sessions, and 867 exhibition booths showcasing the latest products and services of 342 exhibiting companies.
HITEC has become a must-attend event for every major stakeholder and decision maker in the global hospitality industry. Now, with the introduction of HITEC Dubai, the platform will become accessible to buyers from the lucrative Middle Eastern tourism and hospitality market, currently worth over 75 billion USD.
With occupancy rates and REVPar in the Middle East climbing to some of the highest levels seen worldwide since the 2008 global financial crisis, hotels in the region are fighting to distinguish themselves from competitors. Many are choosing to do so by offering a superior guest experience shaped by the latest technology and digital services.
However, the region provides very few platforms for Middle Eastern hospitality buyers to meet world-class vendors of technology and finance solutions. Naseba’s Hotel Technology Summit, organised in partnership with HFTP for the past three years, is one such platform. And now HITEC Dubai will provide an enhanced way for Middle Eastern hoteliers to do business with technology companies from around the world.
In addition to the exhibition format seen at HITEC in the U.S., HITEC Dubai will feature a summit with one-to-one business meetings that have become the hallmark of Naseba’s platforms. Hoteliers attending the summit portion of HITEC Dubai will be pre-qualified to confirm their purchasing authority, budgets, timelines and solutions of interest. For participating technology and finance companies, HITEC Dubai will therefore combine the best of two worlds: thought leadership and reaching the right buyers.
The education sessions that have proven so popular at past editions of HITEC will also be a staple of HITEC Dubai, with experts from around the globe sharing key insights into the tech trends and transformations shaping today’s global hospitality market.
“Over the past four and a half decades, HFTP has built an extensive network of global industry leaders that come together each year for HITEC, an unparalleled hospitality technology event,” said HFTP CEO Frank Wolfe, CAE. “In effort to accommodate HFTP’s expanding global audiences, HFTP and Naseba will bring HITEC to the Middle East for the first time. HFTP is pleased to continue its successful alliance with Naseba, and we are confident that combining experience and resources from two global associations will result in a highly effective event that will be of value to industry professionals located in the Middle East as well as the hospitality technology industry at large.”
Nicholas Watson, Managing Director at Naseba, said “We are proud to be partnering with HFTP to host the newest edition of HITEC, allowing leading technology and finance companies to access the world’s fastest-growing hospitality market. We look forward to seeing contributions from not only CEOs of innovative companies and owners of established hotel brands, but also the directors, managers and executives who ensure the continued success of those organisations. Our partnership with HFTP has helped us to better serve the needs of the regional hospitality market. Bringing HITEC to the region for the first time will completely change the landscape of doing business in this market, and create exciting new opportunities for global vendors and Middle Eastern hotels.”
Registration for this unique platform will be available to all qualified hospitality professionals and technology vendors.
To learn more about HITEC Middle East or to express your interest in attending, contact:
Ryan Cooper
Marketing Manager
Naseba industry meetings
ryan.cooper@naseba.com | +971 43671376
