HFTP® Acquires Leading Hospitality Industry Brands: Hospitality Upgrade, Hotel-Online, The CIO Summit and The Executive Vendor Summit
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals | June 25, 2024
Industry Happenings
GuestTek Promotes Charly Tomkys to VP Sales, APAC
GuestTek | March 6, 2018
Calgary, Alberta – March 6, 2018 – GuestTek Strengthens Asia Pacific Region, Charly Tomkys to Lead Sales GuestTek Interactive Entertainment Ltd. announces that Charly Tomkys will move to the company's VP of Sales, APAC role. Charly joined GuestTek in early 2013 and has been a key player in the company's sales growth. Scott Watts, GuestTek's Managing Director for APAC, observed, "Charly's tremendous experience in the industry, coupled with her technical knowledge and sales management expertise, will be a welcome addition to our APAC team." Arnon Levy, GuestTek's President and CEO, added, "Charly has an in-depth understanding ...
Duetto and Protel Announce Technology Partnership
protel | March 6, 2018
Integration enables protel's customer base to deliver personalised pricing and real time reporting via Duetto's Revenue Strategy Platform. San Francisco, 6 March, 2018 — Duetto, hospitality's only Revenue Strategy Platform, and protel hotelsoftware GmbH, provider of on-site and cloud-based advanced property management systems (PMS), have today announced a technology integration to enable the whole of the protel customer base to connect into Duetto's platform of revenue solutions using a standardized and highly efficient enterprise bus solution, protel I/O. protel offers technology and service solutions for the hospitality industry...
Deliver Superior Guest Experiences: The Convergence of Guest Facing Mobile and Service Request Management Systems
Guestware | March 6, 2018
Executive Summary Technology continues to transform the way guests want to communicate with your property. The latest trend is guest-facing mobile communication, a new channel for service requests. These systems allow travelers to bypass the traditional voice call to the front desk. Guests today can make requests via smartphone texts, in-room tablets, television sets, and voice-controlled devices like Amazon's Alexa. Despite its rapid growth, guest-facing mobile is an emerging technology. That means most travelers still ask for extra towels, HVAC repair, or luggage assistance the traditional way – with a phone call or face-to-...
HamacLand, A New Paradise Island At Constance Lemuria Seychelles
HamacLand Concept SAS | March 6, 2018
Paris, March, 2018. HamacLand Concept SAS is proud to announce a first in the field of luxury hospitality in the Republic of Seychelles: Constance Lemuria will soon operate HamacLand™, an outstanding private floating lounge concept. "The next stage of development in aquatic recreation is to take our place on the water around us." This is our vision at HamacLand Concept SAS. Sharing this vision, Constance Lemuria, acting as a genuine trendsetter in the Seychelles, selected HamacLand™ to offer their VIP guests a fresh floating world and lifestyle on the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean. This innovation—at t...
HamacLand, A New Paradise Island At Constance Lemuria Seychelles
HamacLand Concept SAS | March 6, 2018
Paris, March, 2018. HamacLand Concept SAS is proud to announce a first in the field of luxury hospitality in the Republic of Seychelles: Constance Lemuria will soon operate HamacLand™, an outstanding private floating lounge concept. "The next stage of development in aquatic recreation is to take our place on the water around us." This is our vision at HamacLand Concept SAS. Sharing this vision, Constance Lemuria, acting as a genuine trendsetter in the Seychelles, selected HamacLand™ to offer their VIP guests a fresh floating world and lifestyle on the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean. This innovation—at t...
Two Roads Hospitality Assumes Management of L’Auberge de Sedona and Orchards Inn as Part of Destination Hotels Collection
Destination Hotels | March 5, 2018
DENVER, CO. – March 5, 2018 – Two Roads Hospitality, the international lifestyle company featuring an unrivaled collection of truly individual hotels, resorts and vacation residences, has assumed management of L'Auberge de Sedona and Orchards Inn as part of its Destination Hotels collection. Surrounded by Sedona's celebrated Red Rock Country, the properties are located nearby revered recreational areas including the Coconino National Forest, Oak Creek Canyon and the Grand Canyon. "L'Auberge de Sedona and Orchards Inn are two of the Southwest's foremost retreats," says Jamie Sabatier, Chief Executive Officer of Two Roads Hosp...
The William Vale Welcomes Deanna M. Thomas as the New Director of Sales & Marketing
The William Vale | March 5, 2018
NEW YORK, NY – March 5, 2018 – The William Vale, the multi-use destination located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, proudly welcomes Deanna Thomas as the Director of Sales and Marketing. Thomas joins the team with over a decade of boutique and luxury hotel management expertise, with a concentration in sales marketing specifically. Thomas will be responsible in directing the overall day-to-day operations, overseeing the sales and marketing divisions and ensuring that the hotel exceeds sales quotas and occupancy goals. "With Deanna's previous sales and operational management experience in two robust cities, New York City and Chicago...
New Castle Hotels & Resorts Names Joseph Dadiego General Manager of The Westin Portland Harborview
New Castle Hotels & Resorts | March 5, 2018
SHELTON, Conn. - -March 5, 2018— Gerry Chase, president and COO of New Castle Hotels & Resorts, a leading third-party hotel management company, owner and developer, today announced that Joseph Dadiego has been named general manager of the historic Westin Portland Harborview, a 289-room and suite historic hotel in the center of Portland Maine's arts district. A career hotelier with a passion for food and beverage, Dadiego began his career as a bar manager at the Hartford Marriott and rose to general manager of the Marriott Downtown Chicago. Most recently he was the general manager of the Dedham Hilton in Boston, where he achiev...
BENCHMARK®, a global hospitality company, Names Alex Gillan Winner of the Chairman’s Award of Excellence
March 5, 2018
Red Cross Volunteer is Guest Agent at The Heldrich in New Brunswick, NJ The Woodlands (Houston), Texas, March 2018 … Burt Cabañas, founder & chairman of BENCHMARK®, a global hospitality company, announces that Alex Gillan, a guest service agent at The Heldrich in New Brunswick, New Jersey, is the recipient of the Chairman's Award of Excellence. The annual award recognizes a Benchmark employee who has exhibited extraordinary service throughout the previous year, actively demonstrating the company's "Be the Difference" culture. Mr. Gillan was nominated for the Award of Excellence by Stacy Martin, a Benchmark executiv...
Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel Appoints William Stratton to Director of Sales & Marketing
the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel | March 5, 2018
Phoenix, Arizona . . . . (March 2018) - The Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel has appointed William A. Stratton to Director of Sales and Marketing for the 521-room iconic downtown property. Area General Manager Paige Lund made the announcement. Stratton held positions in Events and Sales at the Renaissance Phoenix from 2012 to 2014, before accepting the position of Destination Sales Executive at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa where he spent three years collaborating with the various JW brand area, regional and property sales teams on group bookings for groups of 10 to 1,200 attendees. Prior to returning to the Va...
OpenTravel Advisory Forum Amsterdam to Be Co-located with HFTP’s HITEC Amsterdam in April 2018
OpenTravel Alliance | March 5, 2018
Enabling the Future of the Connected Consumer Experience AUSTIN, TEXAS, USA (March 5, 2018) — OpenTravel Alliance (OpenTravel), a nonprofit responsible for developing and maintaining interoperability for disparate systems in all verticals of the travel industry, is pleased to extend its partnership with Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) and co-locate European conferences in April 2018. OpenTravel will co-locate its Advisory Forum, taking place from 11-13 April 2018, with HFTP's HITEC Amsterdam, taking place from 11-13 April 2018. Both events will take place at the RAI Convention Centre in Amsterdam. On...
North America Tops Global Construction Pipeline With 6,226 Projects Followed by Asia Pacific and EMEA
Lodging Econometrics | March 5, 2018
March 5, 2018 – PORTSMOUTH, NH – Lodging Econometrics (LE) has released its Global Construction Pipeline Trend Report, which compiles the construction pipeline for every country and market in the world where currently, the top regions by project count are: North America with 6,226 Projects/797,949 Rooms, Asia Pacific with 4,231 Projects/911,454 Rooms and EMEA with 2,174 Projects/418,391 Rooms. The top countries by project count are the United States with 5,151 Projects/623,695 Rooms and China with 2,519 Projects/560,664 Rooms. The U.S. accounts for 41% of the projects in the Global Pipeline while China accounts for 20%, resu...
London’s Great Scotland Yard Hotel and Istanbul’s Nish Palas to Join The Unbound Collection by Hyatt
The Unbound Collection by Hyatt | March 5, 2018
CHICAGO (March 5, 2018) – Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today two hotels in Europe are expected to join The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand – the Great Scotland Yard Hotel in London and Nish Palas in Istanbul. Additionally, the iconic Hôtel Martinez in Cannes, the charming Párisi Udvar Hotel in Budapest and the newly renovated Hôtel du Louvre in Paris are all expected to open and become a part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt portfolio by early 2019, creating significant growth for the brand in Europe. "The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand offers tremendous potential for growth in the E...
Africa’s Hospitality Market: The 2017 Year in Review
HTI Consulting | March 5, 2018
The African hotel market experienced another eventful and evolutionary year in 2017. The continent continued to attract new regional and global investment, whilst economic and political events, currency shifts and fluctuating tourism demand brought both risks and rewards to hotel markets across the region. "Both upward and downward trends were noticeable across the continent in 2017, with more positive conditions in West Africa as oil economies geared up in response to a recovering oil price," says Wayne Troughton of African-based specialist hospitality, real estate and leisure consulting company, HTI Consulting. "Political instability ...
Interstate Hotels & Resorts Selected by Borealis Hotel Group for Management of 12 Hotels in Western Europe
Interstate Hotels & Resorts | March 5, 2018
ARLINGTON, Va. and LONDON, March 5, 2018 -- Interstate Hotels & Resorts – a leading global hotel management company of franchised branded and independent hotels and resorts – announces the addition of 12 new hotels to its international portfolio, including the company's first entry into France. Interstate will manage the hotels under long-term agreements for owner, development and lease partner Borealis Hotel Group, a Dutch hotel company with continued expansion potential for the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and additional Western European countries. "We voluntarily selected Interstate to manage our hot...
How Much Does It Cost To Generate A Voice Reservations Inquiry? How Much Are You Investing In Properly Following-Up?
Doug Kennedy | March 5, 2018
By Doug Kennedy Despite that there is more information for guests to view online than ever before in the history of the lodging industry, the phones continue to ring in reservations offices and at the front desk. Simultaneously, hoteliers continue to increase direct bookings. Hardly a day goes by that I don't see another article on this topic, yet when I click on them the discussion is almost always on website bookings; rarely do I see a mention of voice as a distribution channel. If you are truly committed to increasing direct voice bookings, read on. A first step that I always do with my consulting clients and also with participants i...
AccorHotels Plans Groundbreaking of Novotel Mexico City With Construction to Begin Later in 2018
Novotel Hotels, Suites & Resorts | March 5, 2018
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - March 5, 2018 - AccorHotels announced the upcoming groundbreaking of Novotel Mexico City Insurgentes (WTC.) Construction will begin during the second half of 2018 and the property is scheduled to open in 2020. The new hotel will be situated in front of the World Trade Center Mexico City (WTC), one of the most significant business areas in Mexico City, which welcomes approximately four million visitors a year, and hosts more than a thousand national and international events annually, ranging from conventions to seminars and workshops. "We are pleased to announce the addition of Novotel Mexico City Insurgentes (...
NOVUM Hospitality Partners with Developers GBI AG and NORD PROJECT for niu Hotel in Hamburg’s Mitte District
NOVUM Hospitality | March 5, 2018
NOVUM Hospitality continues to invest in its home location of Hamburg: a further niu hotel with around 345 rooms has been jointly agreed upon with the acclaimed project developers GBI AG and NORD PROJECT. The lifestyle hotel in a smart design is to be realised in the Hamburg district of Mitte, at Nordkanalstrasse 46 and will probably open in 2021. "This will be our fourth hotel start-up in Hamburg," explains David Etmenan, the Chief Executive Officer & Owner of NOVUM Hospitality. The hotels in Wandsbek and Eppendorf will open their doors in 2019. In Horn, completion is planned for 2020, and then the following year in the district of...
Hospitality Financial Leadership – Who Has ALL the Risk and Why?
David Lund | March 5, 2018
By David Lund In the hotel business, we have lots of stakeholders: brands, managers, executives, and owners. But one has by far the biggest risk. The risk in this sense is holding a large hand of cards and the game is suddenly over and you must cash out all of those face cards and tens. What happens in the hotel business when the phones stop ringing? Who must pay the piper? It has been seven great years in most markets in North America that the hotel sector has been strong and growing year over year. Some markets have produced several years of strong single and even double-digit RevPAR growth. With the great RevPAR growth comes solid pr...
Union Investment Acquires Projected Thompson-Branded Lifestyle Hotel Development in Washington DC for $120 Million
Union Investment | March 5, 2018
5 March 2018 - Union Investment has agreed to acquire a Thompson-branded lifestyle hotel development in Washington D.C. The hotel will be built in Navy Yard, which is currently one of the most exciting urban development areas in the US. The vendor, developer and future operator of the approximately 12,000 sq m property is Gone Yard Hotel Owner, LLC, a joint venture between Geolo Capital and JW Capital Partners. Transfer of the hotel will take place upon opening of the 11-storey hotel, which is scheduled for the beginning of 2020. Upon completion, the project will be added to the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Glob...
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Introduces 6th Annual Pebby Award Winners
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust | March 5, 2018
HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB) (the "Company") today announced the winners of its sixth annual Pebby Awards. The Pebby Award winners were chosen for their outstanding accomplishments in 2017, as determined by the Company. "Our Pebby awards seek to honor the tremendous achievement and extraordinary leadership by our hotel management teams in 2017," noted Jon Bortz, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust. "Although many of our properties turned in exceptional performances this year, these award winners stood a head above the rest in accomplishing the sustained operational excelle...
Radisson Hotel Group Introduces Radisson Collection A Premium Lifestyle Hotel Brand
Radisson Collection | March 5, 2018
Brussels, Minneapolis, Singapore - March 5, 2018 - The newly rebranded Radisson Hotel GroupTM announces Radisson CollectionTM, a premium collection of exceptional hotels in landmark locations. Driven by consumer demand for individuality and more personalized experiences, Radisson Collection brings together the finest hotels in the Radisson Hotel Group portfolio. 14 hotels are confirmed to join the collection following the launch. Each hotel feels authentic to its location and offers the ultimate model for contemporary living. Radisson Collection hotels are united by exceptional design and experiences across dining, fitness, wellness and...
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Rebrands to Radisson Hotel Group
Radisson Hotel Group | March 5, 2018
A new brand identity heralds a new era for the company Brussels, Minneapolis, Singapore - March 5, 2018 - Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group announces its rebranding to Radisson Hotel Group, effective immediately, at the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) in Berlin. The new identity leverages the powerful, international brand equity of the Radisson name to drive awareness in the marketplace, increase marketing efficiency across the global portfolio and offer exceptional experiences to make Every Moment Matter for guests, owners and talent. Every Moment Matters will be the new signature service philosophy of the company and all its hot...
Hilton Debuts in Vail, Colorado With Opening of 116-Room DoubleTree Hotel Following Renovation and Rebranding
Widewaters | March 2, 2018
VAIL, Colo. and MCLEAN, Va. - Sports enthusiasts, outdoor adventurers and family travelers from around the world now have an extra incentive to get away. Today Hilton introduces its first hotel in Vail, Colorado - DoubleTree by Hilton Vail. Following a complete renovation, the landmark property features 116 modern guest rooms in one of the most sought-after travel destinations. DoubleTree by Hilton Vail provides convenient access to the slopes with its onsite ski rental and complimentary shuttle to Vail Village and Lionshead – which runs throughout the day. After a day of adventure, guests can unwind with the hotel's wide variety ...
