Alan Young | March 23, 2023

Leading the charge toward that future at industry’s most influential event in Toronto, from June 26th to 29th 

By Alan Young, Hospitality Industry Advisor, College Professor, and Co-Founder of Puzzle Partner

With more than 50 years under its belt, HITEC is something of a household name in the hospitality industry. Produced by HFTP, HITEC reigns supreme as the world’s largest hospitality technology conference, attracting thousands of industry leaders and technology innovators to its stage each year. This year, the highly anticipated showcase and networking event will be taking place in Toronto, ON from June 26th to 29th and will, as always, give exhibitors a coveted opportunity to showcase their products, services, and knowledge to key decision-makers in the industry, whilst also making meaningful industry connections.

Each year, HITEC offers a broad expanse of technology offerings, with vendors traveling from all corners of the world to showcase their product or service. Oftentimes, a stroll around the exhibition hall gives attendees a distinct impression of the prominent technology trends and themes set to shake up the industry in the coming year – and HITEC 2023 will be no exception. As our industry continues to adjust to the post-pandemic landscape and, more importantly, the sustained surge in travel demand, platform innovation has become a hot topic. Now, more than ever before, hospitality brands must embrace digital tools to better serve their staff, their guests, and remain competitive and agile in an ever-demanding, ever-changing market.

With this in mind, HITEC 2023 is expected to place a spotlight on all areas of hospitality technology, but especially the PMS, CRS, CMS, and RMS. This should come as no surprise, as these categories represent the operational backbone of any hotel. Not to mention, these are categories which are notoriously overwrought with outdated legacy technology, that continues to collect dust within hotel tech stacks despite having outlived its utility. HITEC attendees can also expect to encounter an influx of self-service platforms, AI-powered technology, mobile applications, advanced cybersecurity platforms, and housekeeping automation. Some of the category giants to watch include:

Shiji Group: The multi-national technology company providing software solutions and services ranging from hospitality technology platforms, hotel management solutions, food and beverage and retail systems, payment gateways, data management, online distribution and more.

Infor: Infor’s powerful hospitality cloud solutions were created to solve critical business challenges faced by modern hoteliers. This includes property management systems (PMS), advanced hospitality revenue management systems (RMS), and a full range of scalable applications across the industry to optimize operations, deliver a superior guest experience, and meet the challenges of a constantly evolving hospitality space.

Hotel Communication Network (HCN): HCN’s innovative hotel tablet technology transforms how guests interact with the hotel, the city, and their room, allowing the guest to communicate with the hotel, make purchases, order room service, report problems and control their room. 

Duve: A holistic platform providing hospitality experts with a unified guest management solution, covering the entire digital guest journey from contactless check-in, through a branded guest app, an omnichannel communication hub, and an eCommerce/upselling platform offering the right service to the right guest at the right time.

BirchStreet Systems: A global enterprise provider of new-age eProcurement, AP Automation, Inventory Control, Invoice, Recipe, & Pay Management, Capital Projects, Sourcing & Analytics technology.

While our industry has always been somewhat slow to overhaul legacy technology in favor of modern solutions, it appears we have reached a critical tipping point in which innovation is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have. Hotels of all size and scale are now eager to reexamine and, where necessary, replace their existing technology with more modern, scalable, and innovative solutions that promise to streamline their operations. The widespread embrace of technology is absolutely pivotal for the continued evolution of our industry at large, and many of the brands featured at HITEC 2023 are leading the charge towards that future.

After all, hospitality has a big year ahead, and with the right offering, the right staff, and the right tools, industry leaders are expected to reap the rewards of a customer base exhibiting a voracious appetite for travel. 

With over 340 vendors exhibiting at the Metro Toronto Convention Center this year, in addition to HITEC’s renowned round-up of networking events, keynote speakers, the highly anticipated Entrepreneur 20X competition, and celebratory gatherings, HITEC 2023 is sure to be one for the books. To check out the conference floor plan with all participating vendors and their booth information, click here.