IDeaS Revenue Solutions, one of the world’s leading providers of revenue management software and services, announced it will implement IDeaS G3 Revenue Management System (RMS) across Myrtle Beach Seaside Resorts’ independent seven-property portfolio.

Digital leadership speaker and author, Erik Qualman will initiate a technology-focused week as the Opening Keynote speaker for the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC) in San Antonio, Texas.

TRYP Pittsburgh — an art hotel located in “America’s Coolest Neighborhood” — has blended its historic charm with modern amenities, featuring technology from SONIFI Solutions, Inc.

Kalibri Labs’ U.S. Hotel Industry Performance Overview (HIPO) reveals that the digital channels, Brand.com and OTA, as a percent of the total bookings continue to accelerate, while Property Direct declines. Given 10 months of consecutive growth, the Brand.com year-to-date (YTD) bookings are up +7.7% compared to the same period last year and are growing faster than OTA (+7.1%) as a portion of the actualized demand. As of October YTD, Brand.com accounted for 24.5% of actualized demand while OTA represented 16.3%.

Lord Nelson Hotel & Suites is an independently owned 262-room historic property with 12,500 square feet of meeting space in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 2018 it completed a full renovation of its guestrooms, meeting space and common areas.

Marriott International, Inc. announced that it has completed its acquisition of Elegant Hotels Group plc. The announcement from Elegant and International Hotel Licensing Company S.à r.l. was issued over London’s Regulatory News Service. Full text can be found below:

The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association (HSMAI) is thrilled to recognize the brightest minds in the hospitality industry with the 2019 HSMAI Top 25 Extraordinary Minds in Sales, Marketing and Revenue Optimization.

INTELITY, the provider of one of hospitality’s broadest guest engagement and staff management platforms, announced its partnership with Oceana, a newly redesigned 70-suite seaside retreat that combines the impeccable service of a world-class hotel with authentic personal connections, located in the heart of Santa Monica, Calif.

This year, Springer-Miller Systems celebrated their 30th year anniversary of the Host Users Group Conference in Kohler, Wisconsin at The American Club, a five-star, five diamond hotel that has been part of the hospitality industry for over 50 years.

Kempinski Hotels S.A. has appointed Christophe Piffaretti as chief development officer and member of the management board.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced that more than 20 new luxury hotels and resorts are expected to open worldwide by the end of 2020, boosting Hyatt’s luxury portfolio. The additions include new properties under the Park Hyatt, Andaz, Alila, Grand Hyatt, Miraval and The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brands.

Broadband Hospitality, a preferred provider of cost-effective and scalable total unified technology solutions for hotels, senior living facilities, student housing and MDUs announced that as a 3+ year member of the AT&T Partner Exchange reseller program, they have been awarded the Strategic Product Cowbell Award, in the Network Solutions category (AT&T* Managed Service and/or AT&T Virtual Private Network), for highest new sales revenue June-Sept 2019.

VENZA, a global data protection company with a focus on the hospitality industry, hosted its 12th annual charity event on Nov. 12, 2019. This year, the firm and its sponsors raised more than $12,000 for The SAM Foundation, which promotes mental health awareness and provides suicide prevention training programs to groups of all sizes at no cost.

INTELITY, the provider of one of the broadest enterprise guest engagement and staff management platform for hospitality, announced that The Inn at Harbor Shores received AAA's prestigious Four-Diamond Rating. In early 2019, INTELITY announced that its robust guest engagement and staff management platform launched at the Inn at Harbor Shores, a luxury resort property located on beautiful Lake Michigan. 

When it comes to customer satisfaction, many of the travel apps and websites created by legacy hotel, airline and rental car brands are lagging those of digital native online travel agencies (OTAs) and travel industry disruptors, such as Uber, Lyft and Airbnb. But that’s not all.

CBRE Hotels Research forecasts that revenue growth will continue to diminish, but the U.S. lodging industry will remain strong through the next two years. As outlined in the December 2019 edition of Hotel Horizons, U.S. occupancy levels will dip slightly, but remain above 65.5 percent through 2021, 300 basis points greater than the STR long-run average. Concurrently, rooms revenue per available room (RevPAR) is forecast to increase at less than 1 percent per year during the same timeframe.

ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions has announced the successful implementation of its advanced security access platforms at the Courtyard Bucharest Floreasca. A recently opened hotel located within the business area of Bucharest, Courtyard Bucharest Floreasca is able to provide each guest with both seamless and secure access to their guestrooms using VingCard Signature RFID and VingCard Flex door locks equipped with Mobile Access functionality.

Mobile operations and environmental sustainability are two of today’s top hospitality trends. Guests want to control as much of their hotel experience as possible on their mobile device. They also want to support hotels and businesses that demonstrate environmental sustainability. Maestro PMS’ integrated Tablet eFolio Display and Mobile Check-out hotel software applications give guests the mobile control they want while reducing the property’s wasteful paper consumption.

The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association (HSMAI) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2019 HSMAI Lifetime Achievement Awards in marketing and public relations. Bjorn Hanson, Ph.D., will be honored with the Winthrop W. Grice Award for Public Relations.

Broadband Hospitality (BBH), a preferred provider of cost-effective and scalable total unified technology solutions for hotels, senior living facilities, student housing and MDUs, announced that it has been selected by Best Western Hotels & Resorts as an Endorsed HSIA Supplier.

One of the Czech Republic’s largest hotel chains, CPI Hotels, has engaged SiteMinder, a global hotel industry’s leading guest acquisition platform, as it seeks to target a new wave of leisure tourists and broaden its traditional focus on corporate guests.

KNOWCROSS, a global leader in providing service quality and optimization solutions, is excited to announce that attendees at this year’s HX: The Hotel Experience show in New York will get a first-hand sneak peek to the platform’s latest advancement and integrations including their smart watch app and staff safety solutions, at the event that takes place Nov. 10-11, at booth #1314. 

Verdant announced it ranked No. 418 on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America now in its 25th year. Technology Fast 500 award winners are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2015 to 2018. Verdant grew 218 percent during this period.

Quore, an award-winning provider of workforce communication and engineering/housekeeping management technologies, is exhibiting at HX: The Hotel Experience Powered by AAHOA for the first time next week.

dormakaba, the provider of secure Saflok™ and Ilco™ electronic door locks will demonstrate its new RT Plus mobile-enabled RFID guestroom electronic door lock at HX booth 1409. The RT Plus has BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) technology integrated in its reader and is ideal for magstripe or mechanical lock retrofit.

Aimbridge Hospitality, North America’s largest independent hotel management firm, announces that it has completed its merger with Interstate Hotels & Resorts, a leading independent multinational hotel operator on Oct. 25, 2019. The combined company will manage a portfolio of more than 1,400 branded and independent properties in 49 states and 20 countries. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“Banff Lodging Company (BLC) selected Maestro for its six original hotels because of its integrated property management (PMS) and sales and catering systems. We are a heavy group company with custom BEOs, and Maestro’s hotel software system integration has been excellent,” said Arjun Gersoppe, general manager at Banff Lodging Company.

Hoteliers looking for ways to slash their hotels’ energy bills should visit Verdant next week at HX: The Hotel Experience Powered by AAHOA. Verdant ’s simple, smart and intuitive guestroom thermostats combine smart occupancy sensors with patented cloud software features to set-back temperature while guests are away and reduce energy consumption when rooms are unoccupied.

Kalibri Labs’ U.S. Hotel Industry Performance Overview reveals luxury and economy chain scale hotels reported the best growth in occupancy for the month of September 2019, both up over 5% year-over-year. Other chain scale segments reported flat or declining occupancy performance for the month resulting in the total US occupancy growing a nominal +1%