February 10, 2023
Siegel Sez
Industry consultants, Visual Matrix partners and Rich Siegel were all in attendance at the first ever Visual Matrix Townsquare. Lots of smiles at the closing night dinner!
I started my career as a hotelier, and I always share that my favorite job of all time was working the front desk of a hotel. I treated every guest as a new audience, and it was fun. I bring this up because of all the events I attend throughout the year my favorite events are users’ groups. I was recently at the Infor Hospitality Summit in San Antonio and other than it being 27 degrees it was a great event. I just love talking to those who work in hotels, hearing their stories and sharing some of mine. They had a diverse crowd, and I heard such amazing conversations. I thank Infor for inviting me. After San Antonio I was off to Key West, Florida, for an interesting meeting with many of the top industry consultants. This event was put on by Visual Matrix to share its company story. They also had a great crowd, and it was fun to connect with so many people who I hadn’t seen in quite a while. I thank Visual Matrix for inviting me. I learned a great deal from their presentation but also the goings-on in the industry from all the consultants’ stories. Yes, I live for face-to-face meetings. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am Zoomed out!
Speaking of face-to-face meetings, for the tech world many discussions are still about the conflicting shows in June -- with HITEC and The Hospitality Show both occurring over the same week. In early January, Doug Rice in his column that follows, rattled some cages by creating a survey as to where the industry was going, and which show people are planning to attend. His Definitely Doug column that follows is a great read with little surprises -- that those in the tech world will mostly be at HITEC -- but his explanation why is very interesting. Take a couple of minutes to read through and let me know your thoughts at
rich@hospitalityupgrade.com.
Do you ever put yourself into a situation where the anticipated excitement gets a bit overwhelming? When Hospitality Upgrade started the Executive Vendor Summit, inviting the leaders of the vendor community together 18 years ago, we never would have guessed how it would keep growing. But if you think about it as a hotelier, your life is so much easier when the various technology solutions installed all work well together. The same goes for those who supply the solutions and bringing the vendors together to explore who they should be working with. This is a big part of EVS. If you are a vendor and have never been to EVS, please email
kim@hospitalityupgrade.com immediately. The EVS is a thank you for our customers and we throw in a bit of fun also. Please check out the smiles in this
30-second video along with seeing who attends. New Orleans, here we come, March 29-31.
Here now is Definitely Doug and his look at the survey results for the upcoming June shows along with the latest happenings in the hotel tech world. I will see you at the end with this week’s attempt at you-know-what. Fly Eagles Fly, that is all I am going to say! 😊
Rich
rich@hospitalityupgrade.com
Definitely Doug
Planning for June
The question I have heard most often in recent months is “where are you going in the last week of June?”. As most readers are aware, two trade shows featuring hotel technology are scheduled during the same dates that week. Many of you are still undecided which to attend. Knowing that your decision will be based at least in part on where others are going (hoteliers and exhibitors both), I decided to try to get some real data that I could share.
So, in my first blog of 2023, I asked readers to complete a brief anonymous survey about plans to attend the competing shows – HITEC (organized by Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals) and The Hospitality Show (organized by American Hotel & Lodging Association and Questex). Many thanks to those of you who completed the survey. I promised to publish the results, so here they are.
First, some caveats. The survey was publicized only to readers of this blog. Like every survey, it has sampling biases, some of which we can identify and others that may remain hidden. Readers of this blog likely align quite closely with HITEC attendees, many of whom would also be natural attendees of The Hospitality Show. But the latter is also targeting operational hotel executives as well as some non-technology products. These are likely underrepresented in my readership and therefore in the survey sample. To the extent that’s true, the poll is likely a better measure of the feelings of past HITEC attendees than of potential attendees of The Hospitality Show.
There were 141 responses in total, enough for statistical significance not only for the totals, but for many subsets, including those cited here. 32% of respondents were employed by hospitality companies, 50% by vendors or other exhibitors, and 18% by neither (this would include consultants, investors, educators, media, association staff, and others). While I do not have definitive statistics, this seems roughly in line with the mix of HITEC attendees I have experienced over the years.
I will make the detailed responses available to the organizers of both events on request, in the hopes that it can help them make useful adjustments that will improve the events. I can also provide the responses to others who have a credible use.
CORPORATE NEWS
- Cox Communications acquires Logicworks
Cox Communications has acquired New York-based Logicworks, a professional and managed cloud services company.
www.coxbusiness.com
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
- Sojern Expands Leadership Team with Strategic New Hires
- Cloud5 Welcomes Telecoms Veteran Jerry Gore as Company CTO
- Twenty-Year Marriott Technology Strategist to Lead HCN Product Development in 2023
- ROAR Appoints Christopher Young as Chief Technology Officer
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For more information on People on The Move for 2/10/2023
GUEST MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
- Maestro Expands All-In-One PMS to Provide ‘Everything Hotel’ via Strategic Solution Partnerships
Maestro has entered 2023 with its eyes keenly fixed on building more strategic partnerships that make sense for hotel and resort groups. One of its first initiatives is to become the most comprehensive, all-in-one solution for users – from its coveted front- and back-of-house software and contactless mobile tools to now include omnichannel marketing.
www.maestropms.com
- Visual Matrix Partners with Prestige Hotels & Resorts in Their Transition to WorldHotels Collection, With Continued Technology Enhancements
Visual Matrix, a leading provider of advanced technology solutions for the hospitality industry, expanded the number of cloud-supported hotels on its platform by more than 80% in 2022 and expanded the industrywide adoption of its product suite, including the expansion of its solutions across Prestige Hotels & Resorts’ portfolio of 17 distinctive hotels and resorts in British Columbia.
visualmatrix.com
RESERVATIONS & DISTRIBUTION
- P3 Introduces Guaranteed Online Booking for Interconnected Rooms
Hotel software solutions provider P3 has become the industry’s first hotel booking engine provider to allow guests to book interconnected hotel rooms online. This pioneering new service is designed to enhance the guest journey for families and other groups, making it easier for them to guarantee their booking of interconnected rooms without the need to contact the hotel.
www.p3hotels.com
GUEST FACING TECHNOLOGY
- Unplug and play: PPDS unveils world’s most energy efficient digital signage series with the ‘zero power’ Philips Tableaux range at ISE 2023
PPDS, an exclusive global provider of Philips professional displays and solutions, is excited to announce the launch of a new game-changing and industry-advancing range of full size and full colour ‘zero power’ Philips Tableaux advanced colour ePaper (ACeP) signage displays. Each is capable of delivering 24/7 vivid content, while running entirely unplugged and without using a single kilowatt of electricity.
www.ppds.com
MARKETING
- Hawaii's Turtle Bay Unlocks Customer Data for New, Holistic Marketing Strategy
Turtle Bay turned to Hapi and Salesforce to better understand its guests and develop relationships with them through personalized, omnichannel outreach.
www.hapicloud.io
SALES & CATERING, GROUPS & MEETINGS
- Hospitality Experiences Drive Significant Growth for UrVenue
UrVenue is growing by leaps and bounds. In 2022, the company pioneered hospitality’s first Property Experience Management System (PXMS) with its launch of UV Enterprise — recognized by SKIFT Idea Awards as a finalist for the 2023 Visionary Award presented by JetBlue Technology Ventures.
urvenue.com
BACK OFFICE
- Rapid Adoption of MDO Sustainability Certification Assists Hotels in ESG Efforts
15 operators comprising more than 1,500 hotels have qualified for MDO Sustainability Certification by verifying a paperless night audit process that saves substantial natural resources.
www.mdo.io
- Mountainside Retreat Getting a Timesaving ‘Lift’ with New Accounting Solution
Business at the Mountain Lodge Telluride is simply sensational, especially since the slope-side sanctuary built for adventure seekers transitioned its back-office accounting solution to PVNG by Aptech.
www.aptech-inc.com
OPERATIONS
- CallTek Offers Elevate Solutions to Amplify Contact Centers’ Abilities
CallTek, Inc. has recently added the Elevate Communications platform to their solutions offerings for companies looking to amplify their Contact Center. The all-in-one communications system combines a feature-rich phone system and a secure platform designed to help companies increase productivity, enrich the customer experience and provide access to critical data.
calltekinc.com
SECURITY
- voco® The Hague Deploys ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions Technology for Enhanced Security and Property Design
ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions, a leading provider of advanced security technology for the hospitality industry, has announced the implementation of a range of security and guest convenience-enhancing company solutions by voco The Hague.
www.assaabloyglobalsolutions.com/hospitality
- VENZA Announces Successful Delivery of Vision ’23; New Roadmap for ‘24
VENZA has announced the successful delivery of its Vision ’23 roadmap, its overarching framework for strategic planning and development. Fulfilling its ambitious goals for 2022, the company added dozens of products and features, providing significant new value to clients. The completion of Vision ’23 continued to solidify VENZA’s status as the industry leader in providing data protection and compliance tools for the hospitality industry.
www.VENZAgroup.com
- VENZA Celebrates Data Privacy Week
VENZA actively participated in the celebration of this year’s Data Privacy Week. To mark this annual international holiday, VENZA released a series of free content that centered on online data collection, use, and management. This effort was a reiteration of VENZA’s ongoing commitment to help organizations safeguard their systems and their guests' data.
www.VENZAgroup.com
HOSPITALITY EVENTS AND ASSOCIATION NEWS
- AAHOA Announces Largest Trade Show in 34-Year History
The Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), the largest hotel owners association in the world with nearly 20,000 members, announced today that it has already secured a record level of booth sales for the Trade Show at AAHOACON23, April 11-14, 2023, making it the largest in AAHOA history.
www.aahoa.com
- Press Credential Applications are Now Open for The Hospitality Show Inaugural event in Las Vegas
Press credential applications are now open for media interested in attending and covering The Hospitality Show, an inaugural event, taking place Tuesday, June 27 through Thursday, June 29 at the Venetian Resort Las Vegas.
www.thehospitalityshow.com
- Agilysys Inspire23 Conference to Bring Together Leading Hospitality Organizations to Explore Solutions and Strategies to Maximize Returns on Guest and Staff Experiences
Agilysys, Inc, a leading global provider of hospitality software solutions that deliver High Return Hospitality, announced registration is open for its Inspire23 User Conference.
www.agilysys.com
PIQUED OUR INTEREST
- From AI to Google: 5 Truths for Travel Marketers in 2023
- David Sax: The Future of Hospitality Is Analog
- 25 Most Unusual & Unique Hotels in the World
- Ex-Booking Execs Build New "Connected Trip" Solution
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For more information on Piqued Our Interest for 2/10/2023
And now for the You-Know-What...