Technology drives regional hospitality industry

Innovative design and technological solutions, will dominate regional product launches this year at The Hotel Show. Solutions providers from Canada, Italy and Norway, will be unveiling new products as diverse as a sustainable treadmill to a loyalty card that doubles-up as a room key.

The show which takes place at the Dubai World Trade Centre on 17-19 May 2011 is made-up of four distinct elements that include, operating equipment and supplies; interior design; resort experience and security and technology.

“In terms of product launches, technology is the key driver this year,” said Frederique Maurell, Exhibition Director, The Hotel Show 2011.

“This is clearly one of the fastest growing segments of the hospitality sector and as such naturally is it prevalent at this year’s show,” added Maurell.

Vortex Aquatic Structures International, headquartered in Montreal, Canada, is launching ‘the ‘Superwave’ an innovative water feature. Using the principles of inertia, a large flywheel is designed to accumulate and store water before it begins to spin, creating a tidal wave.

Meanwhile, Norwegian outfit, VingCard Elsafe, will be unveiling a revolutionary solution, based on their successful VISIONLINE platform, by which, hotels can offer their guests to use their loyalty cards as their room keys, therefore bypassing reception when checking-in at the hotel and providing them with exclusive value-added services.

In addition, Italian company Interel is using the show as a platform for the global launch of its next generation - TopHotel room management system, introducing a set of new features with a strong focus on energy saving and sustainability.

Another Italian company Technogym, will present exclusively at the show, ‘Run Now’, the first environmentally friendly treadmill that reduces the consumption of electricity by up to 40%.

Indeed, these companies form part of a wider international participation, which account for 42% net space at The Hotel Show, up marginally from 2010. National pavilions of note this year include Germany, Turkey, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, China, Hong Kong, France and Belgium which alone will cover in excess 3,200 square metres.

Spain’s pavilion, spanning 300 square metres, has almost tripled since last year’s 76 square metres, Turkey has doubled to over 500 square metres with others also slightly up on 2010, including Germany with 600 square metres and Italy covering 300 square metres.

Staying with the technological theme, new at this year’s show is the HITT 2011 conference which features an impressive line-up of local, regional and international experts on hotel innovation, presenting over a two day conference and an additional day of dedicated workshops.

Expert speakers include Guido de Wilde, VP & Regional Director, Starwood Hotels & Resorts; Michael Scully, MD Hospitality, Seven Tides; Marc Dardenne, CEO, Emaar Hospitality, plus representatives from the Government of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.

Other features added this year are the Innovations in Design feature, highlighting companies offering innovative new designs and product lines, a Green Initiative which recognises companies offering energy and cost-saving facilities.

The official platinum sponsor is Al Aqili Furnishings and Iris Software Systems and Infoscape are Associate Sponsors of HITT 2011. Etisalat is this year’s headline technology sponsor.

For more information about The Hotel Show, please visit www.thehotelshow.com.