Following the Hotec Virtual F&B conference, Questex Hospitality (the parent company of Hotel Management Magazine) has launched an advisory board of hoteliers and suppliers to guide the direction of the upcoming Hotec Operations conference, scheduled for June 12-15 at The Ritz-Carlton Sarasota in Florida. The event will be followed by the Hotec Design conference, scheduled for June 20-23, 2022, at The Breakers Palm Beach, also in Florida.
The annual Hotec Operations conference aims to inform and connect buyers and sellers in the hospitality industry by facilitating face-to-face meetings. The event also educates the community of senior hotel decision-makers of the importance of strategic procurement, and facilitates year-round engagement, learning and networking.
The advisory board of seven buyers and five suppliers will serve as ambassadors for the event, sharing market expertise and leading debates about the future of the industry. The group will also help evolve Hotec Operations for the post-pandemic hospitality and event experience, creating new opportunities to enhance the program and event experience. The advisors also will help Questex Hospitality leaders identify trends as well as the key stakeholders advancing these trends and identify issues that the industry is facing.
Buyers on the board are Kimberley Kushner, VP, supply & design at Best Western Hotels & Resorts; Paul Hitselberger, COO at First Hospitality Group; Scott Crunk, SVP of operations at GF Hotels & Resorts; Ron Vlasic, COO at Hostmark Hospitality Group; Robert Auerbach, SVP of purchasing at Island Hospitality Management; Jason Reader, SVP at Remington Hotels; and John Prusnick, senior director, hospitality systems at Sonesta International Hotels Corp. The suppliers on the board are Travis Randall, senior director of sales, east at Assa Abloy Global Solutions; Gina McKee, strategic sales director at Cloudbeds; Dave Rutherford, senior director of sales, hospitality at Conair; Ray Burger, president and founder at Pineapple Hospitality; and Stefania Marchesotti, North America brand manager Mascioni Hotel Collection at Standard Textile.
During a virtual meeting, several of the board members discussed what they were looking for in the upcoming conference—and how it could best reflect the rapid changes facing hoteliers.
Challenges
Vlasic predicted “a lot of evolution” in the industry, and emphasized the value of staying on top of those changes. Auerbach cited lead times as a significant challenge Island Hospitality has faced recently, and Vlasic wondered if sourcing from American suppliers might be easier than securing materials from suppliers in Asia.
Prusnick noted that management company Sonesta is growing its franchise business—especially after its late 2020 acquisition of RLH Corp.—and is looking to better support its franchise operators, particularly first-time “mom and pop shops” and individual owners. “We know what we need to do here, but maybe there's a better way for us to address our selected standards or our groups design groups and be able to introduce these vendors in a new fresh way,” he said.
The advisors also noted the growing demand for contactless services, with McKee commenting that every kind of hospitality option—from serviced apartments to vacation rentals to traditional hotels—want kiosks for check-in services.
Ultimately, Prusnick said, the buyers and suppliers are all professionals focused on hospitality. “We're all about that engagement with people,” he said, emphasizing that all solutions need to focus on those connections. While a hotel may have a kiosk to help speed the check-in process (“We have to keep in mind that a direct-to-room experience is desirable by some people,” he noted), and while robots may deliver food and supplies to guestrooms, team members should be available to provide a human connection if needed or wanted.