HTNG and CHTA form Strategic Partnership
Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) and China Hospitality Technology Alliance (CHTA) have announced a program of strategic cooperation to enhance and expedite the sharing of information, development of global standards and integration of hospitality technology in both Chinese and Western hospitality markets.
Cooperation between HTNG, the membership association that unites the world’s hospitality companies and technology innovators to solve industry challenges, and CHTA, an non-profit organization of Chinese hospitality technology leaders, will help hoteliers who operate in both China and other global regions. It will improve the availability and integration of technologies that meet the needs of both Chinese and non-Chinese hotels, and will also help Western hotels cater more effectively to the rapidly growing outbound Chinese travel market.
The alliance was announced at a day-long joint meeting of HTNG and CHTA representatives in Shanghai on March 13, attended by senior hotel technology leaders from Chinese and global hotel groups, and numerous Chinese journalists. Bernold O. Schroeder, CEO of Jin Jiang International Hotel Management Company, China’s largest hotel operator, hosted a luncheon for the group, and said “Western hotel companies continue to expand in China, and Chinese hotel companies are expanding into the West. With technology having become such a critical part of the hospitality industry, hoteliers can benefit by closer cooperation between these two organizations, who seek to produce better technologies and lower costs through truly global standards and cooperation.”
“The objective of the alliance is to facilitate the sharing of market knowledge, expertise, best practices and other information, and to help vendors more fully meet the needs of hotels in both markets,” said Douglas Rice, Chief Executive Officer of HTNG. Zhu Jing, chairperson of CHTA, said “the hotel industry needs global technology solutions. This alliance will enable Western technology providers to better meet the needs of Chinese hotels, while also providing those outstanding Chinese technology providers with better access to global markets.”
Activities planned for the first year of the alliance include:
CHTA participation in the 2013 HTNG Asian Members’ Conference, planned for the Hong Kong area in July, with preferred pricing for CHTA members
Organization of a combined conference in Beijing in mid-2014
A joint working group on sharing of Chinese and Western technology
HTNG support of CHTA events with key speakers, and vice versa
Joint access to white papers, best practices, design guidelines, with translation and localization of documentation
A CHTA outreach initiative, supported by HTNG, to provide a business-level technology perspective to hotel managers in China
“Western hotels operating within China have very limited options for many of their technology systems,” said Jeremy Ward, Senior Vice President of Information Technology at Kempinski Hotels and incoming President of HTNG. “Systems that are optimized for the Chinese market cannot be deployed globally. At the same time, however, many of the global solutions do not cater to the needs of Chinese hotel guests, either within China or, increasingly, as they travel abroad. The day is gone when Western hotels in China could thrive without appealing to resident Chinese travelers. Our systems need to cater to both.”