Participants attending the annual Asia-Pacific meeting of the nonprofit trade association Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) will learn from top industry experts about a wide range of technology advances in hospitality. Key topics on the agenda planned for 1-3 December in Macau include hotel data security, mobile distribution, sustainability, cloud computing, CIO insight, customer experience management, and new services available through application programming interfaces (APIs).

A good first impression really can make a difference. More than 60 percent of all online hotel bookings are made on the first visit to a hotel's Website and over 80 percent of all online bookings are made in the same day as their first visit according to Sabre Hospitality Solutions' research. These statistics represent a tremendous opportunity to gain customers, but at the same time, lose them if a hotel cannot close the booking in the initial online visit.

IDeaS Revenue Optimization, the leading provider of revenue management software, services and consulting, today announced the second round of IDeaS Cornell Revenue Management Scholarship winners. Winners include Nuengruthia Thumwonk, revenue manager at Ascott International Management Limited Thailand, Sarah Kulik Blatsiotis, assistant front office manager at Smyth -- A Thompson Hotel and Dana Miroshnichenko, revenue manager at Grand Hotel Europe. The Scholarship Panel at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration selected the recipients based on demonstrated excellence in revenue management and desire to enhance their profession.

Libra OnDemand, the first on-demand CRM solution built specifically for the worldwide hospitality industry on the Force.com platform, announces that its Hospitality Management System has been selected as the winner in the Internet Services category for Casino Enterprise Management magazine’s inaugural Hospitality Operations Technology (HOT) Awards.

FastBooking, one of the world's leading online solutions providers for the hospitality industry, announces the roll out of the first phase of its new Online Business Intelligence tools. The first module of FastBooking Online Business Intelligence incorporates an interactive, dynamic business overview offering total flexibility in the presentation and review of key performance indicators (KPIs).

A world’s first pilot is starting at the Clarion Hotel Stockholm in Sweden. ASSA ABLOY, Choice Hotels Scandinavia, TeliaSonera, VingCard Elsafe and Venyon, a fully owned subsidiary of Giesecke & Devrient, have joined forces to replace hotel room keys with NFC-enabled mobile phones. The technology makes it possible for hotel guests to check-in and out using their mobile phones.

Libra OnDemand, the first on-demand CRM solution built specifically for the worldwide hospitality industry on the Force.com platform, today announced that they will demo their comprehensive suite of CRM tools at the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show (IH/M&RS), to be held November 14-16 at New York City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Libra OnDemand representatives, including Gregg Hopkins, CEO will be on hand to conduct live demonstrations of the award-winning, web-based hotel CRM solution at the Technology Innovation Center (Booth # 2670) sponsored by Hospitality Upgrade Magazine.

The 100 percent New Zealand owned and operated Scenic Hotel Group (which includes Scenic Hotels and Suites, Heartland Hotels and Te Waonui brands nationally) recently switched 14 of its 17 properties to Sabre Hospitality Solutions’ SynXis Central Reservation System (CRS) for marketing and distribution to the global distribution systems (GDS) and online travel agents (OTA). By using Sabre Hospitality Solutions, Scenic Hotel Group will now have exposure to hundreds of thousands of travel agents and the hundreds of millions of travelers who book hotels online.

VingCard Elsafe, a leading hospitality security provider and part of the ASSA ABLOY Hospitality Group, recently completed the installation of Orion by VingCard Elsafe, its new intelligent energy management solution; VISIONLINE, the company’s leading wireless RF-online system; and Signature RFID, its contactless electronic door locks with NFC cell phone compatibility, at the Comfort Suites in Gothenburg, Nebraska.

IDeaS Revenue Optimization, the leading provider of pricing, forecasting and optimization solutions and services, today announced that the Malmaison and Hotel du Vin Luxury Hotel Group, which rolled out the IDeaS V5i Revenue Management System estate-wide towards the end of last year, chose to utilize the Custom Reports service offered by IDeaS. The Custom Reports feature of IDeaS V5i provides Malmaison with a combined estate-wide overview of current booking situations and pricing. It also includes vital forecasting information that is generated by the V5i system at the property and estate level, along with budget data and selling rates.