HITEC Not A Casualty Of Dot-Com Wash Out

NEW YORK— The crash of technology stocks isn’t going to diminish the number of HITEC exhibitors this year, as vendors and hotel company executives gather to attend the industry’s largest technology show in Orlando from June 26-28. New vendors, with new technology will be on hand, while many from past shows will be back, having evolved their offerings to keep up with advancing technology. Others, some of them giants at last year’s show, will not be there at all, however, having not received sufficient venture capital to keep them alive, or better, having realized that their business models were not providing the revenue generators hoped for. Teresa Pulley, director of event marketing and programs for Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), which runs HITEC, said just months ago there was a fear the show would have to be downsized because of the technology wash-out. “Earlier this year we lost a number of the big companies that had been with us for years,” she told HOTEL BUSINESS®. Gone were some high-speed Internet companies— some had gone out of business, while others had been bought by the bigger players. And, of course, “there are not nearly as many dot-coms as last year,” she said. “Some of the companies that were huge are gone. We thought we would have to shrink the show, but all of a sudden the number of new companies wanting to attend surged, and now we have a waiting list. People are begging to get in.” As a result, the number of exhibiting companies is higher than last year, which drew 290 suppliers in 668 booths. Some of the new players include “small Internet companies just stepping out,” said Pulley, who noted that palm-held devices are likely to be big at next year’s show. Her overall conclusion? Technology is not dead. “You would think the way the media talks, technology was coming to an end, but I don’t see that. Technology is here, it’s a matter of what strong companies will survive,” said Pulley.