News Briefs

Infor announced a preferred partnership between its Infor Hospitality Management Solution (HMS) and Plusgrade, the global leader in ancillary revenue solutions. This collaboration enables hotels using Infor HMS to drive incremental revenue and elevate guest personalization by seamlessly integrating Plusgrade’s proven upsell technology into the core guest journey.

Hotels face growing pressure to do more with less—delivering tailored guest experiences while improving margins. The Infor–Plusgrade partnership now provides hoteliers with an intelligent, automated platform to monetize high-demand offerings such as premium room upgrades, flexible stay options, in-room extras, and curated experiences — all without adding operational burden to front-line staff

“We’re proud to named a preferred partner with Infor Hospitality, whose technology is trusted by tens of thousands of hotel properties worldwide,” said Paul Rantilla, SVP of Sales, Plusgrade. “Together, we’re bringing ancillary revenue into the digital core of hotel operations — where it belongs. The result is a more connected guest journey, greater conversion, and a strategic boost to profitability.”

The partnership exemplifies a growing shift in the industry toward total revenue management and intelligent personalization. With this integration, Infor and Plusgrade are not just enabling ancillary revenue — they’re making it an intuitive part of modern hotel operations.

Infor will be showcasing their latest innovations at HITEC 2025 booth 2400. 

Hotel Communication Network (HCN) continues to evolve its hotel guest experiences by offering access to a catalog of global magazine brands free of charge to leading hotels and resorts via its AI Concierge ad-supported tablet platform. Through a partnership with ZINIO, one of the world’s largest digital reading services platforms, HCN is expanding its no-cost services to hotels and resorts.

Today, the leading global provider of AI Concierge enabled tablets is showcasing this partnership at HITEC Indy in Booth #2803. The premiere hotel technology tradeshow will be held June 17 to 19 at the Indiana Convention Center.

HCN is giving guests at participating hotels free access to the world’s most popular magazines, utilizing ZINIO’s industry-leading digital reading experience, optimized for mobile and tablet devices. ZINIO’s publishers will benefit from the opportunity to gain additional exposure for their brands and to deliver more value for their advertiser base, as the magazines are presented as published, including full editorial and advertising content. HCN offers similar opportunities via its programmatic ad platform for brands wishing to connect with affluent traveling consumers who spend up to 3.5 waking hours in the hotel room.

“We are extremely excited to partner with ZINIO to deliver digital magazines to our hotel partners and their guests,” said Kevin Bidner, HCN CEO. “Long form editorial content is the perfect match for a relaxed, affluent traveler looking to enhance their day with in-depth coverage of current events, or to spend quality time indulging their passions, be it art, architecture, business, or any of the many special interest magazines offered by ZINIO. For the wider brand community, our contextual advertising capabilities delivered via our ad platform provides the opportunity to connect with affluent consumers via targeted offers in a relaxed yet premium environment where brand messaging can have a real impact on consumers' perceptions.”

Kent Roache, VP of Partnerships for ZINIO, said, “The HCN platform presents an ideal opportunity to highlight the exceptional content offered by our publishing partners. Affluent travelers often have time to engage deeply with reading, and magazines provide a rich, immersive way to explore personal interests, passions, and current events. By offering a curated selection from our portfolio of over 5,000 leading global publications, we not only enhance the travel experience but also create a strong channel to attract new subscribers to ZINIO Unlimited.”

For a complete list of magazines available on ZINIO Unlimited, click here. To see the breakthrough innovation tablets and learn more about its ad-supported platform, visit HCN at HITEC Indy, June 17 to 19 in Booth 2803.

PPDS, the exclusive global provider of Philips Professional Displays and complementary solutions, is excited to announce the latest innovation in its advanced, lower energy direct view LED portfolio, with the launch of an all new ‘foldable’ and ‘height adjustable’ 135” Philips Unite LED 6000 Series All In One, bringing unrivalled flexibility and adaptability in hospitality environments.

Showcasing on Philips Booth 2415 at HITEC 2025 in Indianapolis (16-17 June), the stylish and imposing Philips Unite LED 6000 Series (135HDL6015IA) All In One delivers a true masterclass in visual performance, providing a plethora of informative, engaging, and entertaining opportunities to any space, from hotel lobbies to conference and event facilities, and everywhere in between.

Ideal for hotels looking to make a bold impression, or to transition away from LCD screens, the unique Philips Unite LED 6000 Series All In One features an innovative and more energy conscious design – for power and running cost reductions – and mechanical engineering, overcoming many of the traditional limitations and obstacles faced by other AIO models in the marketplace, notably around mobility and accessibility.

Smart foldable design

Harnessing invaluable feedback from hospitality customers around the world, the Philips Unite LED 6000 Series All In One has been designed with flexibility and adaptability in mind, for effortless and hassle free installations, whether in a large open space on a ground floor, inside a meeting room on the top floor, or moving between conference rooms within a hotel complex. 

Inspired by the solutions PPDS has developed for its partner, Oracle Red Bull Racing – which includes both portable and fixed, fully tailored direct view LED solutions that are used on the road and inside the racing giant’s Milton Keynes HQ – the new Philips Unite LED 6000 Series AIO is the first in its family to include an innovative foldable design. 

Available for demonstration at HITEC 2025 – and coming soon to PPDS Studios around the world – the smart, foldable structure removes all obstacles around transportation, whether being installed for the first time or as it is transferred between rooms, by easily fitting through any standard sized doors or in elevators. 

Adding an extra level of convenience, the Philips Unite LED 6000 Series AIO will also become available with a flight case, allowing it to be easily and compactly stored when not in use, and making it a breeze to move and redeploy on demand. This is ideal for rental use purposes, for exhibitions, or for when transportation between different buildings is required.

Jeroen Brants, Global Product Director for LED at PPDS, commented: “One of the biggest and often unforeseen issues with larger displays, whether LED or LCD, is around accessibility. Sometimes an order will arrive for installation that can’t get through the door due to size. I’ve seen boxes being left in reception because they cannot physically fit in the lift, or in some more extreme and costly circumstances, products being dropped and damaged while being carried up flights of stairs. We took this on board. And with our Philips Unite LED 6000 Series All In One, we have a solution that fits.” And that’s not all.

Motorised height adjustment

To accommodate all possibilities and room types – including sloping environments or areas with rising seating, such as cinema rooms or conference centres – the Philips 135HDL6015IA features a motorised trolley enabling smooth and safe electric lifting, also supporting its portability.

Ideal for dynamic spaces, presenters can simply, safely, and smoothly adjust the display height with the push of a button, ensuring perfect viewing in any setting.

With security of paramount importance to PPDS – whether hardware or software related – the motorised height adjustment on the Philips Unite LED 6000 Series All In One includes an emergency stop button and anti-pinch protection. Integrated as standard, the emergency stop can detect any obstructions and halt movement to avoid mishaps during lifting or lowering, preventing potential injury or equipment damage. 

Beauty inside and out

The Philips Unite LED 6000 Series All In One amalgamates cutting-edge Chip on Board (COB) technology with a fine 1.5mm pixel pitch for ultra reliable, ultra sharp visuals, from spectacular video to intricate meeting room presentations.

Mirroring other premium solutions within PPDS’ evolving and expanding direct view LED portfolio, the Unite 135HDL6015IA ensures content is always presented as intended, delivering vibrant colours, deep blacks, and uniform brightness. Satisfying even the most scrutinised colour branding, the new series is impossible to ignore, bringing more engaging, immersive experiences to any space. 

Efficiency is also at the core of the simplified one box installation design, which includes built in cabling and audio in a single package that vastly simplifies the deployment process and ensures a clean look at all times. 

Energy efficiency without compromise

Continuing PPDS’ relentless focus on delivering energy conscious solutions for the industry, and supporting customers with their sustainability goals, the Philips Unite LED 6000 Series All In One includes the company’s ultra-low standby mode, consuming less than 0.5 watts. This unique and much lauded feature provides instantly lower operational costs, while ‘instant power-up’ via remote control ensures minimal downtime during presentation.

Finally, incorporating the world-renowned reliability of Android 11, the Philips Unite LED 6000 Series AIO is optimised for native Android apps, with integrated System on Chip (SoC), allowing hoteliers to install web apps and software directly onto the display. This eliminates the need for an external media player, saving on additional expense and energy, for maximum ROI.

Joining PPDS’ ever growing SoC family, the Philips 135HDL6015IA is compatible with Philips Wave – the evolutionary cloud-based remote device management ecosystem – putting users fully in control of their display fleets, 24/7. Unlocking the power, versatility and intelligence within Philips Professional Display fleets, the benefits of Philips Wave include, but are far from limited to, simplified installation and setup, monitoring and control, firmware upgrades, managing playlists, and setting power schedules, saving time, energy, and environmental impact. 

Jeroen concluded: “At PPDS, our entire existence is centred on designing and delivering solutions built exclusively around the needs and requests of our customers. For us, we don’t look at legacy, we look at the present. And the future. With our growing Philips LED range, we have a family of solutions to satisfy even the most complex and challenging requirements, helping to make lives simpler. 

“There is no point in having the best display if you can’t get it in the room. We are incredibly proud to have debuted our new ultra-flexible and adaptable Philips Unite LED 6000 Series All In One for the hospitality industry here at HITEC 2025.”

UrVenue launches  UrResort, its newest product developed in response to the growing demand from hotels and resorts for a more tailored solution. At its core is UrVenue’s proven platform for venue management, now expanded to support the full spectrum of experience-led operations, guest engagement, and enterprise-grade distribution. UrResort brings together a connected suite of solutions designed to help resort operators centralize and commercialize non-room inventory at scale.

 With an advanced distribution engine, UrResort connects experience inventory to both owned channels—like brand websites, booking engines, and in-room kiosks—and third-party affiliates such as ResortPass and PlanADay. The result is a fully integrated platform that empowers operators to streamline operations, drive revenue, and elevate the guest experience from pre-arrival through the on-property journey.

UrResort key features include:

• Experience Center – The core of the UrResort platform, centralizes all resort experiences, from cabanas to activity rentals, into a single interface. It serves as the operational hub, housing these key modules:
• Itinerary Builder & Manager – A dual-functionality tool that offers both a self-service interface for guests and a staff-facing backend. Each itinerary is personalized to the guest’s stay and powered by real-time inventory, including availability from integrated partners like OpenTable and Book4Time. Guests can plan and manage their experiences, while staff can build or modify itineraries on their behalf — all within a unified calendar view.
• Group Itinerary Builder – Designed to enhance group travel and events, this module allows attendees to explore resort experiences and manage their event schedules through an interactive, personalized guest portal. It improves operational efficiency by automating manual processes for meetings and events, while enabling real-time messaging, pre-arrival communication, and opportunities to drive incremental revenue through activity promotion and extended stays.
• Venue Management System – Provides operators with tools to manage inventory, optimize yield, and view live floorplans and reservations across all venues within a resort.
• Distribution – UrResort redefines how resorts distribute experience inventory, making it possible to surface bookable activities, events, and services not just at the property level, but across enterprise-owned channels. This includes brand.com websites, loyalty apps, and mobile platforms — something large hotel groups have traditionally lacked. With built-in integrations to partners like OpenTable and ResortPass, UrResort enables real-time distribution of on-property experiences through both direct and third-party channels, giving hotel brands the infrastructure needed to scale experience commerce in an increasingly AI-driven, inventory-connected world.
• Advanced Integrations – A newly expanded collaboration between UrVenue and OpenTable allows hotels to offer in-house guests and those with upcoming stays priority access to premium OpenTable reservations and OpenTable Experiences, before they’re available to the public. This access is seamlessly integrated into the Itinerary Builder as part of the guest’s pre-arrival journey.

“The launch of UrResort marks a pivotal moment, not just for UrVenue, but for the hospitality industry,” said Tracee Nalewak, Chief Growth Officer at UrVenue. “As AI transforms how travelers discover and book experiences, hotels need more than just room distribution—they need the ability to surface all experience inventory, in real time, across brand websites, loyalty apps, and partner channels. That’s what UrResort delivers. It gives hotel groups the infrastructure to connect, personalize, and monetize every part of the guest journey—at both the property and enterprise level.”

CommScope announced new AI-driven Wi-Fi 7 and Gen AI-based solutions from RUCKUS Networks. The portfolio of solutions provides full-service, mid-scale, and limited-service hotels a range of connectivity options for delivering customized guest Wi-Fi experiences that meet the unique demands of each market segment—from luxury to budget hotels.

Custom Connectivity for Every Tier

The RUCKUS hospitality solutions work together seamlessly, allowing businesses to pick and choose the right combination for their specific needs. LAN service providers are enabled to provide more customized solutions to their hospitality clients. Also RUCKUS has pre-configured bundles for each of the following market segments:

• Full-service hotels—Elevating the guest experience with the new H670 access point (AP)
  This option is the ideal choice for hotels investing in digital transformation and guest experiences because it provides the industry’s first RUCKUS One managed AI-driven hospitality focused Wi Fi 7 solution for premium hotel environments. The RUCKUS H670 solution, a tri-radio wall-mounted AP, offers dual concurrent IoT radios and dual multi-gigabit Power over Ethernet (PoE) output ports, enabling seamless IoT integration and powering of next-generation in-room technologies, from smart locks to environmental sensors. With support for high device density and offering superior RF efficiency, the H670 solution enhances the guest experience with fast, reliable and uninterrupted connectivity for streaming, video conferencing platforms and smart room controls.
• Mid-scale hotels—Expanding our mid-scale offering with the new R370 AP
  Featuring the AI-driven dual-band RUCKUS R370 solution, this option allows hotels to simplify operations and leapfrog technologies with the benefits of Wi-Fi 7. The R370 solution enables secure, reliable and easy-to-manage wireless coverage in guest rooms, small lobbies and small dining areas to enhance guest satisfaction. Its dual-band Wi-Fi 7 capability doubles the PHY data rate of entry-level Wi-Fi 6 APs and supports seamless streaming, video calls, and IoT integration, providing a future-ready network experience without a costly infrastructure overhaul.
• Limited-service hotel turnkey solution
  This new bundle is designed specifically with affordability and simplicity of limited-service offerings in mind. This suite features cloud-connected remote management services for the RUCKUS Unleashed™ platform—an integrated guest Wi-Fi portal—and high-performance, cost-effective hardware, featuring the RUCKUS R350e AP and the new ICX^® 8100 Ethernet switch. Built for cost-conscious organizations, the RUCKUS ICX 8100 switch delivers simplified, secure, enterprise-grade networking at an affordable price.

The Next Generation of RUCKUS Hospitality Suite

• RUCKUS One Hospitality Edition—The latest release enables automated onboarding and dynamic network access based on guest identity. The next generation includes:
  • Agentic AI-powered customizable dashboard canvas, a purpose-driven interface that allows users to interact with and automate their networks using plain English.
  • RUCKUS DPSK3, which enable hotels to offer secure, seamless Wi-Fi 7 access at scale via this patented technology.
  • Role Based Access Control (RBAC) that enables brands to confidently delegate responsibilities without compromising security or visibility.
  • RUCKUS One dynamic configuration template engine that streamlines the deployment process, provides consistency and reduces the potential for configuration errors.
• Brand 360 Dashboard—The enhanced dashboard gives brands a global view with real-time visibility into how each property is performing, measuring compliance with brand standards, quality of guest connectivity, and the effectiveness of network service partners.
• AI Onboarding Assistant—The assistant improves efficiency, productivity and accuracy while creating and deploying configurations and managing policy enforcement to enable every property to operate within brand guidelines. Improved single sign-on and multi-factor authentication adds layers of administrative security.

"I've been very impressed by how intuitive RUCKUS One is! It makes managing the entire network effortless for any hotel in Sonesta's portfolio, regardless of which provider we are working with. The full visibility it offers means I can pinpoint issues, down to the AP level, before it becomes a problem, making operations smoother and more secure every day,” noted Jillian Kenney, Property Internet Services Manager, Sonesta International Hotels Corporation.

AI-Driven RUCKUS Wireless APs

Two new APs join an already existing AP solution. Each option supports faster speeds, ultra-low latency, increased capacity and reliable connections to empower hotels to deliver high-performance connectivity experiences.

• New RUCKUS H670 Indoor AP—Wall-mounted, tri-band Wi-Fi 7 AP with dual concurrent IoT radios and dual multi-gigabit PoE output ports for in-room connectivity. applications and IoT devices.
• New RUCKUS R370 Indoor AP—A compact, enterprise-grade entry-level, dual-band Wi-Fi 7 AI-driven AP offering economical multi-gigabit performance and future-ready connectivity for low to medium-density environments with patented RUCKUS innovations.

Agilysys Inc. announced the launch of Agilysys Book with S.P.E.N.D. (Stay Package Entitlement New Dynamic), a technology breakthrough that increases ancillary revenue and guest personalization by simplifying how hotels sell and fulfill packages. HITEC attendees can see the solution in HITEC Booth 1611.

Agilysys Book with S.P.E.N.D. enables guests to reserve all entitlements in a package — from spa and golf to dining and activities and tours — in a single, guided online experience without requiring calls, emails or manual coordination with a property’s staff. Other booking systems cannot deliver this convenience because they lack the technology to see real-time availability and make reservations in the different systems that manage included entitlements.

Key benefits for hoteliers include:

• Ancillary revenue increases when guests accept real-time upsell offers during booking
• Heightened guest personalization and convenience, as guests booking packages can select entitlements and itineraries for each guest in the booking during one online session and receive consolidated itineraries reflecting all reservations for each guest
• Improved guest satisfaction through curated selection views and prompts that ensure guests reserve all due entitlements without inadvertently selecting items outside the package that incur additional costs
• Reduced operational overhead as staff do not need to fulfill package entitlements
• Improved staff insights resulting from being able to view the same consolidated itinerary as guests without having to check multiple systems
• Automated and simplified package management as packages are no longer promoted when any included entitlement becomes fully reserved
• Scalability across all property types, from luxury resorts to midscale and urban hotels

“Agilysys Book with S.P.E.N.D. empowers properties to monetize experiences by offering compelling package bookings while simplifying execution,” said Frank Pitsikalis, SVP of Product Strategy at Agilysys. “Offering packages without creating more work for call centers and guest-facing staff is a step-level revenue advantage and a win-win for guest satisfaction and operational efficiency,” he added.

Agilysys Book with S.P.E.N.D. is fully integrated with Agilysys PMS, POS, spa, golf, dining, and activity systems.