Hospitality Technology Announces 2010 Hotel Visionary Award Winners: Courtyard by Marriott, JHM Hotels, CityCenter

RANDOLPH, NJ, Apr 22 (MARKET WIRE) --
Each year, Hospitality Technology (HT) magazine presents a select group
of lodging companies with its Hotel Visionary Awards. These awards honor
hotel companies for their outstanding vision and achievement in
technology and service innovation. Winning companies are chosen based on
their vision and execution; consideration is given to size, resources and
individual market segment benchmarks to ensure that companies from across
the lodging industry are recognized for their efforts. The 2010 Hotel
Visionary Awards go to: Courtyard by Marriott, JHM Hotels, and CityCenter.

Hospitality Technology received nominations for nearly 40 individual
hotel companies, covering everything from sustainability to excellence in
guest service, from in-room technologies to back-of-house system
integration. The nomination pool was comprised of both corporate hotel
brands and management companies from all size and market segments.
Winners are judged by HT editorial staff on a basis of innovation,
thought leadership, execution, and forward-thinking vision, and announced
at the Hotel Technology Forum on Thursday, April 22, 2010. (The Forum is
a three-day networking and educational event, scheduled April 21-23, 2010
at the Mandarin Oriental in CityCenter, Las Vegas, that brings together
executives from leading hotel companies to share strategies and tactics
for using technology to achieve operational excellence and exceed guest
expectations.)

About This Year's Winners
Courtyard by Marriott was chosen for its
innovation in responding to travelers' needs. The brand redesigned its
lobbies to incorporate interactive digital signage as a centerpiece.
Dubbed GoBoard, the LCD touch screen displays were developed specifically
for Courtyard by technology partners Microsoft and Four Winds
Interactive, and feature live news feeds from USA TODAY, airport and area
information, way-finding, maps via Microsoft Virtual Earth, and more.
Since completing the lobby redesign and deploying GoBoard, Courtyard
reports a 10 percent rise in guest satisfaction scores and a 27 percent
increase in intent-to-return scores. The project has helped Courtyard
increase market share by 7.5 percent since deployment.

JHM Hotels, headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, is a
privately-held owner-operator of 40 hotels across such brands as
Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Starwood. JHM Hotels was chosen based on its
significant back-office innovation for a company of its size. JHM Hotels
leveraged a document management solution with business intelligence that
has enabled complete paperless invoicing and document storage. The
technology has allowed the company to eliminate storage costs and manage
labor much more efficiently, while providing full visibility into its
financials for compliance and audits.

Finally, CityCenter, a joint venture between MGM MIRAGE and Dubai World,
is the first-ever multi-brand project to receive a Hotel Visionary Award.
The LEED-certified urban community opened in late 2009 on the Las Vegas
Strip. CityCenter was chosen based on not only the extensive
technological innovation found throughout the complex, but for the role
that partnerships, from technology vendors to hospitality companies,
played in the success of the project, most notably the collaboration of
MGM MIRAGE, technology vendor Control 4, and luxury hotel brand Mandarin
Oriental (which opened a hotel in the complex in December 2009).

"This year's Hotel Visionary Award winners showcase the great range of
innovation that can be accomplished in every sector of the lodging
industry," says Abigail A. Lorden, editor-in-chief of Hospitality
Technology and the architect behind the awards program. "We see a
family-owned management company in JHM Hotels that is tapping into
technology to drastically improve and 'green-up' its back-office
operations. We see a business-class brand in Courtyard by Marriott that
is leveraging digital signage to significantly improve the lobby
experience for its guests; and we see what partnerships can accomplish,
when dedication meets innovation, in CityCenter. We congratulate this
year's winners. It's our honor to recognize these accomplishments."

Past Visionary Award Winners Include:

-- InterContinental Hotels Group (2009)
-- Harrah's Entertainment (2009)
-- Hyatt Place (2009)
-- Thayer Lodging Group (2009)
-- MTM Luxury Lodging (2008)
-- The Peninsula Hotels (2008)
-- Fairmont Hotels & Resorts (2008)
-- Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (2007)
-- Ginn Resorts (2007)
-- Hilton Hotels Corporation (2007)
-- Rosewood Hotels & Resorts (2006)
-- Harrah's Entertainment (2006)
-- MGM Mirage (2006)
-- Wyndham International (2005)
-- Sea Island Company (2005)
-- Marriott International (2005)
-- Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (2005)
-- Hyatt International (2005)

About Hospitality Technology:

Hospitality Technology (HT) is the only publication dedicated to covering
the role of information technology in improving business performance for
hotel and restaurant operators. The Hospitality Technology editorial
portfolio includes: a print publication that publishes nine times
annually and reaches more than 16,000 hospitality industry executives,
three networking and educational events (MURTEC, Hotel Technology Forum
and Restaurant Executive Summit), a comprehensive website, e-newsletters,
web seminars, and several exclusive annual reports and studies. Visit
Hospitality Technology online at www.htmagazine.com. Hospitality
Technology is published by media company Edgell Communications,
headquartered in Randolph, N.J.

Contact:
Abigail A. Lorden
Editor-in-Chief, Hospitality Technology
alorden@edgellmail.com; 973.607.1358

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

-0-