NEWH - Fall 2015 - 50

Cover Story

Lifelong Trip
A passion for travel inspires a
successful hospitality career
By Nora Zelevansky

F

or Rich Viola, travel was a childhood dream. Growing
up in low-income housing in Hackensack, New Jersey,
the future hospitality expert didn't take extravagant
family vacations to far-off lands. But he had an innate
love of history and geography and a longing to explore the
world in all its resplendent diversity. It is that notion of
experience and connectivity that has characterized both his
trajectory and his sizable contributions to the industry.
Viola found travel by way of publishing, working
for years at lauded magazine and newspaper publisher
the Times Mirror Company, bridging the gap between
advertising and editorial and eventually spearheading a
new luxury lifestyle magazine, Distinction . He realized he
was ready to strike out on his own and soon discovered a
hole in the hospitality market. "It was 1998, when the whole
internet was coming to life," he recalls. "I did research and
found that the hotel industry was not only underserved but
not served at all."
In June of 1999, he launched Hotel Interactive, a trade
publication designed as a daily destination for insiders.
The web was the perfect platform. "We wanted it to be a
community for the industry, where people could learn and
exchange ideas on a more timely basis," he explains. "How
much more relevant and timely can you be than online?"

Top to bottom, vignettes at
recent HI Connect events:
Connect to ME social club; a
hotel lobby concept; and a
seductive bar/lounge

50 www.newh.org



http://www.newh.org

NEWH - Fall 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NEWH - Fall 2015

NEWH - Fall 2015
Table of Contents
News
Who’s Who
Scholarships
Design 101
Q&A: Stephanie Deshaies
Q&A: Deborah Herman
Q&A: Jennifer Loux
Have You Seen?
Product Know How
On the Scene
Hotel Interactive founder Rich Viola
Project: Potawatomi Hotel
New Members
Save the Date
Partner Profiles
Chapter Highlights
Chapter Sponsors
Ad Index
NEWH - Fall 2015 - NEWH - Fall 2015
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Cover2
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Table of Contents
NEWH - Fall 2015 - News
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 5
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Who’s Who
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 7
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 8
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 9
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 10
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 11
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 12
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 13
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Scholarships
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 15
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 16
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 17
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 18
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 19
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Design 101
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 21
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Q&A: Stephanie Deshaies
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 23
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Q&A: Deborah Herman
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 25
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 26
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 27
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Q&A: Jennifer Loux
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 29
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Have You Seen?
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 31
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 32
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 33
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 34
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 35
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 36
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 37
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Product Know How
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 39
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 40
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 41
NEWH - Fall 2015 - On the Scene
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 43
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 44
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 45
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 46
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 47
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 48
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 49
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Hotel Interactive founder Rich Viola
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 51
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 52
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 53
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Project: Potawatomi Hotel
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 55
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 56
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 57
NEWH - Fall 2015 - New Members
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 59
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 60
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 61
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 62
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 63
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Save the Date
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 65
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Partner Profiles
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 67
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 68
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 69
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Chapter Highlights
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 71
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 72
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 73
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 74
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 75
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Chapter Sponsors
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 77
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 78
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 79
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 80
NEWH - Fall 2015 - 81
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Ad Index
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Cover3
NEWH - Fall 2015 - Cover4
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