NEWH - Fall 2015 - 52

Clockwise from top, vignettes
at recent HI Connect events:
a luxury guestroom; a luxury
bathroom; and a restaurant
concept

The venture grew quickly. Within six months, CEOs of major
hospitality brands were contacting Viola about getting involved.
Jonathan Tisch, chairman of Loews Hotels, wrote a letter calling
him a pioneer. Today, the website boasts nearly 90,000 subscribers.
That successful venture has led to offshoots: In 2005, Viola
started hospitality event company BITAC (Business Interactive
Trade Alliances and Conferences), now responsible for eight
themed events per year. And in 2012, he launched HI Connect, a
unique industry tradeshow. What links all three ventures is a kind
of specificity and attention to detail. "Hotel Interactive is about
design, F&B, technology, finance, and more; we touch on every
aspect there is within the hotel industry," Viola explains. "It's about
creating a program that is a little more sensitive to the needs of
both the buyer and seller. Anytime you can get people to engage in
an exchange, that's fantastic. Sometimes there are just better ways
to execute the details."
At BITAC events, for example, instead of leaving attendees
to roam and network on their own, the organizers connect
symbiotic people and entities, scheduling strategic meetings and
introductions. At HI Connect, exhibitions are called vignettes-
constructed with real tiling and sheetrock walls and crafted by
leading hospitality design firms with product from sponsoring
manufacturers-and are places where industry professionals from

52 www.newh.org

top hotel companies have a chance to interact with hoteliers,
developers, designers, architects, and purchasing professionals,
building crucial relationships. Viola compares putting on the
event to building a new hotel from the ground up; it's that laborintensive. But that's what excites people. "The events have become
a launchpad for new designs, almost like labs or think tanks to
inspire ideas," he says, referencing a hush-hush new major hotel
brand and concept that emerged from a past event.
All of this is inspired by a desire to constantly reinvent and
innovate. Since Viola first launched Hotel Interactive, of course,
other related entities have emerged. But he feels that an openness
to evolution is what sets his ventures apart. "Sometimes you just
have to really listen to what people are saying and have a vision of
where that could go," he says.
Meanwhile, Viola keeps his finger on the industry's pulse by
traveling about 50 percent of the time-his childhood dream
realized. He explores all levels of service and types of products, but
mostly he prioritizes personal interaction and sitting down with
people face to face. "You can learn a lot from books, but it's not
the same as meeting people from all different places, cultures, and
backgrounds," he says. "That has been among the most exciting
elements of my life." ❙❘❚
www.hotelinteractive.com

http://www.hotelinteractive.com http://www.newh.org

NEWH - Fall 2015

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