September HFTP-LA Meeting Review

This month’s Los Angeles chapter HFTP (Hospitality Financial & Technology Professional’s) meeting was held at the Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens in downtown Los Angeles.  This beautiful hotel was formally the New Otani Hotel.  The cocktail reception began in the hotel’s rooftop Japanese Garden followed by dinner in a banquet room downstairs.

Instead of the usual speaker for the HFTP gathering, the attendees participated in a roundtable discussion on some current events and trends.  Though there were some pre-determined topics of discussions, time seemed to fly by as everybody’s had their share of valuable input.  Some of the main topics of the night included everybody’s general outlook for the next three to six months, cost saving tips, and other hotel related issues. 

It seems that the consensus of the group is uncertainty over the near future.  Despite PKF Hospitality Research reports of a decline and eventual bottoming out of lodging demand in 2009, most professionals in the group still seemed somewhat optimistic about their hotel’s ability to command rate even though they are losing occupancy.   More information about the meeting topics should be posted soon on the HFTP Los Angeles website www.hftp-la.org.

Next month’s guest speaker should be a very interesting one.  Though the location is still undecided, a speaker from the FBI will be speaking about identity theft.  Hope to see you all there!�