Rich Paliwoda, the President and Chief Development Officer at Inside Hospitality Solutions, reports on his recent attendance at the BDNY HX 2022 exhibition in New York.
The 2022 Boutique Design New York (BDNY) trade fair and conference and co-located HX: The Hotel Experience at the Javits Center in New York City exceeded expectations and broke records.
At times, the registration lines were easily over fifty people long, but the attendees didn’t seem to mind since the show coordinators quickly gave people their entrance badges.
The wait in line also provided an excellent opportunity to network with fellow attendees – and there were quite a few attendees!
Show Director Kevin Gaffney, GVP Emerald, said that pre-registrations for the event were up significantly from 2021 numbers. By the end of the event, nearly 13,000 designers, architects, brand executives, hoteliers, developers, purchasers, and other attendees from 47 countries had gathered to experience new products, engaging conversations, and strategic networking events.
There was a 65 per cent increase in overall attendance, a 61 per cent increase in qualified buyers, and record-breaking gains in onsite registration over the past two shows – up 737 per cent over 2021 and up 247 per cent over 2019. Additionally, the number of exhibitors increased by 47 per cent over 2021.
Trade Fair
With so much to see and do, it was impossible to experience everything over the two days. If you just ran out of time or perhaps weren’t able to attend this year, here are some highlights:
Vincenzo Imparato, who holds several boxing championships, provided attendees with a caffeine punch with his delicious coffee offerings. Vincenzo is the Founder and President of Si, Espresso, a coffee wholesaler to restaurants, hospitality venues and companies and a provider of pop-up barista bar services for events.
Despite flying in from around the world, Donovan Winterburn, VP of Business Development, based in New Zealand, was full of energy, demonstrating how easy it is to provide guests shade protection with the ShadowSpec outdoor umbrella. The canopy’s sheer size is impressive, but even more impressive is how easy it is to operate.
Manchester Mills and Gilchrist & Soames showcased their various offerings as part of the Guest Worldwide family. Manchester Mills, one of the world’s leading textile manufacturers, had bath and bedding on display.
In addition, Gilchrist & Soames displayed bath and body products with environmentally-friendly formulations that aren’t only gentle on the environment but also gentle to the skin. They feature food-grade, naturally derived USP glycerin and natural conditioning agents from honey and the Brassica plant instead of petrochemicals.
Kenn Busch, Owner of Material Intelligence, provided interesting insights regarding sustainability and climate-positive materials. His company offers materials guides and information resources for interior designers, architects and anyone interested in getting under the surface of furniture and interior architecture.
Greg Cope, a 4th Generation CEO and Sherri Coates, VP of Business Development of Rotary Supply, a family-owned and operated wholesale linen distributor, were there. Greg was excited to share news about the recent merger with City Mattress Hospitality’s Division. The merger will allow Rotary Supply’s customers to benefit from even more robust wholesale bedding pricing and mattress products.
Priority Bicycles displayed bikes with Carbon Drive belts and rust-proof and grease-free parts. These are perfect for waterfront locations and anyone looking for low-maintenance bicycles for their guests.
Karen Loper, Co-Founder of GoMouthwash, provided attendees with individual mouthwash packets containing no artificial dyes, no added colors and no harsh ingredients.
Eric Martin, President-Lodging Kit Company, Principal-SLX Hospitality and Kent Martin, Vice President, said that 2022 was a good and busy year for Lodging Kit Company and SLX Hospitality. In addition, they mentioned that the industry supply chain issues, although not entirely back to normal, had gotten much better.
Technology on Display
With all the handshaking going on, attendees were glad to meet Executive VP of Sales Jerry Bobinski and VP of Marketing & Design Chelsey Clapper from iCleanse. The iCleanse Swift UV model provides phone disinfection in seconds while you use the attached hand sanitizer dispenser. The display screen is capable of running ads, providing a potential advertising revenue stream.
At the Crave Interactive booth, Sandy Murray-Hanson, Vice President of Sales in North America, provided a demo of the in-room tablet that is extremely popular with hotels and resorts worldwide. Crave also provides mobile guest services solutions.
Matthew Carter, Division Lead – Hotels for Modio, explained how their commercial-grade device helps to address noise issues, a top guest complaint. Modio allows guests to control room ambience like they control temperature and lighting.
For situations where you would want to keep the door open to welcome guests in but save energy and keep unwanted things like insects or uncomfortable temperatures out, Christophe Sailly, Director of International Sales and Miranda Burner, Director of Marketing, Berner Air Curtains, have several options to choose from.
Axxess Industries provides guest services systems and smart room controls. Account Manager Kyle Zwaagstra explained the various products available to bring guests a smart hotel experience.
If you are looking for an easier way to organize your facilities and maintenance teams and tasks, Snapfix can help. Chloe Laird, Digital Outreach Manager and Cliodhna Egan, Customer Support Specialist, shared how this Ireland-based company has been expanding worldwide, assisting properties to “get things done”.
Jeff Madewell, VP of Sales and Hector Pacheco, Ozone Application Specialist from Ozone Solutions, explained how effective their products are at sanitization and odor removal. With case studies and testimonials, their products provide a non-chemical application for treating bacteria for bad smells due to burnt cooking, smoke, pets, and heavy paint chemicals and kill viruses and bacteria.
Back to Business
The comments I received from both attendees and exhibitors were consistent, with some saying this was the best show ever. For many, this was the first time back since the pandemic started, and for all, the incredible number of attendees and exhibitors was validation that the hospitality industry was getting back to business!
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