Andrew Sheivachman

Dated hotel distribution technology is holding back both meeting planners and hotel revenue managers. As new platforms and tools emerge, it will be interesting to see which major chains end up developing the most forward-looking attitudes toward selling event space in new ways.

A lot of work needs to be done to improve the ability of hotels to sell to planners on smarter and more efficient ways. A variety of event technology companies are working on it, but the process of building trust among stakeholders will likely take some time.

How is Travelport competing against much bigger companies like Sabre and Amadeus? By creating technology solutions its clients actually want to use while expanding in the world's fastest-growing regions for travel.

Consolidation has been expected across corporate travel, but it was surprising to see American Express Global Business Travel emerge as a buyer so soon after its integration of KDS. As business travel has gone increasingly global, the combination with Hogg Robinson would be in a good spot to service clients across the world.

Convention centers across the U.S. have worked to refresh and develop their offerings as business has increased in recent years. Now they're looking to attract large corporate events across multiple venues instead of traditional consumer-facing events and conventions.

Duetto has raised more money to ramp up its operations and continue to develop its hotel revenue management platform. The space is crowded, but powerful software-as-a-service tools are needed desperately by hotel revenue managers.

The smart guest room of the future is still in development. A strong return on investment for hotel owners who invest in updated technology, however, will help push these innovations into the mainstream.

American Express Global Business Travel is making a shrewd, and expensive, move to become the world's biggest travel management company by a wide margin. More consolidation is almost certain to hit corporate travel as a result.

Making it easier for travelers to book how they want, and simpler for travel managers to experiment with new technology solutions, has become a focus in corporate travel.

There's no one-size-fits-all solution for meeting and event planners, so technology companies are offering a variety of different services to meet their needs.