What is ITH?

The Hotel Technology Institute (ITH) is the hotel sector's response to the challenges that technological advances pose to the tourism industry.

With twenty years of history, this innovation centre, affiliated with the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation (CEHAT), promotes operational efficiency, customer experience and sustainability in hotels as key pillars of our mission through technological solutions for hotels.Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Innovative projects
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Own conferences and presence at more than 1,400 national and international events
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Studies conducted in collaboration with companies in the sector
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Attendees at ITH conferences and events
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Professionals enrolled in ITH training programmes
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Professionals enrolled in ITH training programmes
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Contribution

The Hotel Technology Institute works for and in the interests of hoteliers, seeking practical and simple technological solutions for hotels that optimise their management in four strategic areas: New Technologies, Hotel Operations, Energy Efficiency and the Environment, and Innovation.

Projects

Biontrend: Applying Competitive Intelligence to the Hotel Sector: This nationwide project deploys a competitive intelligence tool that enables more accurate demand forecasting, based on real hotel data shared on reservations, markets, channels, client segmentation, and more, through PMS interconnection. It is especially focused on SME hotels.
ITH Robotics Club: A community dedicated to promoting innovation in automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence in the hotel sector. It is a meeting point for hoteliers, associations, and technology companies to co-create applicable solutions that optimize management and improve the experience. Among its initiatives is Marvin, the AI chatbot developed by ITH, which performs a quick self-diagnosis to help hotels identify needs and opportunities for improvement. The club promotes joint projects, access to exclusive workshops and events, advisory services, and specialized resources in robotics. It also participates in conferences that showcase how automation and robotics are transforming tourism with practical and innovative solutions.
ITH TechYroom: A network of physical showrooms that bring innovative solutions to hotels and destinations, driving the modernization of the accommodation sector. From its inception in Benidorm with version 1.0 to its consolidation in Valencia with version 2.0, the project has evolved into ITH TechYroom 3.0, focusing on rural innovation that is replicable and scalable. This initiative by the Hotel Technology Institute (ITH), with the support of Turisme Comunitat Valenciana, allows advanced technologies to be tested in real environments, improving the guest experience, operational efficiency, and sustainability. The solutions implemented include artificial intelligence, collaborative robotics, home automation, accessible signage, and digital twins, which promote smart management, staff well-being, and the circular economy, adding value to different types of tourist accommodation.
ITH Model for Sustainable Tourism and Improvement Plans: Funded by the Secretary of State for Tourism and developed by ITH, this model promotes initiatives for hotels to move towards more efficient and responsible management. It includes a self-assessment test on hotel sustainability, which allows for the diagnosis and comparison of the degree of implementation of economic, social, and environmental measures. It also includes a study of best practices with success stories and future scenarios, as well as a practical guide to preventing and reducing food waste in establishments. In addition, through the ITH SaveHotel energy rehabilitation program, hotels receive technical advice and free audits to implement energy efficiency improvement plans.
Thinktur: ITH is a sectoral benchmark in Innovation and New Technologies at the national level, participating in the launch of the Digital Tourism Platform initiated by the European Commission and funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation. ITH coordinates the Thinktur working groups.
The Alliance of Sun and Beach Tourism Municipalities (AMT): ITH manages the technical secretariat of AMT. This alliance is a national entity made up of 8 pioneering tourist municipalities in the sun and beach segment: Adeje, Arona, Benidorm, Calvià, Lloret de Mar, Salou, San Bartolomé de Tirajana, and Torremolinos. Its objectives include promoting and developing new knowledge aimed at destinations; fostering research and the use of new technologies; developing joint projects to obtain supra-municipal funding; promoting cooperation between administrations, companies, and sector stakeholders; enabling integration into similar national and international entities; boosting collective strategies to increase competitiveness; and developing synergies and joint urban innovation strategies.
HOTREC Hospitality Europe: Founded nearly four decades ago, HOTREC is the European association representing hotels, restaurants, bars, cafés, and similar establishments in the EU. It brings together 45 national associations across 33 countries and serves as the voice of the hospitality industry in Europe. HOTREC represents 1.7 million businesses, primarily SMEs, generating 9.5 million jobs (4.4% of total employment in Europe). Spain’s presence in this European body is essential to ensure ongoing dialogue with Member States and active participation in the development of European legislation and its national transposition.
Pantour: The NTG (Next Tourism Generation) project was the first European alliance to strengthen productive collaboration between education and the tourism sector. It has since evolved into a second phase known as Pantour. The objective is to address the gap between the skills required by the industry and the training provided by educational institutions. The alliance will offer employees, employers, entrepreneurs, teachers, trainers, and students a set of modules in digital, green, and social skills.
PacTS4ALL: The Pact for Skills in Tourism (PfST) is a knowledge-sharing platform without the capacity to directly implement actions. PacTS4ALL operationalizes the PfST by coordinating, harmonizing, and implementing the results of its projects. Its goal is to give practical application to the various project outcomes under the PfST framework, testing their viability in real environments, while creating a collaborative ecosystem to work on different areas of interest among PfST members.
TOURISMlink: ITH leads the technological area of the European consortium, which develops the European standard for online tourism distribution, which will connect European tourism supply and demand in a single platform.
European Standard for Innovation Management: The general director of ITH coordinates the group responsible for the elaboration of the Innovation Management System, CEN/TS 16555-1, developed by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), which offers a practical guide for organizations to identify and promote the factors that trigger innovation, develop the processes for its correct management, and evaluate and improve the efficiency of the Innovation Management System.
Elaboration of the book «Experiencing Success»– Packaging of tourism experiences (2013), developed in collaboration with the Institute of Tourism Studies (IET) and Turespaña.

Disclosure

Studies, conferences and sector-specific training

ITH has held more than 850 sectoral, national and international events and has produced more than 20 studies on technology and sustainability in hotels and tourism. It has also participated in more than 940 national and international conferences, congresses and meetings.

Several conferences organised by ITH are currently underway at the national level:

The Hotel Data Game

Un ciclo de jornadas formativas especializadas en el uso de la inteligencia de datos en los diferentes ámbitos del negocio hotelero: benchmarking, gestión operativa, reputación online y posicionamientoA series of training sessions specialising in the use of data intelligence in different areas of the hotel business: benchmarking, operational management, online reputation and positioning, distribution, revenue management and customer experience are some of the topics that will be covered in these technical sessions aimed exclusively at hoteliers. , distribución, revenue management y experiencia de cliente son algunos de los puntos que se tratarán en estas jornadas técnicas dirigidas exclusivamente a hoteleros. 

Workshops designed to help hotels find the most suitable solutions to maximise energy savings in their facilities. Different technologies are proposed, along with the keys to adapting them to the specific needs of each type of establishment, with guaranteed results and reduced operating and maintenance costs. The use and application of renewable energies and their profitability are analysed according to the profiles of the establishments.

Aware of the importance of digital transformation in the sector and fulfilling its mission as a promoter of innovation in the sector, ITH is organising its third series of digital security conferences in hotels nationwide, with the aim of raising awareness in the sector of current risks and methods of prevention and mitigation against digital attacks at the corporate and organisational level.

The aim of these conferences is to inform all attendees about the latest trends, options, designs, technologies and most innovative materials available on the market, with a focus on building sustainability and the processes that take place inside and outside the building, in order to achieve a fundamental balance between economic, social and environmental aspects. Different financing options available to those facing the renovation of a hotel establishment are also analysed.

For the third consecutive year, ITH Innovation Summit is the leading event in the hotel industry, showcasing the latest developments in innovation and technology applied to the sector.

ITH organises, in collaboration with Fitur, FiturtechY, the most important forum for technology, innovation, sustainability and tourism in Spain, which reached its thirteenth edition in 2020.

Leadership

  • ITH has led the Sustainability area of Intelitur, a project of the Higher Council of Chambers of Commerce, and defines and designs an energy efficiency model for tourist facilities.
  • ITH directs and is a founding member of the Thinktur Tourism Technology Platform, and coordinates the Accommodation and Sustainability working groups.
  • ITH has partners and collaborators among the world’s leading technology players, including Google, Amadeus, Oracle, HP, Schneider Electric, HOTREC, ECTAA, and CISCO, among others.
  • Since 2010, ITH has been established as an Innovative Business Group (AEI), with a strategic plan rated as Excellent, and registered with the DGPYME under number REAEI 00134. 
  • In 2016, ITH was recognised with the Innovative SME seal, according to a resolution by the Directorate-General for Innovation and Competitiveness.
    In 2021, ITH became a member of the Smart Tourism Destinations Network, Red DTI.