AUSTIN, TEXAS, USA (May 21, 2009) – As chairman, president and CEO of MICROS Systems, Inc., A.L. (Tom) Giannopoulos has had a profound impact on the hospitality industry. For his leadership in expanding MICROS into one of the leading software companies in the hospitality industry, Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) inducts Giannopoulos into the International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame. Also inducted this year is Cindy Estis Green, managing partner of The Estis Group. The inductions take place at the 2009 Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC ®) General Session on Tuesday, June 23 at 8:30 a.m.

“I am extremely honored, excited, and humbled to be selected for induction into the International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame,” stated Giannopoulos. “The hospitality industry has given me the unique opportunity to collaborate with some very talented, insightful and innovative people. It has been a true pleasure. I share this honor with all MICROS employees worldwide whose hard work has contributed to this induction."

During his 18 years with MICROS, he has led the company from $35 million in revenue with products servicing only the restaurant industry to a $954 million company that is a leading provider of enterprise applications for restaurants, hotels, casinos, motels, leisure and entertainment and retail operations. When Giannopoulos first started with MICROS, it was a subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric Corp, where he worked for over 25 years. When Westinghouse divested of its ownership of MICROS, Giannopoulos left Westinghouse to lead MICROS from a small cash register company into a company that provides enterprise applications for the hospitality and retail industries worldwide.

Over 310,000 MICROS systems are currently installed in hospitality and retail operations in more than 130 countries, and on all seven continents. In addition, MICROS provides property management systems, central reservation and customer information solutions under the brand MICROS-Fidelio for more than 25,000 hotels worldwide.

In 2000, MICROS’ OPERA software revolutionized the industry by providing operators the ability to share information across multiple applications and properties on a single database while providing the necessary enterprise software solutions and tools for Property and Central operations. Today, OPERA is one of the industry’s most comprehensive software for property management and core central systems.

In the past several years, Giannopoulos has spearheaded the launch of myfidelio.net, an e-commerce solution for the hospitality industry, as well as Simphony™, MICROS’s first software as a service offering that is an enterprise, service-oriented architecture (SOA,), point-of-sale (POS), hospitality product. Giannopoulos is also an avid supporter of hospitality programs, and has donated the OPERA and MICROS POS software to many key colleges and universities for education purposes.

The International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame is HFTP’s highest level of recognition in the area of technology. Since its inception in 1989, 29 individuals have received this award as a reflection of their contributions to the hospitality industry. Hall of Fame members have been selected by their peers as representing the best in innovation and application and as leaders in their profession.

Technology Hall of Fame members include such industry pioneers as: Robert S. Bennett; David Berkus; Richard Brooks, CHA; John D. Burns, CHA; Dave Burroughs; John Cahill, CHTP, CHA; Thomas Castleberry; Larry Chervenak, CHAE; John Davis III; Scott Heintzeman; Fraser Hickox; Robert Horgan; Ted Horner; Jon Inge, CHTP, ISHC; Michael Kasavana, Ph.D., CHTP; Carrol Lund; Richard Moore, CDP; Jack Morgan; Richard Nauman; William Oates; Eric Orkin; Raymond Schultz; Penelope Sellers; Jules Sieburgh, CHTP; Richard Siegel; Sal Spano, CHAE, CHA; John Springer-Miller; James Yoakum; and George Zugmier.

About HITEC
HITEC, produced by HFTP, is the world's largest hospitality technology exposition and conference. The conference is June 22-25 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. It offers attendees a one-stop shop for essential education, access to experts and hospitality technology vendors, networking with top leaders in the industry and the resources to find cost-effective ways to improve company bottom lines.

Visit www.hitec.org for complete information about all conference and exhibition events, including a full conference schedule, Buyer's Guide, a map of the exhibit hall and the most current HITEC news. For more information, contact the HFTP Meetings & Special Events Department at [email protected], (800) 646-4387 or +1 (512) 249-5333.

About HFTP
HFTP, Austin, Texas, USA and Maastricht, The Netherlands, founded in 1952, is the global professional association for financial and technology personnel working in hotels, clubs and other hospitality-related businesses. HFTP provides first class educational opportunities, research, and publications to more than 4,800 members globally including, the premiere hospitality technology conference HITEC--founded in 1972. HFTP also awards the only hospitality specific certifications for accounting and technology --the Certified Hospitality Accountant Executive (CHAE) and the Certified Hospitality Technology Professional (CHTP) designations. HFTP was founded in the USA as the National Association of Hotel Accountants. For more information, visit http://www.hftp.org/.

Katy Walterscheidt | Media/Public Relations Specialist
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP)
11709 Boulder Ln, Ste 110
Austin, TX USA 78726-1832
Ph: +1 (512) 249-5333 | (800) 646-4387 (US) x27
Fx: +1 (512) 249-1533
http://hftp.org/   http://www.hitec.org/   http://www.hftp.org/GUESTROOM20x

HFTP is now on Twitter, follow us