Dubai, 9 March 2016: Headquartered in Dubai, INTEREL, the world's fastest growing manufacturer of integrated room technologies in the luxury, upper-scale and cruise line hospitality industry, took first place in the 2016 Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) TechOvation Awards with its TCP/IP-based Water Management System, a world’s first for the hospitality industry. The event was held at the HTNG North American Conference in Amelia Island, Florida.

The HTNG TechOvation Award was created to recognize and reward technology innovation in the global hospitality industry. The awards, which had an impressive 15 vendor entries this year, saw contestants present their innovation before a live audience of registered conference attendees, investors and a distinguished panel of judges, comprising top hotel IT executives and consultants. Finalists had the opportunity to present their product in a second round with the winner being selected through live voting by the conference attendees.

INTEREL's new TCP/IP-based Water Management System allows guests to have instant control over the water flow and temperature in their room. This means they can select personal water preferences with the simple touch of a button, instead of struggling with adjusting unknown basin and shower faucets till they find their preferred temperature. Through the integration with the INTEREL online Guest Room Management System, different maximum water temperatures can be predefined based on guest or housekeeping presence in the room. The controls also allow guests to select their preferred settings and the 'Eco' mode automatically selects the most water and energy-efficient settings, allowing guests to contribute to the hotel's sustainability program even further.

Hotels benefit from significant water and energy OPEX savings, access to online real time water consumption data, as well as fewer leaks and a longer life for the property's plumbing infrastructure, as pipes within the room are no longer required to be under pressure. Along with these advantages comes a major CAPEX saving on the plumbing infrastructure of each room, as the innovative solution replaces the two traditional hot and cold pipes with one blended guest room water pipe system during the construction of the hotel.

“We at INTEREL truly appreciate the support and validation of HTNG and the hospitality industry's technology leaders”, said Group CEO Florian Gallini in accepting the award. “We trust the industry will recognize the immense opportunity for water savings and sustainability that the INTEREL Online Water Management System delivers and the social responsibility that comes with it.”

As a Platinum Industry Partner, INTEREL has been an active member of HTNG since early 2012. This was the third time the company entered the awards competition, being named the winning submission last year for its ‘connectBsmart’ Beacon Framework and first runner-up at the 2013 awards for its Augmented Reality Room Control App.