HITEC 2027 guide: How to book a productive week in Orlando

HITEC 2027 runs June 28–July 1 at the Orange County Convention Center’s West Concourse, Halls C and D. The published exhibit schedule covers June 29–July 1.^[1][2]

Hospitality technology is easiest to evaluate when the trip itself is organized. A workable HITEC plan gives your team enough time to see products in context, compare notes, and leave the show floor before every conversation blurs together.

What is HITEC and who is it for?

HITEC is the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference produced by Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals. The 2027 North America event is scheduled for June 28–July 1 at the Orange County Convention Center’s West Concourse in Orlando, with exhibits in Halls C and D.^[1][2]

The audience includes hotel technology and finance leaders, property operators, security teams, digital guest-experience specialists, vendors, consultants, and executives responsible for choosing or integrating hospitality systems. HFTP’s expect a global audience from more than 60 countries.^[1] The full attendee program and registration details will be published closer to the event.

What makes HITEC 2027 worth the trip

Hospitality systems play a main role in front-desk work, payments, room operations, distribution, security, finance, and the guest journey. HITEC allows teams the opportunity to examine those connections in person. Here are a few of the ways you can do that:

• Live workflow review: Ask vendors to demonstrate the same property scenario from start to finish, including the handoff between guest-facing and back-office systems. A consistent scenario makes speed, usability, exceptions, and manual work easier to compare.
• Integration questions: Bring your architecture, data, and operational constraints instead of relying on a generic demo. Ask which interfaces are native, which depend on partners, how data is reconciled, and who owns a failed transaction or synchronization.
• Peer perspective: Compare implementation lessons with hotel operators and technology leaders facing similar decisions. Capture property type, portfolio model, rollout scope, and staffing so the lesson retains the conditions that made it true.
• Supplier meetings: Use the show to narrow a long list before deeper technical and commercial diligence. A good meeting ends with a defined next proof point — documentation, sandbox access, reference call, pricing clarification, or security review.

Hopefully you’ll come out with a short list of products, open questions, owners, and next tests.

Where to stay for HITEC 2027

The Orange County Convention Center is large, and HITEC is assigned to the West Concourse. A strong recommendation would be to choose a hotel based on the route to West Halls C and D rather than its distance to the center of the full campus.

Hotels by distance to the West Concourse

The official HITEC housing provider is Orchid Events, and the block is expected to open in January 2027.^[6] Be aware if any unsolicited housing offers that aren’t linked from official event channels.

The West Concourse cluster is a good choice if your team has early education, tightly scheduled demos, or equipment to carry.

Pointe Orlando adds restaurants and meeting options while remaining practical for most attendees on foot.

A wider resort-area hotel can make sense for price, loyalty, or a longer Orlando stay, but consider and verify the daily door-to-hall route and any shuttle frequency alongside the lower room rate.

HITEC hotel pricing

Navan’s anonymized Orlando city-level data for the same period in 2026 (June 28–July 2) included 372 hotel stays. The median nightly rate was $169, the median lead time was 11 days, and 59% of stays were booked within two weeks.

• 0–7 days before check-in: Median $141 across 165 stays.
• 8–14 days before check-in: Median $177 across 54 stays.
• 15–30 days before check-in: Median $170 across 71 stays.
• 31–60 days before check-in: Median $235 across 54 stays.
• 61 or more days before check-in: Median $270 across 28 stays.

HITEC flight trends

The same booking window included 1,274 inbound flight segments to the Orlando area, with 4.8% international. Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas–Fort Worth, and Seattle were the largest origin cities. If Monday programming is important, it’s advised to arrive Sunday so you have a flexible transfer window.

Book your HITEC trip with Navan Edge

Navan Edge is a personal executive assistant for business travel, powered by AI and human travel experts 24/7 in one cohesive chat. It can compare MCO flights, hotels near the West Concourse, and restaurants for a solo or team dinner using your specific preferences.

For any special request or if needed, human travel experts are available to enter the same thread with the existing itinerary already in context.

Get more value from your trip

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Set your Orlando budget before traveling

If you’re planning to attend HITEC 2027, budget for registration, airfare, lodging, taxes, local transportation, meals, and any vendor-dinner or team-meeting costs. HITEC crosses from June into July, but both dates fall within FY 2027, so the same federal fiscal-year schedule applies.

Federal per diem for Orlando

The FY 2027 Orlando benchmark is $145 per night for lodging and $80 per full day for meals and incidental expenses, for a combined daily total of $225 before lodging taxes.^[4]

The M&IE breakdown is $20 for breakfast, $22 for lunch, $33 for dinner, and $5 for incidentals; first and last travel days are $60 when the 75% federal reduction applies.

The $169 median in Navan’s city-level proxy was $24 above the federal lodging amount. Your company’s limit may differ, and the convention-center hotel mix can be more expensive than Orlando as a whole.

Other expenses to consider

• Registration and education: Separate the base pass from workshops, certifications, or other paid learning so the approval reflects what each traveler will actually attend.
• Hotel add-ons: Include resort, parking, destination, and service fees in the comparison. A lower room rate can lose its advantage once mandatory charges and the daily transfer are included.
• Ground transportation: Budget the airport transfer in both directions plus any rideshare required when heat or thunderstorms make a planned walk impractical.
• Meals: Check what registration provides and deduct included meals under your company’s policy. Keep vendor-hosted meals separate from the traveler’s own daily meal allowance.
• Team and supplier dinners: Decide who is paying, set the attendee list, and record the business purpose before the reservation. Larger Pointe Orlando groups may require a fixed menu or deposit.
• Equipment: Price checked baggage, shipping, storage, insurance, and return handling for demo devices rather than treating “shipping” as one line item.
• Weather buffer: Summer storms can disrupt flights and local movement. Keep changeable travel options or a small contingency instead of assuming the original itinerary will remain untouched.

Plan your HITEC agenda

Give each attendee a defined evaluation lane before you divide the floor. One person can focus on property operations, another on finance or payments, and another on security or integration, with a shared comparison template.

Public agenda at a glance

The event runs Monday, June 28, through Thursday, July 1, 2027. The official exhibitor schedule lists show-floor hours Tuesday through Thursday, with private appointment windows on Wednesday and Thursday mornings.^[2] however the complete attendee education schedule will be published closer to the event.

Build flexibility into your schedule

• Demonstrations: Give every priority vendor the same property scenario, user roles, integration constraints, and data questions. Ask them to show the workflow live and identify which steps require configuration, services, or another product.
• Coverage: Divide the floor by evaluation theme — property operations, guest experience, finance, payments, security, or infrastructure. Then regroup at a fixed time. If you’re attending in a group, sharing criteria and demos across different team members will allow each of you some breathing room.
• Movement: Avoid back-to-back appointments without time for notes and hall changes. Add the booth number and a contact method to the invitation so a delayed meeting doesn’t create a chain of missed appointments.
• Decisions: Mark each product as advance, hold, or stop before the next morning. Record the reason separately from the outcome and list the evidence still needed, such as a reference call, security document, integration diagram, or pricing clarification.

Reserve one daily slot for an unexpected category or startup. Discovery should improve the shortlist, without creating a second pile of products that nobody owns after the event.

What to pack and wear at HITEC

Orlando at the end of June is hot, humid, and wet. Normal highs are around 91°F, and lows in the low 70s, and June is among the city’s rainiest months.^[5] The halls are heavily air-conditioned, so pack accordingly.

Conference essentials

• Lightweight business-casual clothing
• Layers for cold exhibit halls
• A compact umbrella or light rain shell
• Two pairs of comfortable shoes
• Battery pack and charging cables
• Refillable water bottle
• Demo notes, test cases, or comparison template
• Protective case for any devices

Getting from MCO to the HITEC venue

MCO lists LYNX local bus service to the Orange County Convention Center area for $2, with boarding on the A-side Ground Transportation Level.^[3] Rideshare and taxi are more direct for travelers carrying equipment or arriving late.

Check the correct terminal and pickup zone before leaving baggage claim.

Beyond sessions: Test the guest journey on the show floor

When watching demos, ask everyone to show the same recognizable workflow — from booking or arrival through the operational and financial steps that actually matter to your team so they can be easily compared. Include an exception path: a room change, failed payment, offline device, disputed charge, or system outage often reveals more than the happy path.

At the end of each demonstration, note what you saw and what the presenter promised to provide later. Capture the implementation owner, data flow, support model, and dependency on other hotel systems. Those details help operations and IT teams evaluate the product together once you return home.

Leave room for one unexpected category or startup each day. The strongest comparison may come from seeing an alternative approach you didn’t include in the original shortlist.

Network with intention

To really get the most value out of operator conversations, ask about rollout, training, integrations, support, and what the team would change next time. Capture property type, portfolio size, operating model, region, and implementation context so the advice doesn’t lose its boundaries later. A lesson from a single luxury resort may not transfer directly to a franchised select-service portfolio.

Keep the highest-priority follow-ups small and specific. Within 48 hours, ask for the technical document, reference call, pricing clarification, or next demo that was actually discussed. If the conversation doesn’t justify a next step, record that decision instead of sending a vague note that keeps the evaluation artificially open.

It sounds obvious, but make a point of taking breaks for water, food, and a short note review. A packed floor schedule is counterproductive if the team can no longer distinguish one demonstration from the next.

What to eat at HITEC 2027

International Drive and Pointe Orlando offer the simplest options after a full day at the West Concourse. For a working dinner, consider a table where product and operational questions can be heard without shouting. Here are some local options for the types of meal you might be planning:

• Large team meal — Rodizio Grill at Pointe Orlando: Rodizio Grill is within walking distance of the Orange County Convention Center and publishes multiple private and semi-private spaces, with capacity for large corporate groups. The fixed service format can simplify a big team or supplier dinner, but confirm dietary needs and pricing before choosing the full rodizio menu.^[7]
• Client or executive dinner — Charley’s Steak House: Charley’s on International Drive is positioned for business dinners and offers several private dining spaces. It fits a smaller, higher-stakes discussion when the team wants table service and a defined room away from the busiest convention traffic.^[8]
• Informal working meal — The Hampton Social: The Hampton Social at Pointe Orlando is close to the convention center and offers a large patio, private dining room, and lounge. It can be great for a relaxed partner meeting or team conversation when a steakhouse format would feel too formal.^[9]

For any vendor-hosted dinner, confirm the business objective, guest list, payment arrangement, dietary restrictions, and cancellation terms before accepting. Keep the group small enough for the people evaluating the product to hear one another and leave with a defined follow-up.

You can ask Navan Edge for any of this information, and reserve restaurants in the same conversation as your flight and hotel.

Finish strong on departure day

The final day of any conference can feel tiring. Keep the momentum and productivity going by doing the following:

• Normalize the evidence: Photograph or organize handwritten notes before packing, then connect each file to the correct vendor and tested workflow. Label product claims that still require documentation or a proof of concept.
• Assign ownership: Give every serious follow-up an owner, due date, and expected output. “Request security documentation” and “schedule a property reference call” should remain separate tasks because they answer different questions.
• Check the airport plan: Confirm Orlando International Airport travel time, terminal, pickup zone, and summer storm conditions. Build extra room into the schedule when the final show-floor appointment ends near departure time.
• Close expenses: Save receipts through your company’s normal process; Navan Edge doesn’t provide expense management. Note the attendees and business purpose for group meals while the information is current.
• Run the product debrief: Schedule it for the following week and circulate the comparison sheet first. Use the meeting to narrow the shortlist and approve the next tests, not to reconstruct four days of booth conversations.

Make your HITEC 2027 trip count

HITEC is especially valuable when each demo is connected to a real hotel workflow, and every follow-up has an owner. Choose a West Concourse-friendly hotel, budget for Orlando’s summer conditions, and leave with a shortlist your technical and operating teams can test.

Thinking of going to HITEC 2027? Use Navan Edge to organize MCO flights, an International Drive hotel, and working dinners in one chat thread.