Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals is warning attendees of its Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition & Conference 2014 about housing pirates (described by HFTP as unauthorized housing providers that approach exhibitors and attendees with fraudulent offerings of hotel rooms, request credit card information for "existing" reservations and provide false information regarding extended show dates). "Making a reservation through Orchid Event Solutions - the official HITEC Housing Bureau - is the only way to receive proper customer service from HITEC if you have a housing issue during booking or onsite. Booking through an unofficial housing company puts you at risk for losing significant deposits, hotel reservations, and discovering hidden costs," said Frank Wolfe, CAE, CEO of HFTP, in an email notice specifically alerting recipients about this concern. The widespread problem of unauthorized room providers contacting attendees was underscored last week with the announcement that the Convention Industry Council's Accepted Practices Exchange, known as APEX, has formed a new work group that will take on the issue of room-block poaching (click
here to read more).