HotelPlanner.com Winner of 2016 Florida Companies to Watch Award

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• USA - English

West Palm Beach, FL (PRWEB) August 23, 2016 -- HotelPlanner.com, the leading provider of online services to the global group hotel market, is designated as a top 50 statewide company expected to see significant growth over the next several years.

HotelPlanner.com was selected from more than 500 nominees for Florida Companies to Watch℠, a statewide program managed by economic development group GrowFL, in association with the Edward Lowe Foundation.

HotelPlanner.com’s experienced management team, technology leadership, global market position, and strong community involvement were factors that earned them recognition as being a top 50 statewide company.

“These stand-out companies are all led by entrepreneurs, and have demonstrated their capacity and intent to grow,” said Dr. Tom O’Neal, executive director of the Florida Economic Gardening Institute and associate vice president for the University of Central Florida’s Office of Research and Commercialization. “They also all have critical intellectual property or a niche position that gives them a competitive edge in their markets,” he said.

“We are very honored to be named a 2016 Florida Company to Watch by GrowFL,” said Tim Hentschel, CEO and Co-Founder of HotelPlanner.com. “Ever since we moved our company’s main corporate headquarters to West Palm Beach, FL, 5 years ago, we have seen a tremendous triple digit growth rate in sales, increased hotel membership to 100,000 quality hotels worldwide, and today produce over 500,000 group leads annually for hotel partners.

Co-Founder & CIO John Prince states, “From the beginning, HotelPlanner.com has been dedicated towards providing our customers with excellent service and great technology to deliver the best value in group hotel rates anywhere in the world.”

Joining HotelPlanner.com on the Florida Companies to Watch list are the following Florida-based businesses:

• Accusoft (Tampa)
• Aerospace Technologies Group (Boca Raton)
• American Elite Molding, LLC (Crestview)
• Analytics Partners (Jacksonville)
• Automotive Broadcasting Network (Jacksonville)
• Bracken Engineering, Inc. (Tampa)
• Brunet-García (Jacksonville)
• CO2Meter, Inc (Ormond Beach)
• DirecLogix (Fort Lauderdale)
• DynaFire, Inc. (Casselberry)
• Fattmerchant (Orlando)
• Findsome & Winmore (Orlando)
• Gator Cleaning Solutions (Odessa)
• GloFX (Tallahassee)
• Hell’s Bay Marine, Inc. (Titusville)
• HotelPlanner.com (West Palm Beach)
• InstaNatural (Orlando)
• Interactyx (Bonita Springs)
• Interventions Unlimited, Inc. (Oviedo)
• IT Authorities (Tampa)
• iVenture Solutions, Inc. (Jacksonville)
• Jeremiah’s Italian Ice (Winter Park)
• Jerry Harvey Audio (Orlando)
• JK2 Construction & Scenic (Apopka)
• JMX Brands (Sarasota)
• Karins Engineering Group, Inc. (Sarasota)
• Key Lime Interactive, LLC (Doral)
• LeanSwift (Cocoa Beach)
• Lumenier (Sarsota)
• NetDirector LLC (Tampa)
• Optym (Gainesville)
• OZNaturals, LLC (West Palm Beach)
• Pegasus Transportation (Orlando)
• PrimeGroup Insurance (Tampa)
• Private Label Skin (St. Petersburg)
• Progressive Dental (Clearwater)
• Residential Acoustics (Tampa)
• RISA (Land O Lakes)
• Science First (Yulee)
• TerraCom Direct (Melbourne)
• That’s Us Technologies (Tampa)
• The Spice Lab (Pompano Beach)
• VALiNTRY (Winter Park)
• Wicked Dolphin Distillery (Cape Coral)
• Widerman Malek, PL (Melbourne)
• Wood’s Fisheries, Inc. (Port Saint Joe)
• Woof Gang Bakery (Orlando)
• X-Link Medical Software Interfacing (Land O Lakes)
• Xeleum Lighting, LLC (Boynton Beach)
• ZIO (Winer Park)

“This is a strong group of companies that deserve this special recognition given annually to the state's top second stage companies,” said Dr. O’Neal. Second-stage companies are defined as those with six to 150 full-time employees and between $750,000 and $100 million in annual revenue. There are many programs and incubators promoting start-up businesses; GrowFL is the only Florida program that focuses exclusively on second-stage companies.

The 50 companies named the 2016 Florida Companies to Watch generated a total of more than $1.1 billion in revenue and added nearly 1,200 employees between 2012 and 2015.

Together, the companies project a 30 percent increase in revenue and 33 percent increase in job growth in 2016.

Companies named to the list will be officially recognized November 3rd at the Hard Rock Live, Universal CityWalk, Orlando.

For more information, visit growfl.com/flctw16.

About HotelPlanner:
HotelPlanner.com provides group hotel booking services to 3,000 groups per day in the global group travel market. The company’s group hotel booking service ensures the lowest rates by allowing customers to receive quotes online directly from hotel group sales managers. HotelPlanner allows customers to book hotels for business meetings, conferences, conventions, family reunions, weddings, extended stays, tours, military reunions, church events, and group travels. The company also provides mobile applications for booking group hotel reservations. The company owns and operates Meetings.com, a site that provides information, planning and booking services for group, meeting, and individual hotel stays for the corporate, associations and business to business enterprises. With a mission statement geared towards, “Bringing People Together,” HotelPlanner & Meetings.com are the global experts for hotel sourcing, providing direct clients and market leading affiliates with unmatched group and event discounted room rates plus localized service levels not available at other travel companies. Founded in 2002, the company has offices in London, England (European Headquarters), Hong Kong (Asian Headquarters), West Palm Beach, FL (USA Headquarters), and Las Vegas, Nevada.

More About GrowFL:
GrowFL provides strategies, resources and support, including strategic research and peer-to-peer CEO mentoring and leadership development, to second-stage Florida companies. Created by the Florida legislature in 2009 and grounded in the philosophy of Economic Gardening® — growing existing businesses in a community, region or state — GrowFL is a critical component of the state’s economic development strategy and Florida’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. GrowFL is certified by the National Center for Economic Gardening through the Edward Lowe Foundation. Website: growfl.com

About the Edward Lowe Foundation:
Established in 1985, the Edward Lowe Foundation is a national, nonprofit organization that supports entrepreneurship through research, recognition and educational programs, which are delivered through entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs). The foundation focuses on second-stage companies — those that have moved beyond the startup phase and seek significant, steady growth. In addition, the foundation has a second mission of land stewardship and is committed to preserving the natural resources and historically significant structures at Big Rock Valley, its 2,600-acre home in southwest Michigan.

Claudia Flores, HotelPlanner.com, http://www.HotelPlanner.com, +1 1-800-898-1347 Ext: 221, [email protected]