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This article talked about Hilton New York installs a new green roof system and cogeneration system. Those two IT investments are designed to reduce the hotel's overall carbon footprint. The green roof system represents a major investment by Hilton New York to benefit efforts in carbon capture, energy conversation, and reduction of Urban Heat Island effect. And the high-efficient, environmentally-friendly cogeneration system will provide in excess of 50 percent of hotel's electrical power and over 40 percent of its steam consumption for heating and hot water requirements.

This article talked about Hilton New York installs a new green roof system and cogeneration system. Those two IT investments are designed to reduce the hotel's overall carbon footprint. The green roof system represents a major investment by Hilton New York to benefit efforts in carbon capture, energy conversation, and reduction of Urban Heat Island effect. And the high-efficient, environmentally-friendly cogeneration system will provide in excess of 50 percent of hotel's electrical power and over 40 percent of its steam consumption for heating and hot water requirements.

This article talks about a group of New York City hotels that have pledged to become greener. Seventeen hotels have joined the NYC Carbon Challenge, an initiative originally created to get the city's universities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. These hotels have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30% in the next ten years, which can significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced by the city's buildings. This is all in an effort to reduce the city's overall greenhouse gas emissions 80% by the year 2050. The Office of Sustainability worked with the Hotel Association of New York City, a coalition of hotels in the city, to get this first group of hotels involved with this green initiative. The hotels that have already started working towards making their property greener are already on the right track to meeting their goals and these implementations will involve minor construction and little hindrance to guests. The article talks about some of the changes that these hotels are making, such as changing to LED light bulbs, installing more energy-efficient elevators, implementing sensors that turn off bathroom lights after a certain period of inactivity, and using an energy-conserving air-conditioning system. Although these changes will cost the hotels a hefty sum of front, they also know that these changes will save them money in the long run. Most of these changes will not be visible or known to guests, but people who want to stay someplace that is environmentally-conscious can educate themselves about what these hotels are doing.

Changes are coming for New York City hotel workers. A proposal between the Hotel Association of New York and the New York Hotel Trades Council would equip hotel staffers with personal panic alarms. Employees like house keepers are calling for the extra safety measures for fear of being assaulted in a guest room. Concern is also circulating outside New York in places like Sacramento, California. The personal security devices were tested on students at California State University at San Marcos last year. I believe hotels will begin to implement more measures like this in large cities like New York. Similar to airports and large department stores, safety is a major concern. I believe the personal panic button is a great idea for any hospitality space that accommodates a large number of people.

I think this new proposal may draw people's attention to employees' safety issues within the hospitality industry. It is also important for hotels and restaurants to make sure that their employees work in an environment that is danger free and threats free. The panic button can provide the instant location of the staff and once if something goes wrong, the time for rescue will be shorten. It is really a beneficial proposal for the entire hospitality industry.

Pending approval, personal panic alarms would be carried by staff members in all New York City hotels. These panic buttons would be carried by the staff member during their shift so that they are easily and quickly accessible should something happen. Fox News in Sacramento, CA reported that house keepers voiced their desire for more saftey measures to be put in place. Assaults on house keepers may be more common than people think. House keepers tend more often to be women and they tend to work alone or with only one other person. Hotels host many events in which guests may be drinking which in turn creates the potential for violent or inappropriate actions. Not only is the safety of guests important to the hospitality industry but safety of employees is paramount as well. Having personal panic buttons would give house keepers and workers alike more peace of mind should they encounter any uncomfortable or unsafe situation.

This article shows us that Hilton New York installs a green roof system which installed with a Cogeneration (Combined Heat & Power) System. The whole system was designed to reduce the hotel's overall carbon usage so that to promote the hotel's sustainable development. This kind of green roof system was located on the hotel's fifth floor rooftop and it represents a major investment by Hilton New York. They want to benefit from the carbon capture, energy conservation, and reduction the Urban Heat Island effect. According to the article, this green roof will support the local farming industries by using the locally grown plants come from an upstate farm in New York. These plants are well able to absorb airborne pollutants, and then to prevent lots of CO2 releasing. In addition, the solar radiation and the thermal load have been deflected and the energy previously expended in cooling the property would be reduced. These effects will be resulted in reducing the Urban Heat Island effect. The hotel also will install a highly-efficient, environmentally-friendly Cogeneration system that will provide more electrical power by using less resource. It will use clean and efficient natural gas as the new energy. All of these system are environmental friendly and doing well in sustainable development of hospitality industry.

The article describes the new IT feature installed in a flagship hotel of Mandarin Oriental Group of hotels - that is a WIFI feature installed into the walls of every guest room. Mandarin oriental New York is known as technologically savvy hotel, which adopts all new technology features, that appear in the market. Capacity, coverage and user density were major problems for the hotel before, but the time to change has come when iPhones and iPads hit the market and the need of new technologies has appeared.

This article tells us about 10 new innovations in the hospitality world. Mostly it is talking about some innovations in the hotel industry such as face recognition at the registrations, voice-controlled rooms, and smart amenities.

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to attend the New York City Food and Wine Festival Burger Bash.  This large scale event held 300 people and utilized 28 burger places to demonstrate their burger might.  The technology they used was interesting.  They first had ticket scanners that corresponded with bracelets, clearing you for admission.  They gave everyone coins to vote in a process that would declare the Burger champion.  On stage, they had many microphones, with a whole band rocking out.  They used ID scanners to check how old people are.  I think that this event utilized effectively technology, but only used somewhat dated means due to their relaxed nature.  It was highly successful, but in terms of tech, very simplistic.

New York Fiesah is an online marketplace that connect NYC event planners and all kinds of vendors in a much easier manner. The event planner signs into Fiestah"s dashboard, they input the items they need and then vendors place bids to fill in those needs. Fiestah generates revenue by taking a 10 percent cut of each transaction. Another thing Fiestah provides for both parties is that the payment is held in escrow until the vendor completesits task, meaning both sides need to get what they want first. This will make sure both parties can get what they want. Testah team has been hard at work building out the marketplace, introducing themselves to lots of NYC business, and trying to get traction. The next thins on the company's long to -do list is to create full merchant profiles with the ability to rate vendors some time in the next few months. Also Fiestah plans to bring its market place to a next city - San Francisco.

The article talks about an online company in New York that was designed by Nurul Yahya called Feistah. It's an online event planning that allow all kind of vendors in a much easier manner then what's described above. The event planner simply signs into Feistah dash board input what "item" they need for event and then vendors place bids to fill in those needs. The company generates revenue by 10 percent cut of each transaction. In the next thing on the company's long to-do list is to create full merchant profiles with the ability to rate vendors sometime in the next few months. Fiesta next expansion is to startup in San Francisco.

Safety and security is crucial when it comes to the tourism industry. Traveling in the Caribbean has increased from 1980 to 2004, from 6.9 million in sales to 21.8 million. I am sure now that it's 2012 this amount has tripled. Tourism is worldwide and a very competitive industry. The consumer has to spend a good amount of money just to be able to afford traveling by cruise, or airplane to a good hotel (Possibly a Travel Package) just to be able to stay in the Caribbean some more so than others. So at this point in time the consumer is also sensitive to the tourism product since it is perceived as subjective and experimental. Tourism, therefore; becomes highly aware to these perceptions of any possible danger in traveling to the Caribbean and security in your stay there. Since 9/11/01 this became highly evident that the safety of your consumers is extremely important into providing excellent service in the traveling industry.

Tourism security is something that all travelers are worried about. People coming from all over the world to see a new place are excited to explore their new surroundings. Safety and security are key to providing quality in tourism. The success or failure of any tourism destination strictly depends on being able to provide a safe and secure environment for tourist. We all have some concerns about our safety when it comes to booking our next trip. This is highly understood with all the massive attacks thats going on around us. For instance New York city is one of the most busiest in America it also know for the tragic 9/11 incident that took the lives of thousands of innocent people. New York recently had an explosion that injured 29 people in Manhattan just last year September. With incidents like this happening it effects airport business many passengers are not content flying into NYC. The inclination of tourist from different parts of the world fell sharply after 9/11 according to World Tourism Operation international tourist arrivals slumped by 1.3 percent in 2001

Every year, NRF hosts a large retail conference in New York City to debut new technology for the new year. At the 2020 Retail's Big Show, some of the most innovative technology was displayed for all to see. Technology including: FaceFirst, Elo, and Kiosk.

The Intelity's ICE is a new virtual concierge program, as a digital supplement to its renowned "GEM" (guest engagement manager) service, which is established in Mogans hotel in New York. By launching the Intelity's ICE, nearly all guests' requirements can be accomplished quickly, for guests can explore the amenities in the hotels, search for events in the city, buy tickets and communicate with the hotel working staff through an ipad in each room. Not only that, but the hotel managers also find it a great program to communicate with the working staff. To the hotel managers, they think that the program can enhance customer service and increase communication opportunities as well as heightening operational efficiencies

I found the mobile app to be most interesting because my article disscussed that as well. I feel that the mobil app will certainily create a unique experience for the visting guest. By going digital there are many benefits to not only the guests but the environment as well. There will be longer be a need for plastic room keys, or large amounts of paper. Hotels will be able to save expenses and man power by providing systems like the new virtual concierge program. In particular, you won't need to hire so many people to book reservations over the telephone. Everything can be done through the Ipad which most people have now a days anyway. However, I would feel better if there was trouble shooter around should the guest not be able to comprehend the technologic system.

Hey all, here is something interesting I found. It is an article that talks about E-waste and how it is being dealt with in the United States. Over the course of the last decade, many people have come to the realization that electronics, such as televisions and computers could be potentially harmful if not disposed of in the right way. States like Maine have implemented laws, where it is mandatory for people to recycle their products. The laws are intended to prevent a torrent of toxic waste and outdated electronic equipment. The article states, throughout the entire nation an average of 99.1 million televisions sit in people's closets and are unused. Places like Washington State have responded well to the problem. Over the course of a few years, Washington has dumped almost 15 million pounds of E-Waste. Other States Like New York and New Jersey, have banned throwing televisions in regular trash. It is mandatory to take them to a recycling station.

It's time to be green! LET'S RECYCLE!

Frank, I completely agree with your stance on recycling. It really is time for people to take responsibility and care about our planet. With the rapid rate at which technology is being updated, electronic waste will just continue to grow. I am glad that laws are being formed to cope with this tremendous issue. I agree with this statement from the article: '"We think it is unreasonable that an individual industry be designated as trash collector," Mr. Fannon said.' I agree with Fannon's view that local governments should help with recycling electronic waste. I agree because something definitely needs to be done, but the responsibility should not be placed on one group.

The Kimberly hotel located at 145 East 50th Street in New York City became Manhattan's and New York's first hotel to utilize touch screen technology in its guest rooms. The technology is provided by Intelity, an Orlando based hospitality software solution company. The touch screen use a prgram called ICE (Interactive Customer Experience) to allow guests to order room service, check flight status, express check outs, check destinations using Google maps, and even the ability to print their boarding pass. This software and touch screen technology will definitely increase employee custoemr service and reduce guest wait time. Hotel personnel will be able to spend more time with the guest because many of the tasks will be literally at the guests fingertips. The hotel will save money because they will not need to staff as much because of the automated system. Fantastic technology.

One of the biggest complains received from travelers or hotel guests in New York is paying for Wi-Fi and not being able to get cellular data service. While wired and wireless service was available, the lack of cell phone signal for downloads and data service caused travelers to become frustrated. To help out, the Mandarin Oriental, New York decided to deploy a converged IP network and install the Ruckus Wi-Fi wall switches in every room to help with cellular and wireless capacity and coverage. Since installing the Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi system, Mandarin Oriental, New York has seen user capacity more than triple and wireless traffic eclipse traffic on the wired network, while customer wireless complaints have dropped by more than 85%.(But the benefit isn't just for the guests. According to the hotel, the new wall-switch Wi-Fi "dramatically reduces the cost and complexity of installing and managing wired and wireless network services."

This is awesome, especially in New York where the wi-fi traffic is crazy busy all the time. It is true that most guests do complain about having to pay for the wi-fi. I work at a hotel and that is one of the most complaints that I get. Even though in the article they say that the guests still have to pay for the wifi, it does allow the guest to have the confidence that they will receive a strong signal and that the internet will work.

New York City union employees are trying to secure a contract that would include a 29 percent wage increase for workers in big hotels. Hotels will also increase contributions to worker pension funds to 10.5 percent of total payroll. That's opposed to the former 9 percent. The seven-year proposed contract would affect some 30 thousand employees and could raise some housekeeper salaries as high as 60 thousand dollars. In perspective, New York City has the highest yearly hotel occupancy rate of anywhere else in the world, at 85 percent. Room rates are well over 200 dollars. It's understandable how Hilton, Hyatt and other large brands can afford to negotiate with union demands. I foresee that the accounting departments in many of the big hotels will be quite busy making the adjustments if the proposed plan is accepted after Monday's vote.

The Caribbean Tourism Organization presented this event to communicate investment opportunities in the Caribbean. The choice of New York as a venue was a very strategic choice as this is an international investors mecca to the West. Forums featured private equity firms, renewable energy firms, and assorted tourism representatives from many of the island nations throughout the Caribbean. "If you are a private equity investor, investment banker, financier, real estate developer, hotel chain executive, lawyers, architect or entrepreneur, looking to grow your money and do business in an emerging market that is on the up and up, then this is a can't miss event," said Felicia Persaud, convener of Invest Caribbean Now and CEO of Hard Beat." Also offered is a Trade Show and Educational Seminar for Travel Agents, and government representatives were available to provide in-depth information for journalists and tourism professionals. This event is the perfect type of forum of destination based tourism agencies to market their locations not only for further investment and development, but to showcase a variety of features and benefits. As an aspiring meeting professional, such a seminar is the perfect example of showing a prospective client that while brochures, marketing advertising, and other forms of media can tell a lot about a place, nothing beats having some of the actual people, food, music, clothing, sounds and smells that can all be recreated at full-scale events to provide the perception of a full sensory experience. This experience will create a desire to go and be a part of that destination unmatched by any other form of marketing.

This article discusses the InterContinental New York Barclay Hotel's mission to become New York's most sustainable hotel. In order to do so, the Barclay has aligned its own initiates with those of the United Nations and look to follow its standards 100% by 2010. Some of these initiatives include donating unused toiletries to impoverished nations as well as partnering with New York's Repeat Roses, an organization that reuses floral arrangements from weddings and other events for nursing homes and hospitals.

Infogensis POS continues to grow in usage. Next month they will appear at the ICE Totally Gaming Conference to promote their usage for gaming hotels and resorts. Earlier this year, the company solidified a new contract with The Mark Hotel in New York City. Imran Raja, the Director of Technology for The Mark Hotel said, "with Infogensis we have the best of both worlds- a combination of fixed and mobile point-of-sale solutions that deliver comprehensive functionality and maximum flexibility." This new luxury NYC hotel features traditional hotel rooms and residences, a full service salon, and multiple dining options. Infogensis Flex is one of the many reasons why this POS is growing in popularity. It offers hotels the use of a tablet touchscreen in which there are multiple language and menu options to help streamline F&B operations. The property I currently work for utilizes Infogensis POS. It is easy to edit menu options and prices, switch to different outlet menus, and easy for new employees to learn.