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This study was about adoption and automation of AI in hospitality. It gives great insight on the process as well as what people think of AI and their opinions. In addition to that, this study goes into different techniques that were used to understand how and why AI should be implemented. Human interaction cannot be beat, along with personal touch and humans can't remember everything a computer can, but if you have robots and humans working together you can get the best of both worlds. Smart technologies are now and the future.

This article remenisces on the biggest data breaches of 2019 where millions of people's social security numbers, financial data, medical records, and private information were exposed. Some of the 2019 data breach were cuased by third party app developers or hackers working alone. The data breach happened with Facebook, Capital One, Canva, Quest Diagnostics and DoorDash

This article overviews the three major technological trends of 2019. Those trends are as follows: Mircro-Intergration of Software Solutions which enable a seamless cohesion of third-party vendor's into the hotel's existing PMS sofware through programming. Frictionless Guest stay, the idea is to make guest stays more efficient by creating apps that are personal mobile concierge. Thus allowing guests to make the most of their time vacationing or "workationing" Employee Focused Technology, for the full service hotels, this idea will help with locating employees by installing panic buttons. Beacon Geolocators will provide the exact location of an employee once they press that panic button.

This is a great read discussing the technological advancements in the hospitality industry over the past few years. The article points out that the use of such technologies is inevitable in the future because "the hotel technology space is growing rapidly and software services are becoming increasingly targeted." The three top hospitality technology trends that the author provides for 2019 include micro-integration of software solutions, employee-focused technology, and the frictionless guest stay. Together with other existing and new inventions, these technologies will continue to shape the hospitality in the next few years.

This is a smart move, both from a environmental and a cost cutting perspective as refillable containers will likely reduce costs over the long run. Marriott has been looking at replacing this process for years (Marriott Banning Little Shampoo Bottles By 2020 Associated Press - https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/marriott-banning-little-shampoo-bottles-2020-n1047116) However, even Marriott admits that it doesn't have the process right yet. There will be a significant impact to smaller operators whom 1) Will be challenged with an additional increase in cost for new dispensary options 2) Have less access to big brand economy of scale purchasing which specialized dispensary products will require. Though this is as a policy almost a foregone conclusion, there seems little doubt that extensive thought has to be put into the impact on operators as a whole, and the customer made cognizant of the fact that costs will rise due to this change.

Is Shopify the new Amazon? If you do not know what Shopify is, it is an ecommerce platform for companies to use to sell their goods. It helps merchants to set up simple website store fronts and allows them to customize their store anyway they want. It also assists them will marketing campaigns, distribution, and shipping.

Very interesting article! This introduces Shopify as one the new ecommerce platform that allows individuals to set up the way they want to see their store front. It allows them to manage everything on this platform. Almost like a direct competitor to Amazon.Very interesting market for exponential growth!

(1 of 2) "The hospitality sector has always been a popular target for cyberattacks." This is the first line of this Recorded Future article published in January. The article discusses breaches that happened for both Marriott and British Airways and how this is a regular occurrence in the industry as it is such a big target with so many possible points that can be attacked. While the statistics for the hospitality industry have improved greatly in the last decade, in 2019, they were still accounting for 10% of all breaches. Not only does a breach affect the way an organization operates, but also it also severely effects their bottom-line and takes quite a but of time for them to recover. "According to Ponemon's 2019 Cost of a Data Breach Report, the average hospitality data breach costs $1.99 million to contain, at a cost per record of $123. These high costs are due in part to the time needed to adequately respond to a breach. On average, it takes 200 days to identify a hospitality data breach and a further 75 days to contain it." The article continues by stating that hackers are typically seeking payment card data when compromising the hospitality industry.

(2 of 2) The article then discusses the many reasons why it is so difficult for hospitality-oriented companies to secure their assets versus other organizations of similar stature. Some of these reasons include the large, complex networks which are typically publicly accessible and contain many customers in the databases, the fact that customers are always onsite and so are attackers, the high turnover leading to inconsistent training and sharing of credentials, franchisers owning the responsibility of security yet not knowing much about it, and the risk associated with all of the various third parties the hotels do business with. While intelligence has come a very long, "security professionals in the industry are tasked with defending highly complex networks with many endpoints against a constant barrage of attacks and a constantly churning workforce… [AND] they have limited security resources to work with." Comprehensive security intelligence systems are now capable of protecting many aspects of the organization. Some of these updated features include responding rapidly to security incidents, blocking online brand abuse and impersonation, managing third-party risk, reducing breach containment times, and better allocating security resources. Property data security is so important to the hospitality industry. If a business does not take the proper precautions to protect their systems and their customers, then it could lead to a devastating event for the business. While security intelligence has progressed within the last decade, a business needs to make sure that they have chosen a reliable agent to partner with who will produce consistent service. If the business keeps up with their system updates and protections, they should not have to worry about their security system failing.

Airlines around the world are sadly continuing to battle the ever lasting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently domestic airfare prices are down 5% since September 2019 and international fares down 8%. These price drops are expected after summer month travel exhaustion, although these prices are at a lower price than 2 years before. The biggest question within the industry right now is whether or not prices will see a steady uptrend in the coming months as we approach the holiday season.

In "How Technology has Shaped the Hospitality Sector in 2019," author Pranjal Prashar believes that the use of certain technological advances, will allow hotels to provide exceptional guest experiences. Prashar states that there has been an increase in the number of hotels that have recognized new and innovative technologies and have started to implement these advances to deliver a better guest experience. One of the benefits of using such advances as the PMS and RMS systems is that it can help hotels make data- backed decisions. In today's world, guest expectations have moved from basic needs such as clean rooms to including the need of an experience says Prashar. With millennial's projected to overtake baby boomers as America's largest population, I believe it is vital that the hospitality industry as well as other industries invest in technology to stay in front of the curve.

This article was written at the end of 2018 with discussion and predictions for Hospitality Technology in 2019. The majority of the new technology is centered around improving the guest experience with most of it related to the hotel industry. From self check-in kiosks like you see at the airport, to smart rooms in the hotel that sync with your phone and automatically show your netflix and other social media platforms on your tv.

Although this is just a briefing of what is included in the full report, it is clear that event planning is a growth industry. With the growth in smart devices and nearly universal internet coverage, hotels that have their own venues or are affiliated with a venue can almost not afford to have a piece of the event industry. By automating their processes, hotels and their event planners can increase efficiency and their bottom line.

This is an interesting article that describes some of the new technology being implemented to improve how employees are getting paid based on the current workforce's spending habits. These include the ability to be paid by debit cards, ability to be paid daily and have the flexibility to move the money around, AI intelligence to keep track of the employees' work hours on their own devices, and integration of many payroll functions into one platform. With so much technological advancement, it seems that payroll management is one that is still behind with many companies still working with the old clock in and out method which is time consuming.

Hospitality companies should begin to focus marketing tailored to the youth of America. Millennials are projected to become the largest demographic in the US by 2019, which means they are on track to surpass baby boomers in terms of purchasing power. Hotels should be looking to offer more ways to pay that just credit cards and cash with many more people using alternative paying methods such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal as their primary payment source

This article summarizes the findings taken from research done within the Expedia Group's global hotelier panel consisting of 1,215 hotelier participants that used a choice-based study to compare technology investments between defined hotel chains and small independent hotels. In summary, chain hotels were likely to invest twice as much in technology when compared to small independent hotels. Conversely, small independent hotels were likely to invest more in rooms reservations than chain hotels. The I.T investment strategy varied among the two hotel segments. Small independent hotels choose technology based on affordability, value, and complexity of technology, whereas chain hotels bought technology based on its ability to integrate into their existing systems, the price was not mentioned.

My opinion on this article surrounds my personal experience in the way I have been able to experience third party extranet portals and because of these enhancements that Expedia has developed for hotel partners, I have seen a tremendous amount of return on investment that goes into technology development. Many consumers have been influenced by these third party sites because they offer a type of experience that is different from traditional booking methods and often times consumers are able to snag cheaper rates than they would with booking hotel direct. I would like to see how this trend goes on in future years because I have seen more third party bookings in recent months and it should follow that trend for years to come.

The article focuses on applying technology in the hospitality industry, based on the study conducted by Expedia Group (Big Think). The article summarized the research study conducted on 1215 hoteliers worldwide, assessing the focus and prioritization of technology investments by these businesses. The study provides that Chain of hotels are twice as likely to invest in technology than SME in the hospitality industries, with these SMEs being 1.5 times more likely to invest in renovations. In the year 2019, approximately 54% of hotels focused on increasing their technology investments, with only 8% focusing on reducing the same. This provided that more hoteliers were willing to "stay ahead of the curve" than those that focused on adopting the "wait and see" approach. In this respect, hoteliers identified that their main technology investments were influenced by the value and affordability of the same and the capacity to integrate them with existing technologies. On the other hand, the main challenges associated with the technologies were complexity, affecting 25% of the respondents, and ease of use, affecting 33.33% of the respondents (Big Think). In focusing on technological advancement, the Expedia Group focused on technological elements such as Partner Central Mobile Application improvements, new "rooms and rate," page improvements, new "marketing" improved pages, new homepages adaptive, as well as multiple-property portfolio dashboards. With regard to the market perspective, digital marketing/website optimization, smart room, reputation management, revenue management, guest check-ins, and payment solutions were the main technological focuses for the hoteliers. Focusing on the reasons hoteliers were motivated to invest in technology, the study established that improving productivity, improving loyalty and repeat visits, improving guest experiences and reviews, reducing costs, and improving revenue generation topped the list.  

This was about the risks in the hospitality and tourism industry when it comes to big data and analytics. Big data is so important in the hospitality industry because it's how companies know who to cater to and with what and how. In addition to the importance of big data, there are risks that come with it. A few risks are data leaks, hackers, etc. Companies invest money in their systems so these things are avoided.

This lengthy article provides a grim outlook for the lowly skilled/paid worker in the workforce when technology has been applied to improve outcomes in management. The article insinuates that companies/employers benefit likely at the expense of employees who are affected by technological innovation. Three key points are emphasized in that surveillance capitalism, disruption innovation and techno-solutionism are behind the pushout of low-skilled workers. And companies are not providing a solution to improving a sustainable economy and sustainable workforce which are goals of the United Nations. However, the United Nation's goals are not keeping up with societal trends. Surveillance Capitalism can be construed as digital monitoring in the workplace. Used as a way to control and manipulate performance outcomes which may shift to automation if employees don't perform. Further disruption innovation is defined as a "disruptive product that has particular benefits that focus on the cheap and easy that have the power to overturn markets". This is seen with automating basic tasks in food service such as ordering. Finally, the use of technology as an excuse to "rationalize" cost-cutting/management changes is what is considered Techno-solutionism. This article highlights various technologies already in use in the industry, most with much success and a few that did not pan out. Trial and error, but at the cost of retaining employees.

Tourism is paying a heavy price to accommodate a growing trend making "people" expendable. The competition isn't comparable and unless we change our processes and thinking in how we use technology more jobs will be gone. We can't be an all-knowing, 24/7 never tires robot. The industry is undermining the value of a person. Ridding themselves of them has larger implications for society and our future. Eventually, it could be us too. What value do we offer? And how do we enhance humans over technology?

This press release article talks about how the Global Electronic Recycling Market is segmented on the lines of its type of processed material, type of equipment, source of equipment and regional. I find this interested because after watching the videos from this weeks module, my eyes have been opened to a world I once didn't know about. Computer recycling, electronic recycling or e-waste recycling aren't really recycling. This article is interesting to me because now I have knowledge of what really goes on behind the scenes.

Event Management Software market is valued at million US$ in 2019 and will reach million US$ by the end of 2025.

Google use of PM by using beacons for travel with information about the city. Information fades as consumers walk away, but if theirs a curiosity about an area or landmark, the information is provided.