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The cases of terrorist attacks of hotels increasing. To reflect this situation, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) cooperate with Department of Homeland Security to classify the security situation and work on security environment of lodging. To improve the security environment, the AH&LA had meetings discussing about attacks alert, security apparatus, and practical and logistical aspects to hotel security. For many years, AH&LA provided e-mail notices to its members alerting hoteliers improve the immediate security environment. With more and more terrorism and tremendous risks, AH&LA coordinated media and government, and produced security training to help hoteliers to protect and guard the hospitality industry.

So, for the consumers that are used to booking their vacations by themselves, I don't think this article applies to you. For the ones that are trying to save money by not going through a travel agent, I think thesis the article for you. A study conducted by AH&LA shows early signs that almost 2.5 million bookings for hotel properties made online through "fake websites" are being accounted for. This is a huge security issue. Consumers are booking their travel thinking that they are getting certain room types, ample amenities, amazing discounts, and good deals, but turns out they are just getting scammed. Other then not making the clients happy, this also hurts the reputation of the hotel property because when things don't go our way or something happens, we tend to blame the property. And in today's society, most take to the internet to voice their opinions in addition to speaking with the hotel; and bad word-of-mouth is the last thing our industry needs. Also, this can lead to loss of revenue. The survey stated that 56% of customers prefer to book directly with the hotel. It is always recommended to book directly through the property themselves, but for the new guys, how are they supposed to differentiate the difference between real and fake websites? 

1. IT The hot-button issue within the realm of hotel-information technology is mobile and cloud technology.A company could have tens of thousands of smartphones or laptops in the field at any given point-each a potential gateway to hackers and other criminals. To the problem the core principle is to provide end-to-end data protection with looking at cost and benefit and how it's supports the business. 2. Terrorism Ironically, one of the main reasons terrorism tops the list is because it has become less of an issue in recent years.Hoteliers need to keep their staffs and travelers mindful of possible threats, but they don't want to scare them. 3. Skimmers A related threat is that of "skimmers," or devices that catch credit card numbers when consumers use them for payment.The best prevention measure is to have an investigative team or third party on hand and making that known to employees. 4. Liability and insurance fraud These two related issues can double, triple, quadruple and quintuple corporate insurance premiums in the blink of an eye. The advisement is hoteliers to educate themselves on the issue, consulting with an attorney, if necessary. 5. Security as taboo "Security" still is something of a taboo in the global hotel industry.Hoteliers need to do a better job of "turning on the light" by talking about security openly and regularly at staff and association meetings, and hotel executives should insist their GMs make security a priority

1. ITAccording to the article, most mobile devices that are used for business are unprotected. Meaning that the devices if the device even have a password and if it does the password is not very complex. There could be thousands of employees accessing company information via the cloud through unprotected smart phones or other mobile devices. This could organizations at risk to hackers and other criminals  2.  TerrorismAlthough terrorist threats are less of a concern nowadays, that does not mean hotel managers should discontinue stressing the importance of security within their establishments. Keeping employees aware and diligent can prove to be a delicate assignment but it is a necessary of part of maintaining a safe work environment in the twenty-first century. 3.  SkimmersSkimmers are devices that steal credit card numbers when consumers use them for payment. Unfortunately, it is most commonly an employee on the inside who is committing the crime.  A third party investigation team will be needed to prove who is stealing from the establishment.  4. Liability and Insurance FraudCombined, these two issues could sky rocket a company's insurance costs through the roof. It is crucial that hoteliers be aware of the legal system and educates themselves on issues concerning liability. Both patrons and employees alike could potentially file claims against an establishment and entitlements can quickly get out of hand.    5.  SecurityDespite the best security measures, there is always the possibility of unforeseen danger. This fear of the unknown is a concern for hotel workers. To confront this fear of the unknown managers must regularly and openly discuss security with employees.  Security should be held as a top priority. 

This article discusses five main concerns brought on by the current state of hotel security. I must say that some of this information surprised me. Something that especially surprised me was learning that mobile devices that are used for business hardly use passwords. The article states, "Amplifying the problem is the sheer number of devices, he added. A company could have tens of thousands of smartphones or laptops in the field at any given point-each a potential gateway to hackers and other criminals." This piece of information is very unsettling to me. How could such valuable information not be protected? The article suggests the solution to this problem is PCI DSS. Terrorism as number two on this list also surprised me because that is not something that would first come to mind for me. The article states that it is ironically on the list for becoming less of an issue. I suppose this reminds hoteliers to never let their guard down when it comes to issues of safety and security within the hotel. However, "skimmers" and liability on this list does not really surprise me. The article suggests that hoteliers be educated about these issues to protect the hotel against them.

More than 52,000 surveys were completed by the American Hotel & Lodging Association regarding various concepts of hotels. As for this weeks theme: Hotels report that ecofriendly practices are still a top priority. According to the website, water saving programs are in use at 75% of properties and about the same about have a linen and towel reuse program. Although a short article, the results from the survey were able to be found. The numbers prove that the hospitality field is clearly moving towards a greener foundation; whether that is because of political pressure of because they actually care about the environment is till up for grabs.

This new technology is very interesting to see for many travelers. When you arrive at a hotel in the late night, the least thing you want to do is standing in line to wait for check in. Or when there is a flight to catch, you don't want to wait in line to check out either. With this phone/ mobilized app, it's possible to do all the front desk work by yourself, save time and energy, and be more controllable of your own free time. 

The article focuses on various past decade information technologies which significantly changed the way the hotel industry controls and manages operation. Information technology security is controlling access to sensitive electronic information so only those with a legitimate need to access it is allow. There are three main objectives for information technology security these are confidentiality, integrity and availability of data.While many technologies have been utilized, some newer technologies have emerged in the literature , practice and many of them impact the hotel's security. Australia joins security crackdown on tech in the Middle East airport. Airline passengers flying from the Middle East to Australia faced an increased scrutiny and potential delay with the introduction of new electronics screening processes in three major transit airports. In addition, Instagram added two factor authentication to the photo and video sharing social network, which increase there security measures for their 600 millions users.

This article talks about how companies make the grave mistake of thinking that cybersecurity is merely an issue that should be addressed by an IT team and that no one else is responsible for addressing risks and understanding them. Most C-suite employees don't understand what the risks are, and usually these risks vary from company to company. It is not that you should only consider that you can get hacked, but you should consider and identify what kinds of information can get hacked and why. The article denotes an example of an Asian automobile company that needed to implement a new system to mitigate security risks and in the process, ended up locking up other companies who needed to use their systems to find out about their products. So those companies started to create fake profiles to try and access the information -- all so that they could just do their job. This showed that people are more interested in just getting their job done than understanding cybersecurity and why certain systems are in place. The way of thinking up security systems should be creative and involve all parts of an organization. Departments won't know what their role is until they identify what information is important to them, what their purpose is in the company, and what is valuable to them. By identifying this, they can come up with ways to secure this information and monitor its delivery. Businesses don't look at cybersecurity as a risk of their business just as a shipping company would look at weather risks as a potential threat to their revenue. It is looked at as more of an abstract concept and this stops people from implementing successful strategies to keep their information safe. Cybersecurity shouldn't be viewed as "so impenetrable" that no one would ever understand it. This requires everyone to get involved and understand the implications of cybersecurity on their own work, specifically, and identify who their main adversaries may be.

During the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, restaurants have been searching for ways to make profit now that many of them have been closed, or are operating on 25% or less. DoorDash, the leader in online ordering platforms, is determined to assist these failing independent restaurants the best they can. To help, they have established the DoorDash Storefront, which is a

This article talks about new technology advancements that will greatly help the event management industry elevate the guest experience and efficiency. Sensory experiences are a big trend and with some of these technological advancements, it will allow for event planners to create unique offerings such as video mapping, virtual reality, augmented technology, etc. Facial recognition and drone technology will aide in improving security measures. Mobile Apps can create customized apps for events with all the information in one place. The planning and execution of large scale events will become more effective with the aid of these and other new technology, which will benefit the planners and attendees alike.