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Hospitality Industry is seeing a increase in bookings of hotel rooms, airplanes reservations, and even dining reservations through mobile devices. Expedia website belives there will be an increase to 32 million people using mobile devices to book hospitality venues in 2016. Expedia has also noticed that many people are booking same night hotel reservations from their mobile devices. Many people who are using their mobile devices for booking are under the age of 30 years old. National Restaurant Association also confirm that a younger generation is using mobile technology to find a restaurant, from booking a reservation, to looking at menus, also even ordering their meals and paying for it using their mobile devices. Another thing is that mobile devices are being used to do research on restaurants and reading reviews before choosing a particular venue. A downfall to this mobile outbreak is how do hospitality establishments respond to bad reviews. The response to a bad review can make or break your establishment in my opinion. Many restauant owners are asking themeselves how can I take this social and mobile technology and introduce it to my concept and goals. So my feeling is that the hospitality industry is embracing mobile and social technology as it grows. However, are they embracing it fast enough? It seems to me the customers who use mobile and social technology are growing more rapidly.

It will be soon that all hotels go to using mobile check-in. We have implemented it on our current Hilton hotel and this technology gives the guest the power to pick their own room within the hotel, electronically check in from their phone, as well as use their phone screen code to unlock their room door. It all but eliminates the need of a front desk staff upon a guest's arrival. Without the personal communication I believe that some of a guest's experience is taken away, however there is no slowing down this technology and the use of it within the hotel industry. I agree in the fact that management has to stay educated and up to speed about how all of this technology operates as well as the affects it can have on their operational scores. On a positive side, management might cut some of their labor costs by having this technology act as a sort of hourly employee.

The hospitality industry is experiencing a technological transformation. Current technology is improving and being put to better or new uses. According to this article in Hospitality Magazine, there are seven technologies that are taking the industry by storm. 1. Online Booking Systems I agree with the many industry insiders that now consider an online booking system essential. Penetrating the online marketplace is an absolutely mandatory part of the formula for success. However, opinions differ when it comes to how to accomplish this aspiration. As expressed in the article "Taking back control of the direct channel for hotels" posted on the class ScoopIt!, using online travel agents as a properties online booking system has easy setup and maintenance but lacks true customization and can put a sizable dent in profit margins, but building and utilizing a 100 percent customized system does not necessarily grant instant access to hundreds of travels sites on the web. Over all, I am of the opinion that online travel agents are still the best option-for now-because the pros out way the cons. 2. Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) Primarily used for mobile or self-ordering, EPOS systems can replace waitresses' use of paper orders and remote/hidden POS systems. In my opinion, this streamlines the look of the restaurant floor and provides better and more instantaneous service. Panera Bread uses self-order tablets as some of their locations that allow customers who know what they want to order traditional menu items quickly and independently. Having used this system, I find it more of a novelty than a convenience because the system isn't exactly self-explanatory. Currently, the technology is much more enjoyable as an aid to waitresses where the restaurant can experience increased efficiency and a higher standard of service while guests can experience the "that's cool" factor without the frustration of having to navigate the service themselves.

3. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) CRM technology provides efficient electronic storage and management of contracts and customer information and many versions also feature cloud-based applications that provide easy access to frontline employees. Electronic storage and online back-up are not totally new ideas (i.e. the floppy disc) and despite the long way these technologies have come is, in my opinion, not enough to do away completely with paper back ups. Even with electronic files, my previous property kept basic papers for 1 year and more sensitive files for much longer. Basically, CRM technology is something we should utilize more, but I doubt many will do away with a paperback up system anytime soon. 4. Marketing Automation Automatic email and text communications have been made possible by the development and improvement of marketing automation technology. Having worked with this type of technology, there is not an overabundance of companies/technologies from which to chose; however, the technology available various greatly in effectiveness and quality. In my opinion, Constant Contact is the best marriage of quality and ease of use for marketing automation technology available. This type of marketing can really step us a properties game, but beware of poor performing products. 5. Social Media According to the article, photos are the most popular posts by social media users, but the arena has become a bonafide space for reviews. While sites such as TripAdvisor and Expedia provide a niche arena for travel/tourism/hospitality related communication, general social media sites also invite open, unfiltered discussion. Whole social media is BIG, it is important for companies to assess and utilize only the social media outlets that their demographic are actively using.

6. Smartphones Smartphones are already super convenient. They are constantly being integrated and synced with our daily lives. Applications such as Apple Pay, in combination with CapitalOne, have provided another level of integration. Currently, there is talk and work on guests being able to use their cell phones as hotel room keys but I wouldn't be surprised if in the future we will have QR Code or RFID storage for our driver licenses, insurance policies and other important information. 7. Smart Appliances A part of American households for sometime, smart appliances are beginning to make their way into the hospitality industry. Luxuries such as electronically controlled blinds, thermostats, lights and more are something we can expect to see in hotels sometime in the future. My biggest concern is the time between now and implementation because while these products are available for purchase by consumers directly, they have not taken off nor seemed to gain any ground in the typical household. Could the hospitality industry be just as slow to adopt these technologies? I believe that it is likely so-mainly due to the high cost of implementation. In conclusion, technology is still advancing and most industries are feeling the pressure to update existing technology and adopt new technology. In the hospitality industry this is especially true.

This article discusses the relationship between airlines and GDS corporations.  Airlines are going a different route to drive customers to book direct by tacking on additional fees to consumers for using the booking sources.  This came as a surprise to the GDS corporations and they have since been trying to work together with certain airlines to have the fee waived for using their site ie: expedia.  With so many add on options when booking flights, such as baggage, seat upgrades, and in flight entertainment, many GDS companies are working with airlines to offer bulk packaging on their sites as well to provide a bump in revenue for both industries.  If both industries continue to maintain a good working relationship the future will be bright for them. 

The following article explains why many people expected travel agencies to go extinct once Expedia started being used and all the reasons why that did not end up happening. In todays age there are still many people that use travel agents, in fact the article even states that there have been spikes of usage in recent years. It speculates that this might be because of millennials always using the easiest and quickest ways of getting things done. In fact the simplicity of travel agents is one of the main reasons many people use it along with their ability to get package deals, assist with group or complicated trips, their ability to get discounts, and they prevent problems.

This article discuss Sabre which is one of the biggest GDS systems in use ad their decision to integrate with Bedsonline, TravelBound and the Expedia® Affiliate Network (EAN). The reason they decided to do this was to increase their inventory and in turn better serve the customer. What I found interesting is that Bedsonline and Travelbound are both travel agent exclusive companies, this shows that despite availability that OTA's have travel agents still play a crucial role. I would also like to use the side by side comparison tool.

Module 3: Networking (Rebecca Noble)

In the last 10 years bookings online have increased drastically. Guests are no longer picking up the phone and making reservations. Guests are booking through OTAs such as Expedia, booking.com, Hotels.com and more. Millennial's especially don't want to pick up the phone and waste their rime talking with someone when they can book easily on their mobile phone in mere seconds. Most hotels would prefer direct bookings to their site. They make more money this way, but with the increase of OTA bookings hotels are having to turn to social media to push their own sites. They are also using things like loyalty programs to drive direct bookings as well.

Excellent article touching on this weeks topic of GDS.

This article was very interesting. Hotels have implemented tricks of the trade to redirect people to book directly. For example, Marriott will not extend the Marriott Rewards to guests who book through third party sites like Expedia, Priceline, etc. The only way to receive Marriott Rewards points is to book directly. Hotels have to provide incentive for booking directly just to stay competitive.

Good Afternoon, This article is very important in the last few months Marriott has developed many programs to get guest to book directly with them. Marriott does extend points to guest who book with OTA like Expedia but they only receive a portion of their points, if they wanna receive all their points they are recommended to book directly with Marriott. Marriott also invested heavily in a travel segment to compete with Airbnb, it called Marriott Home and Villas. check out the link below. https://homes-and-villas.marriott.com/

This article references the hidden costs of cloud computing. It advises how retail companies such as Home Depot have been successful in their transition to cloud computing however the hospitality industry falls behind. Businesses such as Expedia try to educate their engineers of the cost of cloud services and advises them to use it wisely. It appears to be that the hospitality industry still lags on the technology wave, as it continues to "remain a hybrid of newer and older technology".

This was an interesting read! I didn't realize that the data from servers had to be moved in shifts. So maybe it's not as cost effective as thought to be. Hopefully the travel industry makes progress in becoming more "cloud friendly" as it can be very beneficial.

This article talks about where the internet has brought us in the business world and where it is taking us. There are other articles included to support the idea that hospitality businesses need the internet inorder to successfully reach out to and market toward customers. Along with the idea that if a business does not have an online presence,that, is an untapped stream of revenue. As well as the combined business efforts that go into delivering a flawless product to its customers via the web. There were two case studies that took place in order to understand the role e-commerce has played and will potentially play in the hospitality industry.

This article highlights the different aspects that e-commerce brings to society. It highlights the many ways that e-commerce has affected the Hospitality Industry and the things that can be done about it, and it also highlights the economical and political impact that e-commerce might have on the future of our society (especially the hospitality industry).

PCI compliance is a crucial and necessary set of guidelines that all hotels must follow. The Payment Card Industry Security Standard was created in 2006 and outlines rules regarding accepting, storing, and/or processing card information. These rules were put into place to protect consumers sensitive information. For example, in 2014 Marriott hotels was attacked and 300 million guests information was compromised. This attack led to new regulations being put into place, the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2). These regulations take into account international customers and enhanced guidelines for sensitive data.

This arctic is about what is a global Distribution System, history of the GDS, how does a GDS work and what benefits GDS offer.

A GDS or Global distribution system can come in handy for many different purposes. Some of these companies such as Expedia and Travelocity are know ones in the United States. It is important to weight pros and cons when deciding who to book with when choosing a hotel or an airlines especially since there are so many options. Depending on how you book especially when bundling with a GDS you could get a great deal.

This article evaluates the past and current roles of GDS in the travel and tourism industry. It is clear that the GDS has adapted and changed with the times and now is able to do even more than at its initial conception. However, as the article pointed out the all the functions of the GDS it is clear that OTA's ad websites are also able to provide a lot of these same functions. We discussed this week whether the GDS system is still currently a relevant system and most agreed that it is. However, as we look to the future it will be interesting to see what evolutions the GDS has yet to go through and how it will attempt to remain relevant in the ever changing tourism market.

This article talks about five ways to invest in travel and tourism. It specifically mentions the Online Travel Providers. In many industries, including traveling industry, internet continues to generate revenue to the business. Priceline in particular has been increasing profit growth in the last five years offering lower price and online bookings, last minute travel deals and bids.

The article describes the growing importance of a Property Management System. Some PMS companies are continuously integrating modules to their systems to make them more sophisticated for their users. These features can gather specific information about guests so the staff can cater to their preferences. Another element of the article explains how moving the PMS to the cloud can better serve small to mid sized premises, providing them with market insights and pricing trends to better manage the property. The cloud based PMS also proves to be beneficial to serve users who access property information through their mobile devices. Property apps could integrate with these PMS providing an interaction channel so guests can integrate with the property.

In 2012, with an eye on becoming more competitive, hotels are looking in to becoming more effective in their revenue management strategies and maximizing business efficiency by integrating their online distributions with their PMS and RMS systems.

SiteMinder is the world's leading online distribution company used by thousands of accommodation providers. It helps increase revenue through online services, and lower acquisition costs. Online bookings sites like Orbitz, Expedia, and Booking.com can be accessed for a monthly flat rate and 0% comission fee. This article also discusses the importance of social sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and an increase in consumer sites like Groupon.

This article analyzed the performance of TripAdvisor PPC activity in detail, and showed the results of an investigation regarding to hotels' commission level, traffic ranking, and conversion rate, then talked about whether it worth to invest by hotels.  That is useful for hoteliers to work on the ROI, and make right decisions.

This article is about whether to invest in Trip advisor's PPC program. It offers some benefits and correlations between the commission fee and Trip advisor's score. It introduces this program through several aspects, like the cost, the prerequisite. And the program do has some limitations, like the limited expenses control and hotel position preference. But it can provide properties social network, customer satisfaction, word of mouth through this new distribution way.

According to WTO more than %60 of the travelers take trip to United States every year. This huge percent though rises interest in the field of Hospitality but makes it a little bit challenging here . It's been quite a while that travelers regardless of their nationality, search for tourism destinations, reserve their hotel and arrange their trip schedule online. That is why the hoteliers should pay close attention how and where they are presenting and advertising their hotel online.This article mentions a number of strategies both short and long term. It is mentioned that you as a hospitality manager  should know that your website plays a very important role in introducing, presenting and encouraging international visitors to your hotel. One other important factor mentioned here is that your website should be user friendly not only as a matter of being simple to figure out what is what but also have different languages to satisfy different nationalities. Besides, it would be very useful for hotels to offer different packages for various tastes.No matter in what sector of travel and tourism you are involved in order to present your business you need to keep online! 

This article discusses the collaborative creation of hotel chains such as Hilton and Marriott, RoomKey.com. It is an OTA site that provides benefits to users who choose to make reservations with the partnered hotels. It is different from other OTAs in that loyalty program points can be used, users are aware of the hotel at which they are making the reservations, the prices are lower, RoomKey provides detailed views of the location and rooms, and there are no hidden fees. I thought this was an interesting article in that it displayed some of the hotels' efforts to compete with OTA websites.

As the technology develops so fast, this kind of software will be more and more popular through people who want to travel. And this kind of software really brings lots of profits for the firm. What is more, Apple is really a strong company! : )