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Contactless technologies have proven to be a game-changer for the air transport industry and beyond in recent months.

touchless technology remains a high investment priority between now and 2023.

Amazon and Disney have implemented in order to minimise the spread of viruses and reduce the interaction between passengers and staff – ranging from contactless check-in and security processes, to ‘Zero-Touch’ IFE and contactless food & beverage pre-ordering.

"There's a growth problem for a lot of restaurants in the U.S. Many fast-casual dining-type restaurants are mall-based or attached to retail spaces and consumers are just not going there as much," said Tom Champion, a Cowen analyst who follows Grubhub. Grubhub stock has shot up 141% from a year ago.

a millennial generation shift.

They typically share 20% to 30% of a bill with third-party delivery services. That matters in an industry with 10% to 15% operating margins and high fixed costs, including rent and staffing.

Many solutions also incorporate inventory control functionality, pay-at-table processing, employee management tools, reporting capabilities and seat reservations management.

the document reveals how food and beverage service operators are looking to next-generation point-of-sale technology to improve efficiency, enhance guest satisfaction and increase revenue.

Hospitality technology company Monscierge announced today the award of a patent for the communication process of receiving and servicing hospitality guests requests through the use of mobile technology.

the company’s second U.S. Patent for mobile services provided to hospitality customers, the first having been awarded for providing local merchant recommendations to hospitality guests.

Historically, mobile request communication between guests and staff have been made for services such as food & beverage, maintenance issues, additional room items, valet return and even customized guest requirements.

Another new POS vendor, eTab, debuted its table-side ordering and payment solution this past May at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago. The solution allows restaurant and bar patrons to order and pay for meals at their table through a digital menu interface on a portable touch-screen computer, wirelessly connecting each table to the restaurant’s wait staff and existing POS system. 

Earlier this year at the International Restaurants & Foodservice Show of New York, Squirrel Systems announced the launch of the latest addition to the Squirrel Mobility suite of products, Squirrel Professional for Apple mobile devices. Squirrel Professional allows restaurants, bars, and hotels to manage their food and beverage operations from stationary terminals as well as mobile tablets and handhelds like the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

Hotels, conference centers and other meeting venues are increasing group business with new technology, and it isn’t just a hotel app. To invest in the property’s overall capital, hoteliers are creating cool technology tools that market venues, increase group business and enhance the guest experience. Technology is just another way hotels are winning group business and marketing a hotel or conference center. What are some of these new hot tools for leisure and business travelers?

Investment in Hotel Technology Pays Off with Increased Group Revenue Tuesday, July 10, 2012 by Sarah Vining Hotels, conference centers and other meeting venues are increasing group business with new technology, and it isn’t just a hotel app. To invest in the property’s overall capital, hoteliers are creating cool technology tools that market venues, increase group business and enhance the guest experience. Technology is just another way hotels are winning group business and marketing a hotel or conference center. What are some of these new hot tools for leisure and business travelers? Virtual concierge service on guest room TVs At Hyatt Hotels with in-room HD TVs by Roomlinx Inc., guests are able make service requests, check email/weather, use the Business Center, print documents, and receive customized messages from meeting planners. Service requests like housekeeping and in-room dining are instantly sent through the system, improving the venue’s departmental efficiency. All of these virtual functions are hoped to appeal to new markets and drive group business. More efficient billing In the article, “Insert IACC blog post title URL” we learn that in 2012, meeting and group planners are prioritizing finance as very important during in their planning process (which made the top 10 list for the first time). Hotels making large investments in revenue management systems are taking advantage of new features that automate and process data to improve efficiency and increase revenue for properties. Virtual business centers Socialization through technology and food and beverage outlets is increasing revenue for TRYP by Wyndham in the NYC Times Square South property. Google TVs and access to Google Chrome laptops near the Gastro Bar in the hotel’s lobby offers guests an opportunity to enjoy a dining experience with the comfort of complimentary technology use. On-staff IT team When planners were surveyed, reliability was listed as a top concern of IT services in the white paper “What Do Planners and Trainers Really Want in Their Meeting Service?” All IACC-certified conference centers are required to have an on-site IT team to ensure technology functions properly. Now, the need for a knowledgeable IT team that really understands technology and can cater to individuals and group business is spreading to other hotel markets.   These impressive technology tools improve the guest experience and lead to a quick return on investment, especially in F&B. As we move beyond the discussion of required hotel Wi-Fi services, there will be a focus on technology amenities that provide the same comforts of home or the office. To increase group business, hoteliers are comfortable with this investment knowing there’s a return on investment with generated buzz/venue marketing and satisfied guests. Want to learn about other ways hotels are using technology to build relationships? Check out Enhancing Your Social Networking Site with a Social Concierge! to maximize social media and connect with guests, attendees and planners!

many all-in-one point-of-sale systems are vulnerable to a wide variety of attack scenarios because they leave card data in plain text within the memory of the system, there are systems and additional technologies that can mitigate a data breach.

Hackers heavily target POS systems because they typically hold consumer’s personal and financial data

The fact that POS systems are the largest attack vector makes it the obvious starting point for businesses to lock down

Hotel operators are well aware of the potential ben-efits of sustainability, and many of them publicly promote resource conservation.

Resorts, hotels and restaurants generate a lot of waste—from food, packaging, amenity containers, waste water from toilets, kitchens and laundries.

Food waste accounts for more than 50 percent of waste in the hospitality industry. In the U.S., more than $218 billion is spent on growing, processing, transporting and disposing of food that is never eaten. This is mostly from homes and the foodservice industry, which includes hotels, with a whopping 70 billion pounds of food wasted every year.

The city of San Francisco has taken some of the most significant waste management steps in the country. After adopting a zero-waste policy in 2002, the city partnered with Recology, its long-term materials management service provider, to implement a five-pronged strategy, which is aiming for zero waste by 2020: Create convenient programs Conduct extensive public outreach Provide generator and service provider incentives Process trash to recover materials Adopt waste-reduction policies

The use of tablet computers in business, referred to as t-commerce, involves pad-like mobile units functioning as a product information kiosk, point of sale terminal, digital display, inventory monitoring device, Web access tool and a variety of related applications.

T-commerce components are capable of engaging, mobilizing and reconciling hospitality guest-facing transactions resulting in more techno-savvy industry practitioners and consumers.

For the hospitality industry, there have been many pioneering uses of tablet devices as industry operators were among the earliest adopters to recognize the design features leading to improved service and self-service applications as well as robust employee assistance capabilities and back office functionality.

Consumers can use social media to rate a restaurant’s food, ambiance or speed of service. Now a new app will allow diners to rate the noise levels at their favorite eatery.The iHEARu app officially launched on Tuesday in San Francisco, the first city in what promoters hope will become a global network to help consumers find “ear-friendly” public places

More than 20-percent of the U.S. population has some hearing loss, and one in three people over age 65 have disabling hearing loss, she noted. But noise levels are also a concern for any guest looking to have a quiet business meeting, for example, or for a group looking to hear each other speak.

Users can open the app in any restaurant and map it, then press a button to make a recording to determine sound levels. Users can also add comments about their own subjective experience and share it through Facebook or social media.

An industry that contributes conservatively over N100billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria annually and potentially has about N1trillion in turnover clearly needs to regulate itself.

This prompted the convener of Events Market Nigeria (EMN), Temitope Amodu, to bring all the players together such as wedding vendors, stakeholders, entrepreneurs, make-up artistes, DJs and event market enthusiasts among others who gathered for a day of networking, mentoring and discussions on pertinent issues about Nigeria’s ever growing event industry.

The 10th edition of the Event Market Nigeria Meet and Greet was the largest free gathering of participants in the event industry in recent times,

In addition to speeding up registration time, incorporating RFID technology into events will help with both qualitative and quantitative data analysis, thereby making it easier for planners to target what worked during their event and what didn’t.

Though event apps are admittedly helpful, they now have a new hurdle to face. Producing an application to be used for one event is costly, time consuming, and inefficient, as users must learn how to interact with the app for each new event attended. Phone storage space is very important to consumers. Many are hesitant to download an application that they will only use once. Thus, event apps that can continue to deliver value to customers beyond the date of the event itself, are going to become a huge trend.

RFID also has the potential to allow attendees to become more engaged with the event across various social platforms.

Technology has transformed point of sale into point of experience

elf-ordering via their smartphone by the pool or wherever they happen to be and increased guest satisfaction with guest payment

Because the staff members have appropriate intelligence readily in their hands, personalization can happen