Group items tagged

This article looks at GDS and GUI systems and gives a holistic viewpoint of performance, positives and negatives, and what type of agencies can utilize each system. I felt that the more complicated system and its requirements for agency users to have and understanding of coding, made the GUI system more likely to have a higher utilization in the future.

The article delves into the importance of GDSs and travel agents along with the controversy surrounding their evolution as airlines are trying to encourage more direct bookings to make more profits and avoid paying commission to travel agents.

This article goes into detail about GDS's, the history of GDS's, and if travel agents actually need to use them. The article first explains what a GDS system is, a brief description stating "Global Distribution System (GDS) is a travel agent's motherboard for booking airline tickets and other sorts of travel goodies (like hotel and car)". The article then quickly goes into a brief history of the GDS. GDS was created by America Airlines in 1946, making it easier to check inventory for vendors, though it would still take some time for this technology to reach the travel agents. "Travel agents would need to call the airline's booking center, who would then contact one of their CRS operators, then relay the results to the travel agent over the phone (literally, like playing telephone). It took a lot of people power to book a single airline ticket". We then take a turn, and learn about the usability of a GDS, and that it's quite low. GDS's are not user-friendly, but sadly sometimes a necessity for certain types of travel agents. These types mostly being the ones who book lots of corporate travel arrangements. Lastly, the article discusses if a GDS is right for your business, and if you decide it's not, how to go about booking things without it.

A German hotel software company, protel, has been an iinnovative leader in the software PMS since 1994. Protel became a leader in the hospitality software field by introducing the first property management system with a grpahic user interface (GUI). Once companies began going mobile, they again were the first to offer a complete front office application on a mobile touch screen device. Protel offers several web-based applications that can be assessed through the internet on any type of device, any operating system and in any language. This particular articel I found interesting because I had never heard of the company but they have paved the way for many of the large hotel franchises to utilize mobile based apps for their hotels. With so many of the larger hotel chains, I would imagine that they would have been one of the original innovators of the mobile web based technology but instead it was a German company that helped pave the way for the hospitlaity industry.

This article discusses the importance of having a user-friendly GUI. As a person who always books my trips online, I can't agree more. There is nothing more frustrating than a website that is very hard to navigate or understand. It is very important to remember who is going to be looking at your website and how they are going to be using the resources you provide. Make sure you listen to what they want and work hard to give them just that, with the most ease of use.

This article gives a few examples of how POS systems can help to prevent theft from employees and even from customers. By implementing POS systems in restaurants owners are able to track orders, how much is paid, how much was comp'ed and so on. This helps owners to keep track of products and sales whereas with a paper system, receipts can be lost, written incorrectly and maybe all sales aren't logged.

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? 

This article summarizes why we wont be seeing a decline of GDS use in the travel industry anytime soon. As stated in the article "nothing beats a GDS model for booking seats on planes". The article suggests that a good GDS agent can ultimately work more efficiently than someone working with a GUI. Another major positive to using GDS is accessibility. A firm can book both corporate and leisure travel from anywhere, as long as internet access is available. In one study 62% of agents said that air content was the biggest draw of a GDS. One agent said that when booking air the GDS system Amadeus gives her a selection of choices in a fraction of the time it takes her clients to see them online. Clearly, GDS systems such as Amadeus and Sabre are saving agents and customers time and money while booking. Another upside to using GDS is that it allows agents to see routes, departures and arrival times which are important because many clients have preferable airports when they travel. The article also says how GDS is more commonly used for air and car rentals instead of hotels. It also gives a look into why Airlines werent a fan of GDS usage. For example, GDS were changing revenue models for airlines because GDSs paid travel agents and it seemed that they were buying loyalty with money from airline fees.

GDSs are updating their systems to meet the growing demands of travel agents and still are popular today. They are a complicated system that require months of usage and training to become proficient. There can be mistakes when using GDSs that most travel agents try to avoid making because a mistake could lead to a debit memo r fine. The good news is unless you are booking corporate travel, complicated itineraries, or air only travel, you do not need to use GDS. Most leisure travel agents can use a host agent. These systems are like the point and click booking that are used by online travel agencies. GDSs have their place and are beneficial for certain types of agents; however, most agents that do not want to take months to learn to use GDSs have alternatives.

This article makes me proud to work in the hotel industry. Of course, there's financial motivation for being energy efficient, but hey, we can pretend we also do it because it's the right thing to do. As long as owners and operators see opportunities to continue to reduce energy costs, they won't stop. I have to believe that hotels will continue to look for ways to become even more efficient to the point of eliminating their carbon footprint. The hotel business is one of the few industries that have a strong incentive to dramatically reduce energy costs. The fact that the EPA's ENERGY STAR program is working on a new, hospitality-specific scoring system in response to the industry's specific needs and growing demand is pretty cool. I can see such a system becoming measurements for bonus payouts like market share is with Smith Travel Research and further accelerating the work around sustainability in hotels. A great point is also made regarding the retention of employees. The article argues that employees will feel that management cares about their health and well-being. But I would also say that employees want to work for hotels that do what's good and right for our world. You want to work for the good guys. Individual travelers, companies and meeting planners are more and more looking to stay or do business with hotels that are eco-friendly. Thirty six percent more travelers are expected to choose more eco-friendly travel options than they did in 2016. That statistic should definitely get the attention of owners currently in the process of planning a new hotel. If you want a competitive advantage from the day you open your doors, fill up that building with green initiates and let the green slide right down to the bottom line.

This article is talking about Optima Property Management System for hotels. First of all, it introduces that Optima PMS should meet the technology of the next generation. Because Optima PMS is a state of the art, windows based Property Management System that incorporates the latest in advanced technology. It is designed to provide all the features of a sophisticated Front Office system linked with other computerized hotel applications on the same relations SQL database. Secondly, it is said that Optima PMS should have efficient management. It places all the vital information needed for optimum operation at the manager's fingertips. What is more, it provides the hotels with all the tools necessary to give better, more personal and more efficient service to the guests. Thirdly, Optima PMS is an easy and friendly operation, and a flexible, customized configuration. Last but not the least, it introduces what kinds of modules and comprehensive sophisticated capabilities include in Optima PMS.

Optima is a most powerful and advanced Front Office system based on years of experience and on highly sophisticated development and focus teams, including superior hoteliers, engineers and front office specialists. These teams have researched and 'brainstormed' to meet the highest standards of the hospitality industry for the next century.  

This article introduces a PMS software-Optima PMS, which is a state of the art; Windows based Property Management System that incorporates the latest in advanced technology. It is designed to provide all the features of a sophisticated Front Office system linked with other computerized hotel applications on the same relational SQL database. Optima PMS places all the vital information needed for optimum operation at the manager's fingertips. All information can be viewed on-line, printed in a large variety of reports or shown on graphs. It is a profitable marketing tool, as it captures a wide range of data needed to make the correct marketing analysis. Information analysis is simple, quick and precise, emphasizing revenues, budgets and yearly comparisons in combination with data of occupancy, segmentation and other guest information.

This article contains the belief that the "green initiatives" of the hotels are more for saving the company money than saving our planet. The article continues to tell how some hotels give their customers rewards for not requiring housekeeping assistance. This leaves the question of whether this initiative is actually saving the company money or harming the employment of the housekeeping staff. I believe that going green is a proper step to take, especially looking at today's economy. Going green could improve our environment. However, this is not what I am seeing in today's companies. The companies are too reliant on profit. So, they use the green initiative as a way to actually cut costs, without actually going green. Companies should focus more on how the green initiative will affect the world as a whole in the future instead of completely focusing on profiting for now. Focusing on profit and covering it with the supposed green initiative will only drive up unemployment and create more problems with today's economy.

According to the article The Role of the GDS in How Today's Travel Agents Look and Book, the technology has evolved in the past years and even though GDS system are still used, they do not take place in all circumstances. We need to divide travel agents into two groups: corporate travel agencies and leisure travel agencies. Leisure agencies have been moving their focus towards multi-component itineraries that account for more than half of their sales. This leads to the need for more information that has been traditionally available through the GDSs. As states in the article, travel agents use online sources outside the GDS to obtain information, which include supplier websites. Leisure agents are more prone in their search to use variety of online services (as for example travel bogs and reviews) when they research the products where as GDS remains the main booking system for corporate agents. Due to the shift of booking using direct channels, it has been though that GDS will soon disappear. But GDS still remain the main booking platform for airfare shopping. There is an interesting trend that this described in the article, that grabbed my attention. There are new systems in the market such as graphical user interfaces that are available for travel agents to use but veteran agents who have been in the business 10 years an more are resistant to use this system and prefer the old legacy screens. Younger agents on the other hand find this technology easier to use and are more likely to use GUI for their booking system. I enjoyed reading this article as it was connected to our discussion board this week and assured me in my opinion that GDS systems are still a main part of travel bookings and will probably continue to be a predominant booking channel for quite a while.

This is an article simply introduce the basic function of the point of sales system. The author explain the reason it is useful in restaurant business,including reduce employee theft,keep track of sales.What is more, it plays an important role as a bookkeeping system since it help prepare payroll, keep track of food usage and so on. However,more attention should be paid to their drawback because it may result in information losses related to the business transaction. The restaurant manager should be aware of these potential problems and take actions to make it better serve the property.

POS system simplifies communications between the kitchen and the wait staff, tracks production procedure. It is a effective tool to organize profit and save cost. However, POS system has the common drawbacks of electronic technology that is the restaurant may lose data if it happens to crash. In addition, restaurant manager need to replace parts of POS system, update software or buy a new one.

Financial controllers are the one who has clear ideas about their budget in Hotels. Their job is to monitor cash flows, plan how to save, and follow up. However, it doesn't seem like there is anyone who has budget responsibility in engineering department. It sounds very odd but it is true that hotel should have someone who knows where we can save from and invest to in engineering department. On top of that they are still using Excel spreadsheet to handle on the financials, while advanced accounting software is widely used in every other department. Here is the why hotel should have someone who has knowledge about both financial and engineering. There are many expenses can be controlled in engineering department such as A/C, heater, elevators, and so on. For example, air-conditioning is responsible for almost 60% of a hotel's electricity bill and significant cost savings can be released by installing simple energy saving chiller devices, or by optimizing cooling tower performance. Instead of only fixing broken items, it is also helpful to think about which area can be improved and saved. Engineering department simply can adopt advanced accounting system to control staffing and budgeting at the same time instead of relying on financial department.

This article introduces casino security system ---- experts watch and analysis gamblers' behavior through thousands of cameras.

This article talks about how more and more people in the hospitality industry are using a POS based-cloud instead of hardwire systems. According to some experts in some years most of the hospitality industry would have change into using the cloud. For now most of the users of the cloud are single unit restaurants as it is an easy system to adopt and cost efficient. On the other side for chain restaurants to make this change can be costly; therefore it is believed that it will take some time for them to change. Still some people believe that this can be an unreliable and unsecured system. Some of the reasons for this are: -The lack of privacy; as the data will be in the hands of somebody else. -This system relies on the internet so when a connection problem occurs a downtime would take place creating complications for the restaurant operator. According to experts and users both of these ideas can be debated. Leaving the data handling in the hand of experts can bring advantages and lower the costs. On the other hand when the internet fails if the correct backup measures are taken it has no difference with the hardware system.

This article talks about the benefits of POS in cloud, and eliminates some misunderstanding about its downtime and security concerns. The author start selling POS in cloud by pointing out the trend that it is becoming more accepted. CEO and president of the Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA) says it will be mainstream in the next two to five years. Though POS in cloud would be a easy set up and cost saving solution for a starting up single-unit,"Large chains are more likely to turn to cloud applications for business intelligence solutions first because there is not as much investment or change in infrastructure compared to the POS" says Dave Matthews. But since multi-unit chains have already invested lots of money in the old POS, they are going to wait for those POS pay back before they switch to POS in cloud. Then author switched to what concern people most about cloud computing, downtime and security. A cloud based POS can have as reliable backup plan as a hardwired system. Although POS in cloud does not have backup servers in the location which should be provided by vendor, it can have several connection backups, like wireless, 3G or 4G, phone line. And about the security concern, just ask yourself is you have the security system than a technology vendor.

This article focuses on the success of using social media and event planning togther. The opportunity to be able to create events on facebook and linkedin is great and easy for the event planners. Social media and facebook changed the way of life for one guys company. He started using facebook to get his name out there and his business has been growing non stop ever since. This is just the way things are now and if you want to keep up with everyone else you must adjust to the way things are now.

Great article! I might biased but I love Hilton Chain. In the article they go on to say how they are taking the mobile frenzy to the hotels! They will be implementing not only apps but allowing guests to checkin/out with their phones, and use their phone to open the door. 

This article is talking about how the hotel cybersecurity keeps guest information data secure and why is very important. Most of the hotel has a really big database of the guest's personal information. Thus, it's easy to have security problems happen in the hotel. Hospitality organizations have to understand their vulnerabilities and always have to make a plan about how to protect hotel guest's data. This article also introduced 4 key areas cybersecurity teams need to focus on. First of all, instill security as a Cultural Norm. When the customer chooses the hotel to stay, which means they trust this hotel, they feel the environment is safe and they trust the digital assets as well. They will connect the Wi-Fi with their personal laptop or smartphone. Therefore, hotelier have to train their employee about provide the safety environment for their guests is necessary and everyone have to focus on it. Secondly, Think Beyond the Credit Card. Every billing system need to be protect customers personal and financial information, the hotel need to think about the multiple endpoints. Third, Be Smart About Responses. When the cybercrimes happen, they need to be reported responsibly and they have to know this thing at the first moment. Hotel have to keep training their security teams and be aware of some bad things happen. The last one, Don't sleep on Insider Threats. There is one thing that hotel have to focus on that the employee may steal data to sell it to other company.

This article mentioned how hotels do not have as many transactions as popular stores have but their transactions are typically more than grocery transactions. Hotels have a lot of personal information for many people and that information should not be leaked, never. It was mentioned that hotels need security as it is a cultural norm, you have to think beyond the credit card, be smart about responses, and don't sleep on insider threats. "Hotels are vulnerable to cybercrimes through a variety of avenues that break with the traditional physical security measures deployed across the hospitality industry. Keeping guests and their assets - both physical and digital - safe is paramount to preserving both the image and financial security of hotels."

A leaked MGM Grand memo posted by Vital Vegas states that beginning Feb. 4, "All guest elevators at MGM Grand will be modified only to allow access to the floor to which the guest is registered.

An MGM spokesperson told KTNV, "Our processes and procedures are always evolving as part of our focus on providing the best possible service and keeping guests and employees safe." The spokesperson said that the security change is not in response to any specific incident

The MGM Grand in Law Vegas is implementing new changes into their security protocols in response to different violent events that have occurred within the last few years. Changes like this are necessary to "stay on top of the bad guys". In the past, anyone had access to most floors in the hotel. Additionally, this will allow the hotel to track and record any suspicious movement occurring and report it.

This article reviews ten tips on how companies can better prepare for event security. Based on recent terrorism attacks, threats, and natural disasters it is important to prepare for any type of emergency especially in events. This article offers insight on tips to navigate event security. For example, one tip is to document everything. In any type of emergency, it is important to document names of attendees and employees who were involved in the crisis. This way if insurance or any assistance is needed, companies have detailed information of who was involved or affected by the disaster. This article is very useful because some things can be forgotten however this can be used as points to discuss other security measures.