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Jennifer Koren

Investment in Hotel Technology Pays Off with Increased Group Revenue - Charmed by Hospi... - 5 views

  • 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!
  • More efficient billing
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  • Service requests like housekeeping and in-room dining are instantly sent through the system,
  • ensure technology functions properly.
  • Virtual concierge service on guest room TVs
  • On-staff IT team
  • Virtual business centers
  • 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.
  • Virtual concierge service on guest room TVs
  • These impressive technology tools improve the guest experience and lead to a quick return on investment, especially in F&B.
  • On-staff IT team
  • 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.
  • Virtual concierge service on guest room TVs
  • More efficient billing
  • 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.
  • On-staff IT team
  • Virtual business centers
  • 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.
  • Technology is just another way hotels are winning group business and marketing a hotel or conference center.
  • 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.
  • 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.
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    Hotels developing High IT technology have taken a great deal of advantages from it which makes prosperous business and better customer service with high efficiency and goal-achieving process. In this article, it proclaims some prevailing high-techs used in hotels. Such as the In-room HD TV in Hyatt properties. It provide almost all the online computerized services accommodating customers with document-printing service, in-room dining service, restaurant reservation service, and even the email-checking, weather checking service. The on-staff IT team would oversee the IT application over the whole property, including upgrading, maintaining, and functioning. the impressive technology tools would be inevitable trend developing hotel industry.
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    "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 serv
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    ARTICLE SUMMARY Hospitality industry is not only using technology to improve customers' experience but also to improve the bottom line as well as increase group use of the property. Hotels operators and owners are increasingly using conference centers and other meeting venues to attract business groups, seminars and conferences with new technology, and it isn't just a hotel app. Many of the branded hotels such as Hyatt Hotels with in-room HD TVs by Roomlinx Inc. are using the technology to allow guests to make service requests, check email/weather, use the Business Center, print documents, and receive customized messages from meeting planners. Hotels are investing in technology to provide these services and to compete effectively.
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    Due to the market segment of the Groups, hospitality industry has focused on the IT investment on Groups. And there are some technologies for leisure and business travelers like virtual concierge service on guest room TVs, more efficient billing, virtual business centers, and on-staff IT team.  All these implements can benefit hotels and customers with a convenient, reliable, and profitable outcome. Besides that, it is super cool. 
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    Nowadays, technology becomes one of the most important issue in hospitality industry. More and more hotels are going to pay more attention to their technologies such as APP application. Besides those technologies benefiting leisure travelers, investment in hotel technology also pays off with increased group revenue. Conference and convention become important parts in hotels, which means lots of meetings or events are choose to be held in hotels and lots of hotels decided to target their markets as convention directly. As in this article, it is talking about creating cool technology to increase the revenue based on group business. It stated Hyatt Hotel as an example to put virtual concierge service on guest room TVs, which is object to attract new markets as well as group business. What's more, an on - site IT team are going to be required in order to ensure hotels' technology functions properly. Having this kind of IT team, any questions can be responded fast. Therefore, investment fo those kinds of technology not only can bring more new markets or customers but also lead to quick return on hotels' investments, especially in F&B. 
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    I don't understand where this document will print if you don't have a printer with you? Will it print at the front desk somwhere? What if it's confidential information and how secure is this system? If you put more technology and have it be so accesible even when your having a meal you would have to hope that dinners continue to order otherwise you'll never be able to turn the table. Also, some dinners must not be as savy as others and won't like this idea of being able to do everything from the TV in your Hotel room. I know I wont even use the feature at the end of the day I dont feel like playing with tech. Others may want to escape tech because they have been around all through the work day, it may feel like you never stop working.
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    This article talks about the benefit of investing hotel technology. As it mentioned, technology is another way of gaining group business and marketing the hotel and meeting center. Here are four of these new popular tools for travelers. They are Virtual conceirge service on guest room TVs; More efficient billing; Virtual business centers; and On-staff IT team. For the Virtual conceirge service on TV, guests can do many things and request services through this system immediately. It can improve not only the departmental efficiency, but customer satisfaction as well. By using the virtual business center, cutomers can enjoy a dining experience. These impressive technology tools improve the guest experience and lead to a quick return on investment, especially in F&B. To increase group business, hoteliers are comfortable with this investment and they know that there's a return on investment with generated buzz/venue marketing and satisfied guests
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    This is an interesting and useful article that reminds me of the importance of new technology investment in hotels' conference centers and other meeting venues. Technology has become an efficient method in winning group business and marketing a hotel. There are several new hot tools for leisure and business travelers. For instance the virtual concierge service on guest room TVs, efficient billing, and virtual business centers. If a guest is able to make service requests, check email, use the Business Center, print documents and receive customized messages from meeting planners through an in-room HD TV by Roomlinx, the whole departmental efficiency can be improved and the guests' satisfaction can be enhanced to a higher level. This is useful to attract business travelers who care about these areas of service and it also leads to a quick return on investment too. When the discussion of hotel Wi-Fi services has been outdated, the topic of investment in technology amenities that provide the same comforts of home or the office is becoming another focus in hotel industry.
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    This article introduces some new technology applied in the hotel. Nowadays, the hotel will adopt some new technology to attract more and more guest. Like the article said, "technology is just another way hotels are winning group business and marketing a hotel or conference center". The article introduce the Hyatt Hotels adopt the virtual concierge service on guest room TVs that offer a good service for guest and try to appeal to new markets and drive group business. The article also involves the revenue management system that the hotels are investment can help the hotel deal with data effective and increase revenue for properties. The new technology that the hotel applied will not only improve the guest experience but also can increase the revenue of the hotel.
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    Further analyses of our data suggest that as industries become more competitive, the effect of IT on profitability increases. IT investments also had a greater effect on profitability in the service sector than in the manufacturing sector. A possible explanation for this finding is that services allow greater IT-enabled customization and professionalization. One key takeaway from our research: All other things being equal, executives should accord higher priority to IT projects that have the potential for revenue growth over those that focus mainly on cost savings.
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    Hotels, conference centers and other meeting venues are increasing group business with new technology. 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. There are some of these new hot tools for leisure and business travelers. 1. Virtual concierge service on guest room TVs 2. More efficient billing: 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. 3. Virtual business centers: Socialization through technology and food and beverage outlets is increasing revenue for hotel.
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    This article examines the new technology that hotels are investing in. In room concierge, billing ease, on- staff IT team, and virtual business center all make the hotel guests experience more comfortable and easy. Whether traveling for business or pleasure, the new technology is worth investing in for these hotels.
Charlesque Moses

HFTP's Guestroom20X features technologies from VingCard Elsafe and Axxess Industries, a... - 0 views

  • Hotel rooms are ready to go high-tech with new security products that can enhance the guest experience.
  • While they are at the door, guests will find Axxess Industries’ IP Video Intercom. It replaces the more commonly used peephole
  • Shea said security technology has been a long-time development, but not implemented in hospitality – until now.
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  • Although these enhancements are beneficial to hotels worldwide, some wonder whether hotels are buying the technology and ultimately, implementing them.
  • the future of hotel technology is unclear, but moving forward requires a certain factor.
  • HFTP calls the developments showcased in the Guestroom 20X , “game-changing for the hospitality industry, opening a new avenue for delivering personal guest services efficiently and with ease.”
  • We’re seeing a technological revolution in hotels,”
  • A final security enhancement to the guest room is Ovation Networks’ EcoManaged, an energy management system. With Wi-Fi monitoring, the system measures and detects CO2 in the room and adjusts the room temperature as necessary.
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    Hotel rooms are ready to go high-tech with new security products that can enhance the guest experience. As the organization Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) prepared the 2012 guestroom exhibit Guestroom 20X for last week's HITEC tradeshow, the group sought new ways to make the room more modern, efficient and self-serviced.
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    As we can see technology is rapidly making its way into our field. This article explains how technology implemented in the guest rooms allow the guest to have a more personalized experience and feel that there belongings are also secure in the hotel. "The key thing is to provide something that's valuable to the person that uses it, the person that administers it and the person that supplies it," said Shea, whose firm's technology is one of many showcased in the futuristic room. This is very true considering that technology is not cheap and a lot of money has to be put into this new technological wave, but the consumers seem to be paying the money. Overall, technology is changing our industry and our companies either have to embrace it, or be left behind.
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    According to this article, hotels are coming up with new and more secure ways to make guests feel safe and comfortable. This can be extremely important for women traveling alone, or people with children. This article describes several new security features that can be added to hotel rooms that serves guests efficiently and with ease. The first new technology device is a Mobile Key Solution. Guests will be able to receive their room number and room key via their mobile phone or computer allowing them to bypass the front desk altogether. Also, at the door, it is equipped with IP Video Intercom that can replace the peephole. This intercom can routed to any device in the room and it can be accessed using mobile phones. Also inside the room is a high-tech safe that features four unique solution for providing extra security. Other security features are sound recognition smoke alarms and CO2 detectors. Right now, technology companies are ready to install new products, but there is question as to whether hotels are buying the technology. It is my opinion that as technology continues to advance, security will have to advance as well. Security for guests information, and personal safety will have to increase. More advanced room key technology is definitely a priority. There are too many issues with room keys and this can be a giant security issue. It is my opinion that we will start to see new security technology entering hotels in the near future.
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    High-tech security products and hotel rooms can enhance the guest experience. The article introduced some new technology related to the hotel room security, including the door's Mobile Key Solution lock, RFID and mobile-friendly NFC technology, Axxess Industries' IP Video Intercom instead of the peephole. What's more, with IP connectivity, guests can answer the intercom using their mobile phones, also the new generation safe with RFID contactless, electronic lock. The most inspired tech is the Ovation Networks' Eco-Managed, an energy management system. With Wi-Fi monitoring, the system measures and detects CO2 in the room and adjusts the room temperature as necessary. With all these new technology integrations, guests security can be more insured and personalized, and provide hotel customer quite new experience.
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    New technologies poised to change guest experience. Hotel rooms are ready to go high-tech with new security products that can enhance the guest experience, they are making the room more modern, efficient and self-serviced. As we can see, the future of hotel technology is unclear, but moving forward requires a certain factor. In a hotel room, first and foremost, the guests will be able to open the door's wireless software, in this way, they will securely receive their room number and room key and makes it easy for them to check-in or check-out. In addition, guests may answer the intercom using their mobile phones. And they will feel more safe with the electronic lock to provide anti-cloning technology. Finally, guests will notice the SafeAwake Smoke Alarm Aid, it will alert guests when a smoke detector is activated which will give guests much more safe. Although these enhancements are beneficial to hotels worldwide, some wonder whether hotels are buying the technology and ultimately, implementing them. The technology is changing, the customers are embracing.
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    Hotel rooms are ready to go high-tech with new security products that can enhance the guest experience. As the organization Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) prepared the 2012 guestroom exhibit Guestroom 20X for last week's HITEC tradeshow, the group sought new ways to make the room more modern, efficient and self-serviced.
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    This article covered information on the projected security of the future in hospitality. The Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) were working on developments that they planned to showcase in the HITEC tradeshow last year. These developments, collectively recognized as the Guestroom 20x, were expected to make hotel rooms more efficient and modern. These developments included obtaining rooms and keys without front desk interaction, video intercoms to replace peepholes, reinforced room safes, and a smoke alarm aid to properly alert guests in case of fire. There were also talks of an energy management system in the rooms included. The developments seem to be a start towards a changing way of hospitality. I believe that these developments are great options for hotels in the future. Of course, there are always risks that must be recognized. These risks could even be the downfall of the developments. Technology's ability to fail or malfunction is too constant at this time. System glitches, hacking possibilities and power outages could inconvenience these developments as well as inconvenience the guests at the hotel that use them. My main concerns lie with the option to obtain rooms and keys through PCs and mobile phones, the smoke alarm aid and the energy management. One technological failure could cause any of these to cease operating, which means that guests could be locked out of their rooms, in danger if there is actually a fire (or inconvenienced because of a malfunctioning alarm), or inconvenienced because of a nonworking room temperature gauge. These issues could lead to many problems for the hotel that hosts these developments. So, the companies should analyze these issues before installing these developments.
Siyu Ma

Why Investing in Hospitality Technology is Investing in Good Business - 1 views

  • In consideration of how investment in hospitality technology can support business growth, rather than being an added cost, or unnecessary financial burden, to a hotel – it is important to look at what operational efficiencies the technology can bring, including any improvements in staff activities and morale that can be delivered and how the technology will ultimately benefit the hotels revenue performance.
  • In consideration of how investment in hospitality technology can support business growth, rather than being an added cost, or unnecessary financial burden, to a hotel – it is important to look at what operational efficiencies the technology can bring, including any improvements in staff activities and morale that can be delivered and how the technology will ultimately benefit the hotels revenue performance.
  • Those hotel groups that fail to recognize the speed of change in technology and what this can bring to the business will find themselves significantly under prepared when the market starts to strengthen. While “its never too late” to act – there is a significant opportunity cost in doing nothing or worse still, cutting technology out of the day to day operations. For a hotel to effectively operate and ensure it is maximizing its incoming revenue, the right technologies needs to be in place. Through investing in the right technology at the right time, savvy hoteliers will be ensuring that their facility(s) are able to effectively maximize their ongoing revenue capability now and into the future.
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  • Equally as important, when considering whether to invest in new technology within the hospitality sector, is the need to recognize that technology is constantly changing and improving. Decision time frames are shortening. International hoteliers that have a good view on the future, realize that the technology decision they make today will only be relevant for the next 3-5 years at the most and are already planning next generation migrations.
  • In consideration of how investment in hospitality technology can support business growth, rather than being an added cost, or unnecessary financial burden, to a hotel – it is important to look at what operational efficiencies the technology can bring, including any improvements in staff activities and morale that can be delivered and how the technology will ultimately benefit the hotels revenue performance.
  • Whilst many international hotel organisations have used the economic downturn to adequately plan for the future through improved levels of technology and staff investment, many others are not heeding the warning signs and are instead shedding costs wherever possible – which can lead to disastrous consequences.
  • Importantly, hoteliers also need to realize that the hospitality industry is constantly changing and a lack of up-to-date technology and older strategies will not always be applicable to new, unique situations.
  • Whilst many international hotel organisations have used the economic downturn to adequately plan for the future through improved levels of technology and staff investme
  • Consider Revenue Management Technology: This technology is u
  • sed in a wide variety of industries.
  • IDeaS experience in many regions to date is that there are many technology vendors in hospitality that fail to acknowledge the above reality.
  • There are many technologies that tick all of the above boxes, including: Energy Management Systems Revenue Management Systems Property Management Systems In-Room Technology Sophisticated Telco Systems
    • Juan Du
       
      With the increase in the number of hotel, the technology in hospitality is more and more important. It is a good investment in this field. Because many of the facilities in hotel need the help of technology. Such as the energy management systems, revenue management systems, property management systems , In-room technology. To invest these technologies, it can increase the management level and increase the competition.
  • As the wider hospitality industry continues to face a slow recovery, savvy hotel owners and managers should be looking inwards during this time with a view to ensuring that the technology they use to help run their facilities are best suited for the roles they have to perform.
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    In this weeks reading, the article, "Why Investing in Hospitality Technology is Investing in Good Business", mentions how due to the economic downturn hotels have turn to cutting technology and staff levels as a method to minimize costs, yet this is a recipe for disaster, if not conducted adequately. Technology is continuously evolving, it is important to make decisions regards IT investment that will be useful in the coming 3-5 years. Technological infrastructures should operate to facilitate a process or procedure for the overall benefit of the hotel, rather than take a day-by-day approach. In an ever-demanding industry, it is critical for hoteliers to be adequately prepared with automated systems, reducing if not eliminating important manually conducted tasks which are damaging the operations of the hotel due to the lack of real time information which will help revenue maximization. In moments of recessions, companies minimize their cost reducing what is foreseen as unnecessary such as IT investment, yet is important to maintain a level of preparation and not losing the opportunities presented by the market.
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    This article mainly talk about the benefit of investing in Hospitality Technology to hotel business.The author emphasizes the importance of looking at what operational effciencies the technology can bring ,including any improvements in staff activities and morale that can be delivered and how the technology will ultimately benefit the hotel revenue performance. We can conclude from the passage that in order to keep competitive in the hospitality industry, the managers should be aware of the dynamic market and technology changing and update the techonlogy in an efficient way.
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    The hospitality industry is developing faster and faster. The hoteliers should be with a view to ensuring that the technology they use to help run their facilities and best suited for the roles. They lead to a rapid economic recovery but they also need improve their marketing. The hospitality organizations have taken the time to update or invest in the right technology and training. In consideration of how investment in hospitality technology can support business growth, It is important to look at what operational efficiencies the technology can bring. As the hotel industry continues to move towards a more dynamic and inter-connected environment it is vital that the correct technology infrastructure is in place to meet this challenge. The revenue management technology itself can be maximized by educating staff in the most effective ways to use it. The hotel groups should recognize the speed of change in technology. And they will be ensuring that their facilities are able to effectively maximize their ongoing revenue capability.
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    As hospitality industry is now under recovery, many owners and managers are preparing using technology to help them run the facilities. Nowadays, there is a big requirement for investing the right technology and training to operate business in the market of 2010, 2011 later. Actually, hospitality technology investment can bring operational efficiencies instead of added cost to a hotel. Then the author takes revenue management technology as an example and points that a seamless flow of process of technology is a trend. All in all, in order for a hotel to adapt to the future trend, the right technology needs to be equipped.
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    with the increase in the number of hotel, the technology in hospitality is more and more important. It is a good investment in this field. Because many of the facilities in hotel need the help of technology. Such as the energy management systems, revenue management systems, property management systems , In-room technology. To invest these technologies, it can increase the management level and increase the competition.
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    This article is explaining why investing in hospitality technology is a good idea. Market changes from year to year, therefore it is important to know what the technology operations can offer to the business. It is vital to know how efficient it is in the workplace, and in what ways in can help the staff. The interest cost of having all this money invested should benefit the hotels revenue activity. Especially in hotels, there has to be a strict decision making, because of how technology is advancing so fast and how efficient the technology will be for the hotel. The correct technology is a challenge. Training the staff with the system is also a test because how fast can they learn and be connected to the operations. It is crucial that hotels manage systematically all information with the technology; instead of having the staffs do all the work by hand. Hotels need to invest in the correct technology so that they can collect their ideal revenue-for the future of the business and to ease the work flow inside the hospitality industry.
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    "Equally as important, when considering whether to invest in new technology within the hospitality sector, is the need to recognize that technology is constantly changing and improving. Decision time frames are shortening. International hoteliers that have a good view on the future, realize that the technology decision they make today will only be relevant for the next 3-5 years at the most and are already planning next generation migrations. There is an onus on the vendors to also re-invent themselves and re-invent their technologie"
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    Hotel owners and managers are putting eyes on technology in the hospitality industry slow recovery period. All pundits agree this method can bring some recovery. The international hotel organizations have made many plans of improving investment in technology and staff. Progressive hospitality organizations have updated and invested in new technology and training, change the industry requirements and market. Before investment, the most important is to look at what operational efficiencies the technology can bring and how the technology will benefit the hotels. There are many technologies are good choices for investment, such as Revenue Management Systems. This technology is efficient and can help hotels track historic data, forecast future demand and so on. We also need to technology is changing all the time. So this is a big challenge of managers to make decisions for a long development. We also need to realize that the hospitality industry is changing, strategies will not always be applicable to new, unique situations. It is important for hotels to increase advantages in the competition.
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    Those hotel groups that fail to recognize the speed of change in technology and what this can bring to the business will find themselves significantly under prepared when the market starts to strengthen. While "its never too late" to act - there is a significant opportunity cost in doing nothing or worse still, cutting technology out of the day to day operations. For a hotel to effectively operate and ensure it is maximizing its incoming revenue, the right technologies needs to be in place. Through investing in the right technology at the right time, savvy hoteliers will be ensuring that their facility(s) are able to effectively maximize their ongoing revenue capability now and into the future.
Krystal Jost

Buffalo hotel launches Verve Living System | Hotel Management - 0 views

  • When a guest enters the room, he or she places the room key into the slot on the KeyCard Switch which then transmits a wireless signal. When in place, guests have complete control over the lights, outlets and the HVAC unit in the room. When removed, the room is designated as unoccupied
  • it also can detect which in-room devices have low battery levels; which rooms have constant occupancy; which rooms have problems with network connectivity; and which are not communicating properly with the hotel PMS and other systems.
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    This article focuses on sustainability and methods in which technology is utilized to conserve energy and waste, while also not hindering the guest experience. Hotels, similar to the Salvatore Grand Hotel, have began implementing systems such as the Verve Living System, by Zeno Controls, LLC, that provide wireless connections to the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, as well as the lighting in the guest room. It utilizes sensors to activate such amenities, and enables the guest to enter the room, place their key card into a slot, and it will begin to adjust to the preferred temperature and the preferred lighting levels. Once the key card is removed, such as when the guest is leaving the room, after a very short delay, it sends a signal that verifies the room is unoccupied, and turns off these energy-consuming items in the room. Many guests, when staying in hotels, do not consider turning off their lights or air conditioning when they leave the room, and simply leave everything running. They do not realize the impact this has not only on costs for the hotel itself, but also the impact that it has on energy consumption and sustainability. With the growing awareness of being "green", guests are focusing more and more on conservation, however, they may still be slacking in these areas, leaving things on, being absent minded. This system will allow guests to not have to worry about such tasks, and controls the system of turning these items off for them, adding convenience for the guest who is environmentally conscious. I have personally seen a similar system being used in a hotel room, and thought it was a great idea, and an amazing way to control costs and eliminate waste of resources. It is also very surprising to read that the Verve Living System detects low battery levels, constant occupancy, problems with room connectivity, and rooms that are not communicating with the hotel PMS or other systems. This enables the maintenance team of a hotel to fun
kmill139

Smart Hotel Room; What Are the Benefits for Hotel Owners and Guests - 1 views

  • 5 Benefits of Smart Hotel Rooms
  • 1. Greater Personalisation
  • 2. Improved Sustainability
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  • 5. Faster and More Reliable Repairs
  • 4. Remote Room Controls
  • 3. Enhanced Customer Experience
  • A smart hotel room is a room that makes use of ‘smart’ electronic devices, powered by the Internet of Things (IoT).
  • another.
    • kmill139
       
      This is such a relevant topic in our society today. Having the ability to wireless and effectively transfer data between devices means an easier and stress-free experience.
  • Perhaps the single most important reason is because it can improve the actual experience of staying in a hotel, by enhancing the convenience aspect.
    • kmill139
       
      I personally have had a better experience at a hotel when there is technology present, so I can see how this is a thing.
  • This internet connectivity and communication capability allows devices to find information from the internet, and to interact with other devices in the nearby vicinity.
  • With that being said, smart hotel solutions has grown in popularity for other reasons, such as its ability to reduce some of the costs associated with running a hotel.
  • One of the main benefits of a smart hotel room is the ability to offer guests a greater level of personalisation.
    • kmill139
       
      This is a big thing. Guest like to have that "home-away-from-home" experience. Things like changing the temperature of the room, light setting, and even the water temperature can make the guest enjoy their experience more.
  • For hotel management, one of the biggest advantages of creating a smart hotel is the reduced costs that are often associated with the concept. This is primarily due to improvements to sustainability and energy efficiency within the hotel rooms, with certain devices only being used when they are actually needed.
  • Perhaps the most immediately obvious benefit of a smart hotel room is the improvement it can deliver in terms of the customer experience. A smart speaker, such as that provided through the Alexa for Hospitality service, assists with this by making it possible for TVs, lights, heating and other devices to be controlled through voice commands.
  • Another benefit of smart hotel rooms and the Internet of Things is the ability for hotel staff to access a variety of room controls from a remote location. This is especially useful when it comes to getting a hotel room ready for a new guest, improving the level of comfort they are greeted with upon checking in.
  • e advantage that is sometimes overlooked when it comes to smart rooms is the improved ability to anticipate technical issues with devices and make repairs swiftly. This allows hotels to intervene at the most timely possible moment, avoiding situations where the need for repairs hinders the customer experience.
  • While a growing number of owners are willing to embrace the idea of smart hotel rooms, many are unsure of how to go about actually implementing smart hotel systems. To help out, in the article “7 Ways to Transform a Hotel Room Into a Smart Room” you will find seven ways to transform a hotel room into a smart room.
  • Video: Example of a smart hotel room
    • kmill139
       
      Great video to see everything in a smart room.
  •  
    This article first introduced us to the definition of smart hotel rooms, and then explained the importance of smart room technology. From a customer perspective, smart hotel rooms can provide guests with a higher level of personalized service and enhance the customer experience. From an environmental point of view, smart hotel rooms are conducive to sustainable development. The consumption of lighting or heating in the room can be adjusted according to actual needs, which means that energy waste can be reduced. From the perspective of hotel management, smart hotel technology enables the front desk to remotely manage the room, improves management efficiency, and monitors the operation of equipment in the room through the Internet to achieve faster repairs.
  •  
    This article is great for anyone who would like to understand more about technology involved in the hospitality industry. Recommend this to anyone who is writing about technology.
vmorr026

Technology in the hospitality industry - exploring the very latest trends - 3 views

  • Nowadays, hotel guests who travel with devices such as phones, tablets and computers no longer see Wi-Fi as a perk, but as a must-have when they check in at a hotel. Hotel guests expect to be able to connect to the internet seamlessly and without too many interruptions, leading hotels to invest in better, faster Wi-Fi infrastructure so that people can do business and use their technology devices with ease when they book their stay. Hotels are also starting to move away from user pay models. In the past, hotels could charge exorbitant rates and guests knew they would have to pay if they wanted to go online. Installing and maintaining a hotel-wide wireless network may be coupled with costs, but many leading hotel groups have started to install high density Wi-Fi and started to offer in-building mobile phone coverage as guests have come to expect these services during their stay (not only for themselves, but also for their guests if they are hosting a conference or function at the hotel). It might not yet be financially feasible for hotels to completely abandon the user pay model, but many of them are re-thinking their current infrastructure and pricing models.
  • Technology is advancing at a faster pace than ever before, and this is changing both the expectations of patrons as well as the way in which the hospitality industry conducts its business. Some of the trends in industry are leading to great improvements and savings for hospitality industry companies; while some are changing how hotel developers plan their buildings, infrastructure, management structure and staffing requirements.
  • Near field communication (NFC) technology is the next-generation short-range high frequency wireless communication technology that gives users the ability to exchange data between devices.
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • This technology is also ideal for self check-ins by guests at hotels as well as the next trend in this article: smart room keys.
  • Hotels will increasingly install smart room access systems that allow guests to unlock their doors by simply swiping their phones across a keyless pad on the door. Starwood (owner of the Sheraton, Weston and “W” hotel chains) has already upgraded 30,000 room locks across 150 hotels with this system and Hilton will be implementing a similar system at 10 of their US properties this year. In 2016, they will be deploying the smart room key technology globally. This technology will mean that guests don’t have to worry about picking up keys and front desk staff won’t have to issue new keys in the event that a guest loses their room key. Another innovative way to offer a keyless experience is through fingerprint-activated room entry systems and retina scanning devices. Retina scanning is even more accurate and secure than fingerprint scans and hotels like the Nine Zero Hotel in Boston have already installed an iris scan system in place of key cards to control access to the hotel’s presidential suite.
  • Some hotels are already offering more futuristic experiences, with robots delivering any items ordered through room service to a guest’s door. A boutique hotel that is nestled between Apple’s headquarters and other tech companies, called Aloft Cupertino, has a robot butler called Botlr that is able to move between the various floors of the hotel in order to take items such as toothbrushes, chargers and snacks to guests. These types of digital systems not only make it easy for hotel staff to deliver items to guests, but it also offers a forward-facing digital experience to people who stay at the hotel. Infrared scanners are now also used to minimise disruptions relating to housekeeping (which is a common complaint from customers). Instead of hanging a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on doors or having cleaning staff wake up traveling guests with knocks and phone calls, hotel staff can take a more innovative approach by using infrared scanners that will detect body heat within a room and tell cleaning staff that they should rather come back later if the room is currently occupied.
  • Digital conference facilities Besides being able to offer high density Wi-Fi for conferences and meetings, hotels also need to be able to offer access to audio-visual (AV) and digital facilities for conferences. While the amount of AV and digital equipment that goes into a typical conference room is fairly minimal, staging companies are often hired for various projects in order to equip the facility as required.
  • Mobile communication and automation In many airports, it’s no longer necessary to stand in a queue to check in and people are expecting the same kind of easy, technology-driven check-ins at hotels. Guests want to be able to do everything from checking in at a venue’s automated kiosk to ordering room service with a digital device instead of standing in queues and moving around the hotel premises to order food.
  • Cloud services Being able to provide entertainment on tap and mobile content has led to the trend of hotels investing in cloud services. While hotels want to be able to offer digital content, they don’t necessarily want to invest in IT infrastructure and IT staff, making cloud computing the ideal solution.
  • Feedback on social media Technology has infiltrated almost every aspect of our lives and hotel developers need to realise that almost any person checking in at a hotel, resort, spa or lodge, will have a smartphone in their pockets.
  • Converged LANs to support multiple services Converged local area networks (LANs) will also help hotels to create more intelligent buildings. A variety of computer-based building services can be automated in order to control lighting, refrigeration, air-conditioning and heating. Besides reducing energy consumption, converged LANs can also be set up to provide a smarter, more personal experience. If a guest is known to prefer his or her room temperature at 18°C with the lights dimmed to 65%, for example, this can be programmed before the guest checks in at the hotel.
  • Integrated, seamless experiences Technology doesn’t mean that customer experience can only happen online and through devices, check-ins and online comments. All of these experiences need to be part of an integrated, dynamic system so that the guests’ experiences are at the forefront of the marketing and  operational team’s mind.
  • Marketing, management and hotel developers can no longer work in silos and these technology trends are giving them the opportunities, tools and solutions they need to create memorable experiences that can lead to positive change and growth in the industry.
  •  
    With technology evolving and changing at a fast pace it is changing both what consumers expect and how the Hospitality industry responds to these expectations as well as how they do business themselves. The article highlights the many trends in the Hospitality industry. These trends include the improving and overhauling of a Wi-Fi network, conference rooms that offer Audio visual equipment, Smart room keys and many other different trends.
  •  
    In today's world we are surrounded by technology; however, sometimes we do not realize the extreme of which we are surrounded by until we stop and look around. The Hospitality industry is quickly adapting to the technologically world we live it. I read an article written by Jeff Robinson, Technical Director for Aurecon titled "Technology in the hospitality industry - exploring the very latest trends". This article was beyond interesting because it touched on some on the way technology has already changed the hospitality industry and ways it will be changing it for the future. Robinson tells us in his article that "some of the trends in industry are leading to great improvements and savings for hospitality industry companies; while some are changing how hotel developers plan their buildings, infrastructure, management structure and staffing requirements". This means its not only about the bottom dollar, but the experience of each guest when they stay at the hotel. Robinson also states the obvious fact that travelers these days do not see Wi-Fi as a perk, but more of a must have. Full access to audio-visual is also on the must have list especially for business meetings and conferences. What I found most interesting from Robinson's article was the introduction of the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. This technology give you the ability to share information from a short-range frequency wireless communication. This technology is also ideal for self check-ins by guests at hotels as well as smart room keys.(Robinson) Hotel room keys have come a long way. From an actual key, key card in which you insert, to a key card you simply pass close to the reader and now the birth of the smart key. "Smart room access system allow guests to unlock their doors by simply swiping their phones across a keyless pad on the door.". (Robinson) Now how awesome is that. Robinson also talks about other new technology just as the future of hotel in room entertainment, hotels offering
  •  
    It has been well described and defined that technology impacted the hospitality industry in which it has advantage and disadvantages. The update and development of software creates a change in the business. This justifies that better software leads to better customer service. For this development has given most business opportunity to grow as they give them better tools.
nbakir

New Study Reveals Technology Investment Priorities for Hotels - 0 views

  • Chain hotels 77% more likely to increase technology investments, while independent counterparts prioritize room renovation
  • Reliance on technology is becoming increasingly important in the lodging industry as hotels begin to recognize how they can gain key competitive advantage with strategic technology investments.
  • cost continues to be the key barrier with technology adoption for many hoteliers
  • ...24 more annotations...
  • technology investment decisions are based on affordability and value.
  • more than half of the chain hotels prioritize technology that seamlessly integrates with their existing systems.
  • small independent hotels surveyed, 1 in 4 cited complexity as their biggest challenge when adopting technology, with 1 in 3 saying ease of use is a priority when evaluating solutions.
    • Angelica Saez
       
      Technology in the hospitality industry is very important. Technology is always used in the hospitality industry and it is evolving more everyday.
  • The study polled 1,215 global hotelier participants in July 2019 for a choice based study to determine how hotel properties are prioritizing their technology investment spend.
  • Partner Central Mobile App improvements
  • New "Rooms and Rates" overview page
  • New "Marketing" overview page
  • New adaptive home page
  • Multi property portfolio dashboard
  • According to a new survey of more than 1,200 hoteliers by Expedia Group, the world's travel platform, chain hotels1 are nearly twice as likely as small independent properties2 to prioritize technology investment. Alternatively, small independent properties are 1.5 times as likely as chain hotels to prioritize room renovations - indicating a gap in technology investment strategies among different hotelier segments.
  • 54% of hotels plan to increase their technology budgets for 2019, while only 8% plan to decrease.
  • Expedia Group is making enhancements to its platform so partners not only have the right resources whenever and wherever they need it, these solutions are delivered through intuitive and easy to use tools.
  • Chain hotels are classified as properties self-selected as part of a chain affiliation or group of properties with more than 100 rooms, while small independent properties are classified as properties with no chain affiliation and 100 rooms or less.
  • with nearly half of the small independent hotels surveyed i
  • chain hotels place significant investments in technology
  • nvest in how best to serve all our partners
  • prioritize with easy to use filters.
  • the simplified view streamlines information
  • new page reduces the number of links
  • managing rooms and rates easier with modified calendar navigation
  • view inventory and availability and make real time updates to reduce errors
  • he page brings the top five countries with the greatest booking opportunity
  • This personalised experience that enable suppliers to identify certain time-sensitive tasks they should take to accelerate booking potential on Expedia Group's marketplace.
  •  
    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.
  • ...4 more comments...
  •  
    I think the biggest reason for the percentage of small hotels to not be thinking (as much as big hotel chains) for technological improvement is ROI. The small hotel chains mindset is to improve their rooms because they are going to give them faster results on the ROI than being edgy on technological advancements. While on the long run, big chains know that they are competing against other big brands to stay ahead on their technological improvements for their guests Even though the difference from big chains to small chains percentage in regards to "planning on increasing budgets on technological improvements for the hotels" is twice as much as small chains plans to increase budgets on "room improvement" which is 1.5. Hector Pachon
  •  
    This article is about chain hotels 77% more likely to increase technology investments, while independent counterparts prioritize room renovation.
  •  
    Technology investment is likely to increase at about 77% in large chains properties. Many properties are investing based on affordability and pertaining to their budgets. Some of them are relying more on their existing systems to integrate with the newer to remain cost efficient. Large hotel groups such as Expedia is taking large risks and movement into investing with properties of small and large chains to help grow the industry along with the development of I.T investments.
  •  
    Reliance on technology is becoming increasingly important in the lodging industry as hotels begin to recognize how they can gain key competitive advantage with strategic technology investments. The study polled 1,215 global hotelier participants in July 2019 for a choice based study to determine how hotel properties are prioritizing their technology investment spend.
  •  
    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.  
shineal

Hospitality Digital Technology: Challenges, Priorities and Buzzwords | - 4 views

  • With the explosion of the “digital way of life”, the customer journey has become increasingly complex, forcing hoteliers overhaul not only their corporate and marketing strategies, but also their technology stack in order to engage, acquire, service and retain these digitally-enabled travel consumers across multiple digital touch points and across all digital channels and devices.
  • Today’s hospitality is being transformed into a 100% digital technology-enabled industry powered by online, mobile, cloud, IoT, AI and blockchain tools and applications.
  • there are two categories of guest-facing digital technology:
  • ...35 more annotations...
  • Today, the vast majority of hoteliers are primarily focused on and investing in Guest Services Technology, while underinvesting in Guest Engagement, Acquisition and Retention Technology.
  • Guest Services Technology
  • Guest Engagement, Acquisition and Retention Technology
  • Today’s hoteliers must create and manage a robust digital presence and engage, acquire, service and retain travel consumers in this increasingly mobile-first world.
  • In other words, hoteliers’ technology focus and investments end where the OTA focus and investment begin.
  • With nearly 59% of online travelers now visiting the hotel website from mobile devices,
  • a mobile-first website design is a must.
  • Mobile-first responsive website with
  • cloud hosting and CDN (Content Delivery Network) provides far better server response times and faster download speeds.
  • Quite often different teams at the property use different sets of data in their day-to-day operations, creating a total “data integrity mess,” which directly affects the property’s guest acquisition and retention efforts.
  • They must understand and invest in digital technology and marketing that enables the best possible user experience, provides the best customer service, increases efficiencies and boosts revenues.
  • From a technology perspective, the challenge to hoteliers is to create a hotel and room environment that at least matches but preferably exceeds their guests’ home environment. In other words, hotel and room technology, amenities, and features should be the same or better than what guests already enjoy at home. These include:
  • The future of this technology is the Smart Guestroom which will be completely personalized to guest preferences and loyalty member profile.
  • “Imagine a world where the room knows you, and you know your room.”
  • Hoteliers are overwhelmed by the amount of technology, data, and digital marketing silos and the need to work with multitude of vendors in their guest acquisition and services efforts.
  • Each team has its own technology tools, databases, and vendors which are not in communication with the other teams.
  • Unlike hoteliers, the OTAs are focused exclusively and investing only in Guest Engagement, Acquisition and Retention Technology since they do not have to worry about on-property technology and guest experiences.
  • Reluctance to invest in digital technology:
  • Antiquated accounting in hospitality:
  • The technology and data fragmentation in hospitality
  • These are the major impediments to the industry becoming a digital technology-driven and technology-savvy industry:
  • Recently, an independent hotel introduced room service delivery robots, which would have been great if the rest of the hotel tech stack were in order, and if it weren’t for the 6-year old property website, and absence of any CRM technology.
  • Hotels should first focus on the fundamentals of the technology stack before implementing more advanced things.
  • The U.S. hospitality industry is a $155 billion industry. This provides endless opportunities for smart technology vendors to thrive and service the industry with state-of-the-art solutions.
  • The industry needs fewer, as opposed to more, technology vendors servicing the industry.
  • The industry has a “vendor deficit disorder” in the sense of being overwhelmed by the number of tech vendors and solutions out there.
  • Hoteliers need to monitor, proactively inquire about and familiarize themselves with the Next Generation Technologies that are already making their way into hospitality, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Voice Assistants, Chat Bots, Robotics, and Blockchain.
  • Over the next 3-5 years we will witness wider adoption and implementation of the following next gen technologies:
  • Unlike hoteliers, the OTAs are focused exclusively and investing only in Guest Engagement, Acquisition and Retention Technology.
  • Hoteliers must wake up to the fact that by being primarily focused on and investing in Guest Services Technology, while underinvesting in Guest Engagement, Acquisition and Retention Technology, they are allowing the OTAs more visibility to engage, acquire and retain the online travel consumer.
  • Digital technology is making its way into every aspect of the industry: hotel operations, guest services and communications, revenue management, distribution, CRM and marketing.
  • Today’s hotelier must understand, know and use digital tech solutions in their everyday environment, and be able to assess, evaluate, recommend and acquire technology solutions to improve guest satisfaction, operational efficiencies and productivity, customer service and revenue.
  • Website Technology: The property or hotel brand website has become the gravitational center of all hotelier’s efforts to engage, acquire and retain the customer. Any marketing efforts of the hotel today lead the potential customers to the hotel website. Today’s website technology includes cloud-based Content Management System (CMS), comprehensive merchandising suites, reservation abandonment tools, personalization pricing and content, technical SEO, cloud hosting, and robust analytics suite
  • The goal here is very clear: bridge the guest data and technology silos in hospitality and create an end-to-end solution, empowering hotels to acquire new guests, engage current guests, and retain past guests by combining digital marketing, website, and CRM data into one cohesive marketing and personalization platform.
  • The “digital way of life” adopted by today’s tech-savvy travel consumer is forcing the hospitality industry to accelerate the adoption of digital technologies and become a 100% digital technology-enabled industry.
  •  
    The article covers a great deal of the technology products in all of the hotel aspects. it also focuses on the fact that hotels are investing a lot in offering technological tangible services to the clients where must shift its focus a bit and invest more in the guest engagement technology to close the gap between them and OTAs.
  •  
    Hospitality is being transformed into a 100% digital technology-enabled industry; however, it is very challenging to maintain. Employees are overwhelmed by the amount of technology they need to lear to do their job efficiently
  •  
    This article focuses on the fact that technology is now being used in almost every aspect of the hotel industry. This is because hoteliers are beginning to understand that guests are expecting to enjoy the same level of technology used in the comfort of their homes when they are at hotels. Therefore, hotels that are more technologically advanced are more empowered to satisfy guests' technological needs, but the information collected by the hotels' systems also enables the hotels to acquire new guests, engage current guests and retain past guests; as such, there are benefits to both the hotels and guests when the level of technology offered is updated.
rhera004

Technology in the hospitality industry - exploring the very latest trends - 5 views

  • Digital conference facilities
  • hotels also need to be able to offer access to audio-visual (AV) and digital facilities for conferences.
  • If a hotel has extensive conference facilities, network design becomes critical to ensure indoor mobile phone coverage, Wi-Fi connectivity, VoIP, real time location services (RTLS) and internet protocol television (IPTV)
  • ...51 more annotations...
  • When investing in digital apps for check-ins, room service and other customer-oriented digital interactions, hotel operators are investing in systems and technologies that can personalise the experience for guests, including a guest’s name being displayed on the welcome desk at a digital check-in station;
  • hotel staff can take a more innovative approach by using infrared scanners that will detect body heat within a room and tell cleaning staff that they should rather come back later if the room is currently occupied.
  • NFC technology can also be used to personalise a guest’s experience at a hotel or resort.
  • A boutique hotel that is nestled between Apple’s headquarters and other tech companies, called Aloft Cupertino, has a robot butler called Botlr that is able to move between the various floors of the hotel in order to take items such as toothbrushes, chargers and snacks to guests.
  • Near field communication (NFC) technology is the next-generation short-range high frequency wireless communication technology that gives users the ability to exchange data between devices.
  • Retina scanning is even more accurate and secure
  • than fingerprint scans and hotels like the Nine Zero Hotel in Boston have already installed an iris scan system
  • Marketing, management and hotel developers can no longer work in silos and these technology trends are giving them the opportunities, tools and solutions they need to create memorable experiences
  • 81% of respondents wanted access to mobile video content at hotels and 55% said that mobile content availability at a hotel would influence where they choose to stay.
  • Being able to provide entertainment on tap and mobile content has led to the trend of hotels investing in cloud services.
  • gives hotels the flexibility to expand and adjust their IT needs along with business growth
  • Cloud computing is becoming the norm and we will continue to see hotel groups replacing their legacy IT infrastructure with cloud solutions.
  • take full advantage of technology in this space is using it to communicate how well they are doing (in real time) with respect to their various environmental initiatives (such as real time electricity/water usage reporting, etc.)
  • local area networks (LANs)
  • building services can be automated in order to control lighting, refrigeration, air-conditioning and heating.
  • Besides reducing energy consumption, converged LANs can also be set up to provide a smarter, more personal experience.
  • Another innovative way to offer a keyless experience is through fingerprint-activated room entry systems and retina scanning devices.
  • Installing and maintaining a hotel-wide wireless network may be coupled with costs, but many leading hotel groups have started to install high density Wi-Fi and started to offer in-building mobile phone coverage as guests have come to expect these services during their stay (not only for themselves, but also for their guests if they are hosting a conference or function at the hotel).
  • While the amount of AV and digital equipment that goes into a typical conference room is fairly minimal, staging companies are often hired for various projects in order to equip the facility as required.
  • Guests want to be able to do everything from checking in at a venue’s automated kiosk to ordering room service with a digital device instead of standing in queues and moving around the hotel premises to order food.
  • investing in a check-in/cocierge app requires a small initial investment and can lead to greater efficiency and savings as hotel staff are able to focus on customer service and property developers don’t have to create large static reception desks at each entrance and hotel location.
  • can transfer data at up to 424 kbits/second and the communication is enabled when two devices touch each other, which makes mobile payments (by touching the smart phone to a credit card) an instant, secure process.
  • this technology could also be used to track loyalty points from a guest’s use of the conference facilities or room service.
  • Infrared scanners are now also used to minimise disruptions relating to housekeeping (which is a common complaint from customers).
  • All of these experiences need to be part of an integrated, dynamic system so that the guests’ experiences are at the forefront of the marketing and operational team’s mind.
  • Starwood (owner of the Sheraton, Weston and “W” hotel chains) has already upgraded 30,000 room locks across 150 hotels with this system and Hilton will be implementing a similar system at 10 of their US properties this year. In 2016, they will be deploying the smart room key technology globally.
  • This technology will mean that guests don’t have to worry about picking up keys and front desk staff won’t have to issue new keys in the event that a guest loses their room key.
  • The hotel room’s television, radio and clock are taking a backseat as travellers use their own technology to keep themselves entertained.
  • Many companies in the hospitality industry are already using social media to their advantage as guests check-in on location-based social media apps, tweet about their experience on Twitter and share their holiday photos with friends and followers on Instagram and Facebook.
  • his shift has led to many hotel and leisure groups developing active social media monitoring and communication strategies in order to stay on top of what’s being said about them online
  • Hotels will increasingly install smart room access systems that allow guests to unlock their doors by simply swiping their phones across a keyless pad on the door.
    • rhera004
       
      This section is talking about designing effective conference facilities/ ensuring your hotel/ facility can accommodate clients technological needs. My thought on this is how can we in the hospitality field accommodate this when we do not yet know the scope of need. We do not know what is to come. Ex. Roads in Europe are incredibly narrow as no one knew cars would be a thing in the future. It's crazy to think buildings and infrastructure can also become obsolete.
  • medical facilities;
    • rhera004
       
      Super important given the state of things
    • rhera004
       
      This freaks me out a bit b/c of devices which can aid people in stealing your credit card information in close proximity to you.
  • For example, advertising can be targeted based on gender and age (so if a child walks by a digital sign in the lobby, the advertisement can change to promote a local theme park or the hotel’s kids club
  • hanging a ‘Do Not Disturb
    • rhera004
       
      Eco-friendly option. I like this!
    • rhera004
       
      Wireless = More sanitary. No one really thinks about the amount of hands that have been on room key cards...
    • rhera004
       
      This may be a hard sell for some people. Ex. Conspiracy theorists etc.
  • almost any person checking in at a hotel, resort, spa or lodge, will have a smartphone in their pockets.
    • rhera004
       
      Social Media is such a powerful advertising tool as well. Have clients work for you. This can also be dangerous if your facility is not running at 100%
    • rhera004
       
      Can be creepy- but will definitely optimize guest experience.
  • hen processes should be put in place to ensure the right person follows up by communicating with the guest and solving the problem at the hotel.
  • ead to positive change and growth in the industry.
  • l
  • computers no longer see Wi-Fi as a perk, but as a must-have when they check in at a hotel.
  • computers no longer see Wi-Fi as a perk, but as a must-have when they check in at a hotel.
  • I
  • t might not yet be financially feasible for hotels to completely abandon the user pay model, but many of them are re-thinking their current infrastructure and pricing models.
    • rhera004
       
      Bluetooth speaker system connectivity would be a good idea for hotel rooms.
  •  
    The article lists the varies new technology that are becoming more and more of the norm in modern hotels. The first and most important is WIFI. Ten years ago every hotel you went would make you pay for WIFI nowadays guests look for hotels that offer free wifi. Conference facilities are a big thing in larger hotels but they need to be digital. Everyone has a mobile device so making as much as possible available on a guests mobile phone will go a long way. Entertain and clod services are all new technologies being used in hotels as well. Of course social media is a huge part of our day to day world.
  •  
    This article talks about how technology is affecting the hospitality industry. There have been several small technological advances in the industry. Recently, advances have been skyrocketing, especially in the hotel sector. Hotels have been updating their technology year after year striving to stay relevant. Businesses are looking for Digital conference facilities for their conferences/meetings. Where skype and zoom calls can be conducted in a business fashion. There are also hotels that are looking to put in finger scanning devices for room access and infrared scanners for staff members to monitor room activity. This article has several other fantastic advances in technology that could be used in the hospitality industry as a whole.
  •  
    Technology evolves everyday it keeps getting better and making lives even easier. Guests are attracted to hotels who have the latest technology. This week I saw in social media a friend of mine is currently in Las Vegas and her room had an Echo Dot and she was asking Alexa to turn off the lights and close the shades. That got my attention and is proving the point on how the Hospitality industry has to be at the very top of the latest technology trends.
nixalexa

What is Hotel PMS? | Oracle - 2 views

  • Traditionally, a hotel property management system (PMS) was defined as a platform that enabled a hotel or group of hotels to manage front-office capabilities, such as booking reservations, guest check-in/check-out, room assignment, managing room rates, and billing
  • Traditionally, a hotel property management system (PMS) was defined as a platform that enabled a hotel or group of hotels to manage front-office capabilities, such as booking reservations, guest check-in/check-out, room assignment, managing room rates, and billing.
  • Hotel PMS is now a critical business operations system that enables hoteliers to deliver a seamless guest experience. Hotel PMS now integrates to other onsite services that impact the guest's complete experience, including: Food and beverage operations Housekeeping and maintenance management Sales and catering execution for group bookings and event management Revenue management Distribution across multiple channels Spa management
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  • Faster innovation With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels can bring new properties online more quickly. Each new release brings new capabilities to help deliver great guest experiences, improve operating efficiency, and increase employee productivity. Lower IT complexity and costs With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels can lower upfront capital expenditure on software and hardware. By going above-property, hotels can also reduce IT complexity and IT costs. Increase in RevPAR and ADR With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels can effectively manage rates and allocation of rooms to various distribution channels, helping to maximize occupancy, rates, and revenue. Enhanced customer lifetime value With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels get a single customer master with comprehensive guest profiles that allow them to personalize and differentiate guest experiences.
  • Until recently, hotel PMS solutions were often managed on premises. On-premises solutions include hardware that can take up a lot of space. Resources were needed to manage the systems and software updates, upgrades, and patches needed to be scheduled and installed manually by onsite staff. Cloud-based, mobile-enabled hotel PMS platforms offer hotels an innovative way to engage with guests while enabling hotels to reduce IT costs and simplify their infrastructure.
  • ncrease housekeeping efficiency with instant updates on housekeeping mobile devices when customers check out, freeing up rooms for cleaning
  • is now a critical business operations system
  • that replaced time-intensive, paper and spreadsheet-heavy processes.
  • seamless guest experience.
  • Enhanced customer lifetime value.
  • Hoteliers are challenged with providing a personalized guest experience
  • olutions help hoteliers deliver the experience guests want, while efficiently managing their business.
  • Connect operations and financial processes by leveraging prebuilt integrations
  • Increase room occupancy and ADR through real-time rate
  • ster innovation.
  • Lower IT complexity and costs.
  • aditionally, a hotel property management system was defined as a platform that enabled a hotel or group of hotels to manage front-office capabilities, such as booking reservations, guest check-in/check-out, room assignment, managing room rates, and billing.
  • rease in RevPAR and ADR.
  • OPERA Cloud hotel property management system offers hoteliers capabilities to enhance operating efficiency and deliver exceptional guest experiences. The platform integrates emerging technologies with ease, accelerating innovation to meet ever-changing demands. Hotel PMS Defined
    • sbaut010
       
      Opera, a traditional PMS provider has has invested in cloud computing.
  • With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels can lower upfront capital expenditure on software and hardware. By going above-property, hotels can also reduce IT complexity and IT costs.
  • With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels can bring new properties online more quickly. Each new release brings new capabilities to help deliver great guest experiences, improve operating efficiency, and increase employee productivity.
  • With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels get a single customer master with comprehensive guest profiles that allow them to personalize and differentiate guest experiences.
  • The benefits of cloud-based hotel PMS solutions include:
  • With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels can effectively manage rates and allocation of rooms to various distribution channels, helping to maximize occupancy, rates,
  • r
  • Hotel PMS now integrates to other onsite services that impact the guest's complete experience, including:
  • T
  • OPERA Cloud hotel property management system offers hoteliers capabilities to enhance operating efficiency and deliver exceptional guest experiences. The platform integrates emerging technologies with ease, accelerating innovation to meet ever-changing demands.
  • Provide anytime, anywhere service to your guests using a mobile-enabled cloud-based hotel PMS.
  • Centralize and secure customer data and improve the quality and accuracy of guest profiles with reporting and analytics.
  • Empower managers to improve ADR with extensive options for setting rates and advanced rate-management features for manual and semiautomated revenue management.
  • With a cloud hotel PMS, hotels get a single customer master with comprehensive guest profiles that allow them to personalize and differentiate guest experiences.
    • nixalexa
       
      PMS is Hotel Property Management Systems to help operate the day-to-day tasks in the hospitality industry, PMS has assisted the process with guests check in and checkout, assistance with assigning rooms, managing room rates and for billing guests, this article also explains how PMS has removed the unnecessary use of paper for these processes as well, which is environmentally friendly! When a guest leaves their room, PMS systems help inform housekeeping that there is an empty room that now needs to be cleaned for the next guest. The article by Oracle also mentions "mobile-enabled cloud-based hotel PMS" which tells the reader that internet is required to function the PMS properly and efficiently. PMS also assists hotels with keeping customer data in their systems so that managers within the property can keep track of guest spending, room rates, guests per night, week or month and help improve how accurate their information is instead of having to keep track of all of this data manually. When speaking of the cloud-based PMS systems the article also states that this helps customers keep track of their own information with a specific company. Like if a customer stays at Marriott hotels, with the Marriott app they will be able to keep track of their stays and reservations they have made in the past as well as existing reservations.
  •  
    Property management systems (PMS) were originally only for front desk needs like booking reservations, checking guest in and out, charging accounts, and managing room assignments. The newer PMS systems have enhanced the check in and check out process, maintenance and housekeeping management, and accounts receivable management. The check in and check out process has been enhanced by the newer cloud based PMS systems by giving the front desk the ability to provide service anywhere and anytime. It is more accessible and can update room statuses in real time. As housekeeping cleans rooms the room statuses are updated through their mobile cleaning device into the PMS system. Also, the PMS system allows the front desk to communicate with the maintenance and housekeeping staff for last minute guest request and complaints. The cloud based PMS system also allows the front desk to have access to revenue management. This way the front desk can have access to accounts receivable and update it as payments come in from previous guest. This enables faster and more accurate billing for guest. As technology advances it is important for the hospitality industry to stay updated so that guest and employees needs are met. Keeping up with the technological trends allows companies to remain competitive.
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  •  
    MS technology changed a lot in the hospitality industry. A hotel property management system is a platform that enabled a hotel or group of hotels to manage front-office capabilities, such as booking reservations, guest check-in/check-out, room assignment, managing room rates, and billing. Hotel PMS now integrates to other onsite services that impact the guest's complete experience. Hotel staff provides a guest experience when operating an effective hotel business.PMS can help hotel staff to manage information more efficiently. hotel PMS can also let hotel employees gain insights into guest behavior and preferences, improving guest satisfaction and enhancing the quality of the guest experience. PMS will develop faster than now and implement their system more efficient. When customers book a hotel room through website hotel staff can know it immediately. It saves time and saves labor cost. Hotel staff doesn't need to write down the information now.
  •  
    A hotel PMS is often defined as the software used to manage bookings, room rates, check-in/check-out times, and much more. However, through the years, hotels' PMS has evolved to better allow for a seamless guest experience. For example, with an advanced PMS, front desk is capable of directly notifying housekeeping employees what rooms need what service and any specifications they might have. In addition, PMS has evolved to be a cloud-based software. This means that hotels can keep up to date with the newest version of the PMS, they lower IT costs, they can more effectively influence room rates and better manage expenses along with income, and they allow them to keep track of all guests and their specific requests to keep the experience perfectly personalized for them each time they come to visit.
  •  
    This articles talks about how the PMS programs are being redefined by new technologies that not only enhance the productivity of the hotel it self but has millions of positive effects, event towards a more ecological and eco friendly environment.
  •  
    This article first introduces the definition of PMS. Traditionally, PMS was defined as a platform that enabled a hotel or group of hotels to manage front-office capabilities. But with the development of science and technology, the function of PMS has been extended. Hotels can get many benefits from PMS, such as improving room management efficiency, more convenient management of customer data, and so on. This article also introduces the advantages of cloud-based PMS over traditional PMS. Such as faster updates, avoiding excessive costs in the IT department. Cloud-based PMS may be an important development trend for PMS.
  •  
    Hotel PMS is a critical business operations system which enables a seamless guest experience. PMS is not just limited to in house; cloud base PMS provides the same benefits with more features.
  •  
    Hotel PMS is extremely important when it comes to hotel management. It provides a seamless experience for not only guests but employees. It provides easier guest check in and out, data that includes accounts receivable, and also helps with maintenance and housekeeping. PMS systems are cloud based and is expensive but will be worth it over time.
  •  
    We look at how the software Oracle is beneficial to a Hotel's PMS system. This software is the middle man between the customer and proving service
  •  
    This article tell us what is PMS and what benefits it can brings to the hotels operation. Automating daily operations and administrative tasks is an important part of achieving customer satisfaction as it helps provide reliable and quality service time after time. A hotel is a complex system that encompasses the activities of many departments, and every operation must be tracked
  •  
    More than a "platform that enabled a hotel or group of hotels to manage front-office capabilities", modern PMS is "a critical business operations system that enables hoteliers to deliver a seamless guest experience" by integrating many other systems. PMS offers many kinds of benefits to hoteliers, including improving housekeeping services and revenue management. The deployment of PMS is also a consideration. While most PMS systems were on-premise, there do have cloud-based ones that reduces cost in an innovative way. It also helps in enhancing customer lifetime value and increase RevPAR and ADR.
j1abao

8 Disruptive Hotel Technology Trends to Watch in 2022 - 3 views

  • Venture capitalists are finally starting to recognize the opportunity to invest in tools and platforms that allow hotels to capture new levels of hotel operations efficiency and revenue growth.
  • penetration of cloud-based technologies in the segment remains incredibly low
  • hotels that invest in technology drive higher revenue, better guest reviews, and a higher star-rating.
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  • 20,000 properties.
  • hospitality property owners look to address the challenge of competition from peer-to-peer platforms like Airbnb
  • focus on improving guest experience and helping travelers have the trip of a lifetime
  • guest-messaging software
  • messaging tools to deliver five-star service at scale
  • provide frictionless guest service and streamline time-consuming interactions, such as check-in.
  • White labeling has already begun in the hotel industry without hoteliers even knowing it. Property management systems that offer channel management integrations are usually white labelling their channel managers from other vendors
  • The many tech innovations we see penetrating the market require constant vigilance of cybersecurity best practices, regular updates to security software, and dedication to routine testing and threat assessment.
  • Most revenue management systems focus on reporting and data visualization; the addition of white label software to the backend of an RMS can improve price optimization, letting hoteliers spend their time on higher value tasks and strategic revenue management.
  • APIs allow your various hotel technology tools and programs to work together, conne
  • streaming, voice activation, guest-room tablets, and food ordering tech.
  • 2nd Kitchen is a godsend for hotels without a kitchen on-site: guests can order room service from restaurants near your hotel,
  • Numerous high-profile malware attacks on the hotel industry have led to hundreds of millions of guests’ data being compromised and millions of dollars in damage.
  • forced to get smart about security
  • do their research in selecting tech tools
  • regularly host training to their staff
  • all-in-one suite of tools, including a property management system, channel manager, booking engine, and revenue manager, growing revenue and automating workflows at more than
  • There are two factors outside Coronavirus that are impacting OTAs. First, hotels are getting better at capturing direct bookings.
  • Secondly, Google has entered the travel market in a big way.
  • for property owners, WiFi 6 is much more relevant
  • beyond the guest experience, hotels can take advantage of faster WiFi
  • Smart thermostats, smart speakers, and smart locks
  • data has become the world’s most valuable resource.
  • Data can fuel smarter marketing campaigns, inform your pricing, and help you capture a higher market share
  • Hoteliers are just starting to realize the potential of its guest data.
  • put a dollar figure on just how much hotel industry data is worth. The Group purchased STR for $450 million in cas
  • New competitors are challenging old management companies that haven’t innovated enough
  • These next-gen properties are sometimes called hometels (home+hotel), or more generally, alternative lodging
  • Technology in hotels goes far beyond guestroom TVs and phone
  • smart locks
  • ast WiF
  • NFC technology for contactless payments
  • kiosks or mobile apps for digital check-in,
  • robots that deliver room service.
  • Smart hotel rooms use technology to allow guests to personalize their stay experiences.
  • The most important software in the hotel industry is the property management system
  • hoteliers must focus on data security and continued training
    • jtarr003
       
      I really enjoyed this article about 8 disruptive Hotel Technology trends to watch in 2022. What I found most interesting about this article is how guest room technology is changing. Guest now want there hotel room to have voice enabled devices in there hotel room to help them control the room that they are staying in. Also guest would rather use on-demand conveniences like uber eats and door dash to eat food to there rooms.
    • jtarr003
       
      8 disruptive hotel technology trends to watch in 2022
  • White labeling is a practice in which a product – in this case, hotel software – is manufactured by a third party and uses branding by the purchaser, or marketer, so that the end product appears to have been produced by the purchaser. “The advantage is that a single company does not need to do it all: one firm can concentrate on producing the product; another on marketing it; and another can focus on selling it, each according to its expertise and preference,”
  • Interest in investing in hotel technology has slowly ramped up in recent years.
  • Hotels that are comfortable using APIs can automate tasks that take up much of their employee’s time with manual data entry.
  • Why is data so valuable? “Data are now part of every sector and function of the global economy and, like other essential factors of production such as hard assets and human capital, much of modern economic activity simply could not take place without them
  • Hotels use technology to provide better service, streamline communication, allow guests to personalize their experiences, and offer more convenient processes, like checking in or ordering room service.
  • deliver increasingly high value for hoteliers and guests. For hotel managers, technology specifically designed to manage hotel operations, reservations, housekeeping, and more can enable greater efficiency and fewer human errors
  •  
    For this article I want to focus on the room technology aspect. We have become so dependent of our devices at home that sometimes going to hotels is not as pleasant as before. In this article, we can see how hotel chains are changing to cater to our needs so the daily routines are not affected. One example is how Hilton is partnering with Netflix allowing you to sync your Netflix Account with the Hilton Honors app so you can go and use the room tv to keep watching your favorite programs. So no more using your computer or ipad to keep binging on your series while you are in a hotel. The other interesting part is the use of tablets and apps that mimic our regular apps for food ordering within the hotel avoiding the need to call for room service or doing lines at restaurants.
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  •  
    This article reviews the top eight tech trends causing disruption in the hospitality industry: SaaS (software as a service), APIs (application programming interface), guest room tech, privacy & cybersecurity, OTAs (online travel agency) struggling, WiFi 6, big data and digital hotel companies/alternative lodging. The article dives into each of the eight with an overview/background on the tech, how it's advancing, and why and how it's being used. Some of main takeaways are that for many of the tech trends the industry is just starting to realize the full potential and that overall these tech advances should be able to allow companies to harness tech and data to drive customer experience and retention.
  •  
    I found this article rather interesting because I feel like this is very normal to me now. The fact that it has technology trends of 2022 on it is so interesting because I've been seeing these trends for a while already. I liked how the article called these technology trends a way for the customers to personalize their experience. At the end of the day, they truly are in charge because of these trends. Everything is accesible online and they even have options to add nearby tourist spots to their itinerary. Technological convenience is now a part of everyone's life. This is why hotels are implementing this convenience through streaming, guest tablets, food ordering kiosk, and much more. This is possible because hotels are also using API's which connect hotel technology by tech stacking and using tools to talk to one another. In my opinion, these technological advances could only get better to further improve the convenience hotels can provide.
  •  
    This article discusses not only the future of hospitality technology, but the impact it will have on the industry, All of the technology advancements mentioned will change how hospitality businesses operate. For example, cybersecurity is becoming a really important investment for these businesses to make because hackers have been stealing guest data and information. Tech advancements are being placed around privacy of consumer data, when that never used to be a major issue
  •  
    This article palms out 8 disruptive hotel technology trends to follow. The explosion of SaaS, APIs going mainstream, room technology innovation, privacy and cybersecurity, the struggles of OTAs, WiFi 6, big data and digital hotel companies. The article illustrates that technology is driving the hospitality industry by explaining new technology trends that enable hoteliers to operate more efficiently and offer guests the opportunity to personalize their experience. But it also means hoteliers must focus on data security and ongoing training when implementing the technology guests expect.
paige rosenberg

The Future of Hotel Security - AOL Travel News - 1 views

  • Technology is opening new doors to hotel safety
  • Yet more card-free security systems are on the way
  • eventually new security measures will become such a part of our everyday lives that they will become the norm.
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  • Systems that track the other qualities that make each human unique are in development as well.
  • here are some systems being explored that can allegedly sniff someone, and also systems that can recognize the pattern of blood veins on a human being which are apparently unique to the individual,
  • new thing is contact-less Smartcards and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) cards that need just be waved to allow room access.
  • Kimpton's 190-room Nine Zero Hotel in Boston was the first hotel to install a biometric iris scanner back in 2004
  • we navigate hotels is set to change in the blink of an eye. Or the swipe of a cellphone. Or the print of a finger. With futuristic systems like scent and iris scanners and digital facial-recognition, hotel security is being taken to the next level. #plain_module { width: 590px; height:170px; border: none; float:left; margin:0px; font-size:12px;} #plain_module img {border:none; width: 13px; height:14; border: 0px; margin:0px; } #plain_module .mini_main { margin: 0px; padding:0px; width:585px; height:220px; repeat scroll 0 0} #plain_module .mini_item_header {padding:10px 0px; margin: 0px 0px; font-size:16px; color: #555555; border-bottom:1px dotted #CCCCCC;} #plain_module .mini_item {padding:5px 0px; margin: 0px 0px;} #plain_module a { color: #49A3CA; text-decoration:none; } #plain_module a:hover { color: #F98419; text-decoration:underline;} span.gray {color:#949494;} .mini_main li{list-style-type: none;background-image: url(http://www.aolcdn.com/travel/bullet);background-repeat: no-repeat;background-position: 0 1px;padding-left: 10px;}
  • Those plastic key cards that once seemed so innovative will soon go the way of the actual key
  • "In addition to Radio Frequency Identification, there are also systems that use a smartphone, such as an iPhone,"
  • When a guest checks into a hotel and provides their phone number, they get an encrypted sound code via text message
  • Many industry watchers are keeping an eye on Houston's largest hotel, the vast 1,200-room Hilton Americas–Houston. The hotel has a facial recognition system that can identify and track guests, employees, and even suitcases
  • 1,200 rooms worth of luggage in transit, the system makes it a lot easier to find lost or misdirected bags.
  • Returning guests will be recognized and greeted by nam
  • "Hospitality all over the world has become more aware of past vulnerabilities that they might have had and have closed these holes by more in-depth training and awareness of guests and staff," he says. "In today's society, all travelers are becoming interdependent on each other for safety and security."
  •  
    This article talks about the future trend of the hospitality security, which is technology is opening new doors to hotel safety.  The author introduces some different technologies such as Contact-less Smartcards and RFID that hotels like New York's Plaza Hotel are currently using. Finger print or cellphone wipe technology is also used instead of card, which should be more safe. Some hotels even use video-capture systems to make sure the security is perfect. After introducing these technologies, the author also talks about the privacy issues. Because some customers are not willing to be on cameras. However, though some of them are concerning about this issue, an expert predicts that new security measures will eventually become such a part of everyone's everyday lives that he or she will become the norm. All in all, this article gives us the trend that more and more technologies will be used for hotel security in the future.
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  •  
    I think PR representatives should address the privacy controversy surrounding radio frequency identification technology with a safety campaign. This may help consumers realize that they are not in the privacy of their own home when they are in the hallways of hotels and cruise ships and the cameras/tracking could help protect them. As long as the data collected is not misused these technologies will continue to be present in these locations.
  •  
    It's pretty important for the hospitality industry to present these new technologies as wonderful security measures. People could be put off by knowing they have to swipe their finger to get into a bathroom. The success of these technologies depends on effective marketing and proven security measures that ensure collected information about a traveller will not be used in unethical ways.
  •  
    Interesting article it is. Security is always the big issue for hospitality. I would like to stay in a hotel that is using finger print as the key card of the hotel because i believe that is much safer than cards that anybody can access my room by using the card.
  •  
    In this article all of the new trends for hotel security are described and examples of where they are being implemented are given. Thanks to technological innovations hotel safety is heading into a whole different level. Now key cards are being change to more sophisticated ones that need just to be waved to open a room door. In the near future it is expected for these cards to be used as a payment method and to check-in and check-out. In the U.S biometrics technology is starting to be used by a small number of properties not only for guests to access their rooms but for employees. Facial recognition systems with the ability of tracking guests and employees are also being implemented. This system helps to improves customer service as it helps to really understand guest's preferences, as enormous amount of information can be extracted as they are constantly being monitored. Other technologies are also being developed. The most amazing ones are the systems that track other unique human characteristics as the way a person walks or it's DNA.
  •  
    The technology of hotel changes very fast, such as swipe of a cellphone or print of a finger, or the contact cards that need just be waved to allow room access. It is like the cruise world's one card system, these cards may soon make hotel stays easier by allowing guests to pay for services, as well as to check- in and check-out, through a single device. If customers lost their cards on cruise, the radio frequency identification and smartphone will provide customers their code via text message, so they can play back the code to unlock your room door. But more card free security systems are on the way. If you want to get into your room at New York's SoHo Loft , you are going to have to lift a finger. The Nine Zero Hotel in Boston us the technology to make the property safer all round ,that means non-staff members and intruders can not access the property. Systems that track the other qualities that make each human unique in development as well. The Houston's largest hotel has a facial recognition system that can identify and track guests and an annual $16 million payroll ,the system offers benefits such as employee time theft monitoring and prevention for the hotel. But with 1200 rooms worth of luggage in transit the system makes it a lot easier to find lost or misdirected bags The Wolfe feels that in addition to the biometrics and high-tech methods currently being deployed ,one of the greatest security measures of late is actually low tech.
  •  
    The full name of RFID is radio-frequency identification. RFID is the use of a wireless non-contact system that uses radio-frequency electromagnetic fields to transfer data from a tag attached to an object, for the purposes of automatic identification and tracking. Some tags require no battery and are powered by the electromagnetic fields used to read them. Others use a local power source and emit radio waves (electromagnetic radiation at radio frequencies). The tag contains electronically stored information which can be read from up to several metres (yards) away. Now RFID in hospitality industry as a tool is used for improving service quality, customer satisfaction, market share, and profitability. As the new technology apply into hotel security, the hotels change their ways in the blink of an eye, or the swipe of a cell phone, or the print of a finger. With futuristic systems like scent and iris scanners and digital facial-recognition, hotel security is being taken to the high level and some of the luxury hotels begin to use RFID system. Usually customers will worry about lose the card of hotel. Then they can not open the door and even need to pay extra money to buy a new card. But now security systems in some hotels do away with cards altogether. Because of RFID system, customers can use the iPhone connect with the system. When a guest checks into a hotel and provides their phone number, they get an encrypted sound code via text message. Guests can play back the code to unlock your room door.
  •  
    i think there are some factors to consider. Customer Service - Many opportunities for "great" customer service are lost if guest and employee interaction is diminished. In many cases, the front desk staff give the first impression that a guest experiences. This first "experience" can be crucial for referring the guest to other property amenities, i.e. spa, restaurants, lounge, pool, attractions, etc. Often, the front desk staff are acting as the concierge and resolvers of guest issues.
  •  
    this article talks about new technology that is being implemented throughout out US and the world. Old key cards are now going to be replaced with even older standard keys or the radio frequency identification card that can be waived in front of the door to gain access. Also, there is a technology that will sent an encrypted sound text to guest;s cell phone, which when played back will open the door.  It talks about technology that tracks all employees, guests and their luggage.  There are several concerned that travelers have about their privacy, but article stated that it all depends on the type of the traveler.  Also, the face recognition technology used in Houston's largest hotel remembers guests names and when they return, guests are greeted by name.  Article concludes that even with all this technology, the best security is provided through interdependence of travelers and employees.  
  •  
    Technology in the hotel travel and tourism industry will be changing drastically in the near future, from the swipe of a cell phone, print of a finger, facial recognition, iris scanners, security is going to be taken to the next level. the plastic key cards will soon no longer exist. Radio frequency I'd cards are the new thing, where guest will use this for preferences for everything, from charging things to your room, preference of floor type to pillow choice, chick in and out etc. systems that track the other qualities of a person instead of using a key or card are in development as well. There are research going on how to open the door and. Lose wi just the persons walk and movements. Some people think these new security technologies are awesome, while some think they are not, people dont want to be watched 24/7while on vacation they just want to enjoy there stay. But in today's society all travelers are becoming interdependent on each other for safety and security.
laura kaczkowski

Travel Agents Increase Use of GDS to Book Hotel Rooms - 3 views

  • Advanced Search Search Products & Services    News Releases Close Send a release Member sign in Become a member For bloggers For journalists Global sites Products & Services Knowledge Center Browse News Releases Contact PR Newswire
  • he leading global provider of revenue generating solutions for hoteliers, clearly demonstrates how crucial Global Distribution System (GDS) platforms and GDS Shopping Displays are to travel agents:
  • 84 percent of respondents indicated that they were using their GDS platform the same amount or more often than in the past, with 35 percent stating that they are using GDS more.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • where 26 percent of travel agents stated that they used their GDS platform more often than in the past and 19 percent said they used the GDS Shopping Displays more often than before.
  • "Travel agents are increasing GDS hotel use, and have once again confirmed their confidence in GDS Shopping and Booking Displays,"
  • Travel agents in 25 countries across the Americas, EMEA (Europe/Middle East/Africa) and Asia/Pacific regions who subscribe to one of the four major GDS systems were asked to participate.
  • n the survey, travel agents worldwide also indicated that promotional messages are effective and often prompt bookings: 66 percent of all travel agents surveyed who were aware of promotional messages requested additional information by looking at the screen attached to the promotional message.
  • "This survey definitively shows that promotional messages are not only an excellent way to reach travel agents, but also a valuable sales catalyst,
  • s the leading provider of revenue generating solutions for hoteliers across the globe. TravelClick offers hotels world-class reservation solutions, business intelligence products and comprehensive media and marketing solutions to help hotels grow their business.
  • is one of the fastest growing marketing research firms in the United States. With offices across the country and in Europe and partnerships with many of the largest companies in the financial services, consumer package goods, automotive, healthcare, media, technology and travel and leisure industries worldwide, PMI also offers advanced advertising and brand measurement along with direct marketing expertise.
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  •  
    In the article, "Travel Agents Increase Use of GDS to Book Hotel Rooms," it talked about how the leading global provider of revenue is generating solutions for hotels, it shows how important GDS platforms are to travel agents. "84 percent of respondents indicated that they were using their GDS platform the same amount or more often than in the past, with 35 percent stating that they are using GDS more." Back in 2009, when the last study was conducted, about 26 percents of travel agents said that they used their GDS platform more often than in the past. This study also states that the annual GDS shopping displays will be over $50 million in 2011, which will increase more than a million bookings compared to 2010. There was another survey that was done and they surveyed different travel agents from across the world that were subscribed to a major GDS system. In the survey the travel agents indicated that promotional messages are effective and often prompt bookings. Out of the travel agents they surveyed, 66% said that they were aware of the "promotional messages requested addition information by looking at the screen attached to he promotional message." From this survey it showed that promotional messages are an excellent way to reach travel agents and from reaching the agent, they also reaching the customer, it's a win-win reaction.
  •  
    I enjoyed the part about brand and promotional messaging, that is always a lure for me. When I see an attractive offer, evern If I'm not interested in booking or going to the destination, I often click on it anyway just to see the offer. It is a very effective marketing tool.
Le Chai

Event Planning - Technology Solutions - 5 Technologies Event Planners Can't Live Withou... - 5 views

  • 5 Technologies Event Planners Can't Live Without
  • our top five technologies for event planners are no surprise
  • 1. Smartphones
  • ...54 more annotations...
  • This is the most obvious technology we can’t live without. Let’s be honest—-most of us are glued to our smartphones and our favorite apps 24 hours a day.
  • Chances are, if you walk around a convention center or hotel lobby, you will see people with their heads down, tapping away furiously on their smartphones
  • How did we ever find time to accomplish everything before smartphones came into existence?
  • your event management system with a customer relationship management (CRM) system such as Salesforce,
  • the benefits of the SaaS (software as a service) delivery model are becoming increasingly apparent.
  • These applications are advantageous to planners because they allow us to access all details and execution aspects of an event from any web-enabled device—be it a computer, smartphone, or iPad
  • With SaaS cloud apps, just provide end-users with reports-only access to what they need and nothing more. 
  • integration options available to planners, you are now blessed with the ability to link up your event management system with a customer relationship management (CRM) system such as Salesforce,
  • 2. SaaS Cloud Apps
  • With all of the information you  could ever need to access right at your fingertips through event management applications, you can ditch the millions of pieces of paper and now access contracts, registrations, room blocks,
  • Live and virtual events are about giving the attendee a choice as to how they spend their time
  • “webinars on steroids.” Live and virtual events are about giving the attendee a choice as to how they spend their time.
  • virtual events save the planner and attendee time, money, and resources.
  • virtual events save the planner and attendee time, money, and resources.
  • Virtual events are a great way for planners to fill seats at a cost that won’t make anyone wince.
  • This is the best tool in the box for improving future events.
  • 4. Social Media and Viral Marketing
  • Did you know that one out of three consumers is online for three or more hours per day? Or that 90 million tweets are sent out daily? What about this one: One of every eight minutes spent online is spent on Facebook
  • Some of the best traction you will get is from people sharing interesting tidbits they may have learned and enticing others to learn more
  • Today is the day of the iPad and the tablet, and a more simplified life.
  • 3. Virtual Events
  • In a world where everyone is always on the run, our top five technologies for event planners are no surprise—but what these tools can accomplish might impress you.
  • our top five technologies for event planners are no surprise—but what these tools can accomplish might impress you.
  • our top five technologies for event planners are no surprise—but what these tools can accomplish might impress you.
  • our top five technologies for event planners are no surprise—but what these tools can accomplish might impress you.
  • our top five technologies for event planners are no surprise—but what these tools can accomplish might impress you.
  • our top five technologies for event planners are no surprise—but what these tools can accomplish might impress you.
  • our top five technologies for event planners are no surprise—but what these tools can accomplish might impress you.
  • our top five technologies for event planners are no surprise—but what these tools can accomplish might impress you.
  • Smartphones
  • Chances are, if you walk around a convention center or hotel lobby, you will see people with their heads down, tapping away furiously on their smartphones. 
  • Whether the ubiquity of these devices is a blessing or a curse, the fact is, event professionals and participants alike would be lost without them.
  • SaaS Cloud Apps
  • SaaS (software as a service) delivery model
  • These applications are advantageous to planners because they allow us to access all details and execution aspects of an event from any web-enabled device
  • Additionally, with all of the integration options available to planners, you are now blessed with the ability to link up your event management system with a customer relationship management (CRM) system
  • Virtual Events
  • Virtual events are a great way for planners to fill seats at a cost that won’t make anyone wince.
  • Often complementing physical events, virtual events save the planner and attendee time, money, and resources.
  • There is word that the economy is making a recovery, but many of us have yet to see it.
  • Social Media and Viral Marketing
  • Did you know that one out of three consumers is online for three or more hours per day? Or that 90 million tweets are sent out daily? What about this one: One of every eight minutes spent online is spent on Facebook. 
  • So this should be a no-brainer
  • This marketing can come from either you or your attendees. Allowing attendees to share things that they like and getting them involved in hyping your event is a great way to spread the word. 
  • iPads and Tablets
  • Today is the day of the iPad and the tablet, and a more simplified life. 
  • When combining tablets with mobile event applications, planners can also communicate in real-time with participants and share or update information in seconds. Never leave home without one! 
  • 1. Smartphones
  • This is the most obvious technology we can’t live without. Let’s be honest—-most of us are glued to our smartphones and our favorite apps 24 hours a day. We get nervous when we can’t find the phone, and we feel phantom vibration rings. Chances are, if you walk around a convention center or   hotel lobby, you will see people with their heads down, tapping away furiously on their smartphones
  • Virtual Events
  • SaaS Cloud Apps
  • Social Media and Viral Marketing
  • iPads and Tablets
  • . Smartphones
  •  
    The author of this article, Tara Thomas, summarizes the top five technologies for event planners. The first technology that she mentions is smart phones. She writes that this is the most obvious technology that event planners can't live without. Planners can do things like set alarms, look up information, communicate instantly, and use social media to promote the event. The second technology that Thomas mentions is SaaS cloud applications. Software as a service allows planners to access all details and execution aspects of an event from any web enabled device, eliminating printed or emailed reports. Thirdly, Thomas talks about virtual events. Virtual events save the planner and the attendee valuable time, money, and resources. Thomas next talks about social media and viral marketing. Using sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to share event details is a great way to communicate to a very large group of people. The fifth and last technology that Thomas speaks of is Ipads and tablets. Through event management applications, planners have all of the information they could possibly need right at their fingertips. Ipads and tablets also make it possible to communicate in real time if needed.
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    I think this is a great article. I am a Marketing Manager but do events at my restaurant as well and even for me I need my smart phone at all times to look up stuff in emails or even have a remote log-in to my computer to check a contract if needed. Event planners really do need all of these technologies at all times and people may view it as rude to be on your phone at all times but in reality they are just doing their jobs to make your life easier and less complex.
  •  
    "5 technologies event planners can't live without" was a unique read. The article begins with the number one technology the author designates as not being able to live without which are smartphones. Event planners are constantly in need to update their events, use the latest applications, set alarms for all events , look up phones number instantly by vendor and so on. What is then questioned is the systems in place before smartphones were introduced. Number two on the list is SaaS cloudapps better known as software as a service applications that are vastly on the rise. SaaS cloudapps enable meeting planners to access details and other aspects of events from any web device such as a smart phone or ipad. This is also valid with the ability to link event management systems to customer relationship management systems (CRM).Number three is Virtual events. The article presents many positives in hosting "webinars or live events" that include saving time, money and available resources. The meeting planner can fill "seats" easier and measure improvement for future events. Number four is social media and viral marketing. This is a major deal for event planners because not only they have the ability to market their events but attendees market for them: before, during and after. The article presents statistics about twitter, facebook and linkedin which support why social media and viral marketing are keys to success for event planners. Last but not least, listed as number five are Ipads and tablets. These devices simply allow event planners to have a bundle of information at their fingertips. In summary, event planners are constantly on the go and will always strive for perfection even during crunch time. Technology enhancements have allowed event planners to become more efficient and better resources for their clients.
  •  
    This article list five technologies event planners cannot live without, including the smartphones, SaaS Cloud Apps, virtual events, social media and viral marketing, and iPads and tablets. With more and more people adopting smartphones, ipads and tablets, event planners should look into purchasing a mobile event app for their attendees to use at their event. This not only reduces paper waste, it also reduces the high costs involved in printing event guides and brochures for the event. It is essentially a virtual event guide that's available in the palm of the attendee's hands.
  •  
    In a world where everyone is always on the run, our top five technologies for event planners are no surprise-but what these tools can accomplish might impress you. 1. Smartphones This is the most obvious technology we can't live without. Let's be honest--most of us are glued to our smartphones and our favorite apps 24 hours a day. 2. SaaS Cloud Apps In today's quick and chaotic world, the benefits of the SaaS (software as a service) delivery model are becoming increasingly apparent.With SaaS cloud apps, just provide end-users with reports-only access to what they need and nothing more. 3. Virtual Events There is word that the economy is making a recovery, but many of us have yet to see it. People are quickly catching on to the benefits of virtual events, or as we like to call them, "webinars on steroids." Live and virtual events are about giving the attendee a choice as to how they spend their time. 4. Social Media and Viral Marketing Sharing event details on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook is hugely beneficial because of the range of attention you can garner. People show up at events they've heard about, think good things about, and understand the value of. 5. 5.iPads and Tablets Tablet computers are revolutionizing the event-planning industry. The day of the binder stuffed with event details and spreadsheets is coming to an end. Today is the day of the iPad and the tablet, and a more simplified life.
  •  
    This article provides readers with basic information about the advanced five technologies event planners can not live without.Including smartphones,Cloud apples,Virtual Events, Social media and ipads.
  •  
    Here are the 5 espects for event planers development. In my opinion, the most important one in next several years is the smartphones. This is the smartphoe time. It make our life easy and convenient. If we do have an apps for event planning for smartphones, and make a good market planning, it will help the company find lots of potential customers and expanding the business not only on the computer internet.
  •  
    This article discusses how technology can assist in event planning. It lists the five technologies that can sincerely facilitate event planners with their day to day tasks and responsibilities. The five technologies include smart phones which are life savers when it comes to trying to find phone numbers, respond to email inquiries, and keeping a clear and adequate schedule. The Saa S Clould App lends a hand to event planners so they can link up their systems for customers using software as a service tool. Third, they discuss virtual events, which give key data and facts about events and help the planner and client save time, money, and resources. The forth technology is social media and viral marketing which is enormously helpful and saves money. As a final point, ipads and tablets save paper and are of assistance to event planners to be more structured.
  •  
    This article highlights the 5 technologies that are vital to the success of event planners. The first piece of technology that event planners cannot live without are smartphones. With the introduction of the smartphone, event planners can now do mutliple things at once while on-the-go. While moving from event to event, event planners can check their emails so they are not overwhelmed, review and add postings to social media pages, and check their to-do lists for the day. The second piece of technology that are key for all event planners are SaaS Cloud Apps. With these new cloud systems, event planners can now access any information and details about an event from any web-based product making life a whole lot easier. The third piece of technology are virtual meetings. With the cost of travel increasing everyday virtual meetings gives event planners the opportunity to hold events online saving them time, money, and resources, as well as getting immediate feedback from attendees. The fourth piece of technology is social media marketing. With the popularity of Facebook, Twiiter, Instagram, etc going through the roof, event planners are taking advantage of this by being able to have access to a wide variety of potential clients. The last piece of technology that is vital to the success of events planners is IPads and Tablets. No longer will event planners have to deal with file cabinets and binders filled with contracts and invoices. Now, event planners can do everything through a tablet and keep their business more organized. http://www.successfulmeetings.com/Event-Planning/Technology-Solutions/Articles/5-Technologies-Event-Planners-Can-t-Live-Without/
  •  
    Nowadays, there are 5 technologies that event planners cannot live without. They are smartphones, saas cloud apps, virtual events, social media and viral marketing, as well as ipads. With a smartphone, the event planner can respond to emails in time, add new postings on the event page, etc. Saas cloud apps allow the event planners or guests get the event details from any web-enabled device. Virtual events is an effective way for organizers to get the data for future events. With social media, event planners can share their experience through twitter or facebook, which is a great way to spread the market. With ipads and tablets, one can make contracts, register or other things online.
  •  
    This article discuses how these 5 technologies help to make planning events easier. 
  •  
    This article picked five technologies that event planners must have, and they are smartphones, SaaS Cloud Apps, virtual events, social media and viral marketing, and iPads and tablets. In detail, the arthor mentioned event planners should link up the event management system with a customer relationship management system such as Salesforce. Also, when talked about the virtual event, the author mentioned it can help to save time, money and resources, and it is a high recommonded tool for improving future events.
  •  
    This article was about the 5 technologies event planners can't live without. These technologies are: smart phones, SaaS cloud apps, virtual events, social media and viral marketing, and finally iPads and tablets. Smart phones are important to the daily activities of an event planner because they are able to look up phone numbers, response to emails, update a status on a social media site, review or add to lists for events, and so much more all on the go. SaaS cloud apps let planner take advantage of accessing all devices and execute aspects of an event for any web enabled device. With SaaS cloud apps you are also able to link up your event management system with a customer relationship management system. Virtual events allow planners to fill seats at a cost that won't cost a burden. Social media and viral marketing allows event planners to market themselves and get event details to different consumers. iPads and tablets get rid of the need for a large heavy binder stuffed with event details. Now event planner can carry a tablet that allows you to access anything you need. In conjunction with the SaaS cloud apps you can also access contracts, registrations, and room blocks and also link up a CRM system as mentioned before. The technology advances we have now let event planners do even more on the day to day, but also make it easier for them to do so.
  •  
    The article lists five technological necessities that used by the event planners. They are smartphones, SaaS cloud apps, virtual events, social medial and viral marketing, ipads and tablets. All of these technologies can save time and costs for the event planners. What`s more, they provide a more simplified life for the human beings. 
jackyreis

The Role of Green Technology in the Sustainability of Hotels Essay - Free Argumentative... - 2 views

  • Throughout the life of hotels— from building construction, operation, maintenance and evolution—the environmental issue is the wasteful consumption of vast amount of resources such as water and energy and accumulation of air, soil and water pollution in a built environment. The unique service function and operations of hotel result to a stronger ecological impact when compared to other buildings used for commercial purposes. (Bohdanowicz, Simanic & Martinac, 2004)
  • It is imperative for hotels to construct buildings, design their facilities, operate, and refurbish structures in a way that causes the least possible harm to the environment. (Straus & Gale, 2006)
  • Protection of the environment through eco-friendly practices by hotels involves a radical change in operations and a long-term impact, which makes this a sustainability-driven strategy
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  • The growing concern over sustainability in the business sector led to developments in innovative environment friendly processes and tools collectively called green technology
  • Green technology enables the eco-friendly practices of business firms.
  • The concept of sustainability emerged in the field of natural sciences in recognition of the scarcity of natural resources and the need to rationalize usage to secure sufficient resources for future generations (Kirk, 1995).
  • The concern of sustainability is ensuring the continuation of the well-being of people and protection of the environment from wasteful use or destructive activities.
  • The implementation of sustainability plans involves innovative methods and tools accessible to hotels and responsive to the multi-dimensional issues including impact of operations on the environment experienced by hotels. Green technology understood as eco-friendly tools and processes or environment friendly products support the successful implementation of sustainability plans in the hospitality industry.
  • 1.      Minimized pollution and rational energy and water consumption. 2.      Respect for culture and tradition. 3.      Community involvement in the hospitality economy. 4.     Consideration of quality instead of quantity in terms of the visitors to tourist destinations. 5.      Economic benefits redound to the community. (Robertson, 2007)
  • In relation to environmental sustainability, there are also considerations for inclusion into the sustainability plan of hotels to ensure that they meet environmental compliance (Butler, 2008)
  • However, even if sustainability planning is a tedious task, the expected outcomes are long-term and compelling because this determines the continuity or viability of hotels, firms whose future survival depends on sustainability (Butler, 2008).
  • 1.      Scale and distribution of operations in a given area. 2.      Hotel demand and means of alleviating the negative effects. 3.      Protection of key assets historic buildings, townscape or coastline. 4.     Contribution to other related areas such as economic development and cultural preservation. (Sharma, 2004)
  • Since the sustainability of hotels spans multidimensional aspects, the contribution of hotels to other areas such as employment or job creation also supports its sustainability.
  • Green technology received recognition as an aspect of human society and therefore part of sustainability. In a sustainability panel of representatives from the hospitality industry, sustainability as a strategy meant addressing today’s needs without adversely affecting tomorrow’s needs (Knowles, 2008).
  • Examples of product enhancement are energy saving appliances and fixtures such as fluorescent instead of incandescent lights or intelligent air conditioning systems that regulate room temperature depending on the presence of its occupant
  • The extent of reduction of waste varies since this could range from minimal to significant decrease in the volume of waste generated, capacity of landfills, and transportation needs. By benefiting the environment, economic benefits also accrue. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)
  • dopting waste management processes and tools accrues financial, economic, and environmental benefits for hotels.
  • Key to these activities is the ability to harness the full functional value of materials and product components at the least possible additional processing cost for recovery and reuse. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)
  • First is design of recycling or the cost-effective manner of recovering and reusing materials. The design provides support during the disposal stage to ensure low added cost for recovery. Second is design for disassembly encompassing the methods enabling the minimization of cost in segregating reusable materials. This leads to savings that accumulate when design interventions are made during the stages of material selection and assembly that already separates reusable materials
  • Third is toxics management comprised of the activities of controlling and eliminating toxic materials that are innate components of products such as cadmium or lead. Excessive levels of these toxic materials are hazards to health and the environment. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)
  • Environmental benefits include reduced accumulation of waste and lesser risk of soil, water and air contamination of toxic production. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)
  • Pollution prevention involves the elimination of processes in manufacturing that cause pollution. This requires change by redesigning the production process in a manner that prevents the accumulation of harmful by-products or the redesign of the finished products so there would be no use for processes that result in hazardous by-products. The prevention of pollution in production design exacts capital investments but the cost of redesign is deemed less when compared to the cumulative cost of controlling pollution, which would likely increase with new regulations imposing more active methods of pollution control. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)
  • Green technology as a process and a collection of tools addresses four objectives, which are a) waste reduction, b) materials management, c) pollution prevention, and d) product enhancement (Billatos & Basaly, 1997). There are processes and tools specifically targeting any one, some or all of these objectives so that the appropriate choice depends on the priority of hotels.
  • The technological development of product enhancement innovations is escalating and promise greater functions for business establishments. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)
  • Utilizing product enhancement technologies influence the sustainability of hotels in terms of savings on operating cost, lesser pollution and waste in the built environment, and value creation for environmental conscious customers (Yaw, 2005).
  • Overall, green technology supports the sustainability of hotels by decreasing a wide range of economic and non-economic costs to support the financial viability of hotels in the long-term and conserving the natural environment on which the hospitality industry depends for the continuity of business. By adopting green technology, hotels gain processes and tools it can use to secure its sustainability.
  • A range of energy saving technologies is available to the hotel industry. These technologies could make hotels green buildings by targeting various areas for energy saving.
  • One is electric heating pumps as alternatives to conventional electric boilers or condensing/non-condensing boilers requiring gas to run. The use of this green technology by a hotel in Hong Kong with a rooftop swimming pool showed a reduction in energy consumption by 26.5-32.5 MWh and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 12,000 kg. When computed over a ten-year period, using this technology would save the hotel HK$226,400 in energy cost savings. The hotel can earn back the cost of adopting this technology in two years. (Chan & Lam, 2003)
  • Building designs able to harness alternative sources of energy comprise green technologies that support the sustainability of hotels. Solar panels continue to gain function in energy saving for hotels (“Building in a green edge,” 2008) although the payback period is longer than expected, the energy saving potential extends to the long-term. The use of building designs that harness natural light such as skylight atriums that do not use artificial lighting during the day are also green alternatives for hotels (Kirby, 2009).
  • Another direction of green technology for the kitchen is the reuse of exhaust heat from the kitchen by harnessing the heat from the exhaust or condensing hot air to produce steam for use in cooking. This is a means of recycling energy. However, this involves the integration of the design in the structure of the kitchen or the building itself, which means greater investment. (Higgins, 2008) Nevertheless, further innovations in this technology could enhance practical value for hotels.
  • In other areas of hotels such as rooms and bathrooms, e-sensor systems and LED lights comprise green technology options. E-sensor systems apply to different systems such as lighting and air conditioning. The e-sensors have the capability to change automatically the lighting or air conditioning settings depending on the area of the room where there are people or temperature changes in the room. LED lights offer greater energy savings than fluorescent lights so this represents the third generation in lighting technology. (Kirby, 2008) Systems thinking in energy management comprise a promising green technology in saving on energy costs (Sobieski, 2008).These technologies are widely available and accessible to different hotels. The energy saving is experienced in the short term and the payback period is shorted. The problem with this is hotel guests tampering with the system leading to added cost for repairs. This means that awareness and information dissemination are important for the effectiveness of these technologies.
  • Another green technology for rooms is the biodegradable key cards. These have the same life span as the conventional key cards except that these are biodegradable or recyclable. (Gale, 2009) These require little cost with high environmental impact.
  • This involves the placement of water treatment plants that recycle water used in baths for flushing in toilets. (Edwards, 2004) These comprise viable and accessible water conservation practices that would contribute savings on the cost of water to rationalize the consumption of water as a scarce resource.
  • One is the conscious involvement of hotels in the protection of the environment since the nature of the business of the hospitality industry and the closely connected industries such as tourism heavily rely on the soundness of the natural and socio-cultural environment for business
  • The other is the investment in environment protection in a manner that secures economic and financial as well as a range of non-monetary benefits for hotels in the long-term (Vermillion, 2008).
  • Energy consumption is also a benchmark of the eco-friendliness of hotels
  • The water conserving technologies provide the process and tools for hotels to achieve this benchmark.
  • Waste and pollution management are also benchmarks of the ecological involvement of hotels.
  • Green technology takes the role as an enabling process and tool for hotels to become sustainable.
  • With hotels competing to maintain its customer base and pull customers to shift to the hotel’s services, green technology could become an enabler for hotels to become competitive.
  • Investing in green technology enables hotels to significantly cutback on operating cost. This enables hotels a wider profitability margin and room to offer promotional prices to attract more customers (Jones, 2002).
  • Green technology has taken a central role in the sustainability of hotels. The concept of sustainability of hotels involves the aspects of environmental protection and business viability.
  • The use of green technology also contributes to the viability of business firms in terms of financial standing and non-financial competencies in the long-term. Going green attracts the niche market of environment enthusiasts that contribute to sales. Using the range of green technologies available would also result in savings from operating costs in the long-term, which increases the profit of hotels and gives them flexibility to invest in marketing activities.
  • It is a sound strategy for hotels to consider green technology as a process and a collection of tools in support of sustainability goals.
lazarobenitez

Green Hospitality: How Hotel Room Technology is Promoting an Eco-Friendly Industry - In... - 1 views

  • Green Hospitality: How Hotel Room Technology is Promoting an Eco-Friendly Industry - Intelity
    • rnobl005
       
      I'm fascinated by the applications hotels are incorporating into their business model and product line in recent years. What I liked about this article is that it shows that incorporating green technology doesn't have to be very difficult. The author cites that this is a growing trend in the industry. Using green methods can be great for brand perception as well as the operational bottom line. On a basic level, touchscreen tablets and energy efficient rooms seem to be the most popular updates to hotels. According to this article, hotels spent over $400 million on printing directions and collateral for guests in 2015. Companies can cut this cost significantly if they place a tablet in every room that displays the information digitally. InterContinental even went as far as to replacing print Bibles with digital versions on Kindles. Finally, managers should see the benefit of having guests funnel all of their requests through a database. They can mine through this data to gain insights on how to staff or order food/beverage goods more efficiently.
  • the implementation of in-room touchscreen tablets is increasingly being used as a method of making guest rooms better examples of green hospitality.
  • Energy efficiency is one of the biggest current draws for investment in in-room devices
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  • Lights and air conditioning can be shut off based on guest activity, and overall property energy use can be better monitored.
  • Hotel room tablets are also capable of replacing all printed materials traditionally housed in rooms by providing a digital storehouse of information that can be immediately updated or edited. Considering that the hospitality industry spent over $400 million on printing property directories and marketing collateral for guests in 2015, this is a tremendous opportunity.
    • rnobl005
       
      As a manager, see this number alone would lead me to incorporate green technology into my hotel
  • InterContinental Hotels completely replaced print Bibles with digital versions loaded on Kindle e-readers
  • By having orders and requests placed by guests through the in-room tablets and automatically filtered into a back-end system for staff review, hotel management can improve staff productivity
  •  
    Businesses within the hospitality industry are continuously making efforts to strive towards sustainable practices through technology. Being energy efficient is key to most business and has become important. For example, the utilization of automation features in the guest room such as automatic lights on a timer or even automatic climate control systems can contribute to those costs. Also, having a system where changes to reservations or updates can be done electronically which will eliminate the process of having to reprint pages of paperwork. All in all, hotels are now growing with the technology today allowing them to adapt more and more green practices
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    "Green Hospitality and moving toward increased sustainability practices has become a large industry focus." This article is mainly about using technology instead of using of paper to facilitate the guests by using hotel room tablets. These tablets could replace all printed materials saving a lot of money on paper. "The hospitality industry spent over $400 million on printing property directories and marketing collateral for guests in 2015." Having tablets allows guests to have everything on their finger tips and it's even easier for the company to change or modify any guest information.
  •  
    Green computer technology can bring more benefits to the hospitality industry. The hotel can save more costs and become more energy efficient because of the green computer technology. The hotel can set in-room touchscreen tablets. Energy cost takes 6 percent of operating costs. Hotel use pads or Android tablet devices to benefit both customers and companies. The first benefit is hotel room tablets can be used and managed more flexible. The hotel can monitor lights and air conditioning can be shut down based on guest activity. The second benefit is hotel room tablets can replace all printed materials traditionally in the hotel room. The data showed the hospitality industry already spend over 400 million on printing property. If the hotel can use tablet devices in the hotel room that could save more benefit. For example, InterContinental Hotels replaced print Bibles with digital versions a few years ago. Customers can choose different kinds of the book from digital devices. The hotel doesn't need to update their book again and again. In the future, digital devices will be updated more perfect and bring a fully functional touchscreen in the hospitality industry.
  •  
    This short article talks about the positive impact of technology in the hospitality industry. It also illustrates some example of technology saving millions of dollars for hoteliers by saving energy.
Mirta Echazabal

Hotel Rooms of the Future: New Hospitality Technology Profiled | ehotelier.com News Arc... - 2 views

  •  
    This article basically talks about how much technology has changed and what directors of softwares predict technology will be in the near future. The article informs how the Peachtree Plaza hotel like many other hotels replaced the keys to all the rooms with electronic key cards. Which increased security for the guest and cost saving. Hospitality consultants agreed that in the future mobile phones will be the way to open guest room doors and will probably occur through infrared or wirelesss access to rooms. Neil Roodyn the director of software developers informed that he predicts that in the future people will be sitting around touch sensitive table top computer in lobbies where they can searchfor places to go in the area and make their own restaurant reservations. Neil predicts this can also influence more communication and interaction between guest. My thoughts on this article is that the younger generation is far more technology oriented and feel more comfortable with working all these new gadgets, but for the baby boomers and older crowd have the want and need of having that human interaction. Technology seems a bit to advanced for them. The more technology advances the less human interaction will occur. I think that technology advancement is great for everyone, but human interaction needs to remain for those that are not very technology savy.
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    I am all for getting rid of hotel room key cards. I have the worst time keeping track of them. I also find your comments on the generation gap to be compelling. My Dad is terrified of anything electronic. I cannot imagine that he would easily trust technology to check him into a hotel and do the basic functions of customer service. He would walk right past the touch screen computers and ask the desk receptionist for area attractions. I do see the decrease in human interaction as a negative. I personally enjoy the opinions of local people when it comes to ideas about where to eat or what to see. All of this rapid technological change can be intimidating, but I am sure that once we all grow accustomed to the new ways of staying in a hotel, then the old key cards will seem like dinosaurs.
  •  
    My parents are also not very savy with technology and they dont even speak english, so it makes it that much harder for them. They both still have flip phones. Overall, I know in the end there has to be some sort of balance with the advancement of technology and still have that human interaction.
  •  
    This is an informative article, and I also understand Mary's opinion. Over decades, technology has rapidly advanced and it seems to be quite hard to catch up with all the new technology released quickly. For example, I stayed in a hotel called Aria, one of the newly built hotels in Las Vegas, and the hotel is equipped with state-of-the-art room technology (not just room but all over the hotel). To get into a room, unlike other hotels, I just put a room key on a sensor instead of inserting a key; as well as, I just touched a button right next to the door for privacy instead of putting the "Do not Disturb" card on a door knob. This is not something really huge, however this is how hotels are technologically changing. As a person studying Hospitality Management, the change was very impressive, but at the same time, it was intimidating. Obviously, our parents generation should have harder time to use new technology and/or to get used it than I do. I totally agree that there should be a balance between technology advancement and human interation.
  •  
    I agree with Mary regarding baby boomers may not be as quick to adapt to the advancement of technology, however what is noticeable in resort hotels is that more people are taking family vacation and the kids are the ones driving the technology. It will therefore just be a matter of time where the use of technology within hotels will be just like a regular lifestyle activity.
Jia Zhu

Evolving Technologies To Drive Competitive Advantages / Arthur Andersen - 0 views

  • The technology life cycle provides a model to assess how and when companies and individuals adopt new technologies. Pioneers are generally the first to acquire new technologies and take the greatest risk. A second category of technology users -- leaders -- adopt relatively unproven technologies, but the risks are known and accepted.
  • In terms of costs and benefits, the best balance appears to be with the leaders who invest significantly less than pioneers and incur reduced risks, yet their technology investments can yield similar benefits.
  • The desire of operators to improve the guest experience.
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • Optimally, hotel organizations should be able to reduce IT costs, leverage investments in PCs and improve staff productivity. In addition, client server technology sets the stage for the still more sophisticated technologies of the next decade in which guests will have greater access to in-room technologies, and fully integrated systems using a common database will be the norm.
  • client server technology. This technology will bring no less than the dismantling of the management information system (MIS) paradigm as we have known it, more completely democratizing access to information than at any time in the past.
  • Client server technology is probably the most viable strategic option for medium to large multi-property owners and operators as technology upgrades are made.
  • The potential to improve operating efficiencies.
  • Guest services accessed by the guest typically involve the use of the in-room television remote control to select from a suite of interactive programs and services. Guests can navigate easily through multi-media video and audio, and be automatically connected by phone to outside services.
  • involve a PC running a front-end application that allows access to outside services, as well as access to guest-specific information maintained in a central repository or database. In either case, the method employed is driven by the guest familiarity and comfort in using technology.
  • better target a hotel's customer base.
  • Client server technology now permits a hotel chain to maintain one single customer database which can be accessed by all of the properties connected to the server over the network. In addition, far more data can be collected about the customer and his spending, making the database much more powerful as a focused marketing tool.
  • Technological advances thus have the potential to generate a range of benefits critical to remaining competitive, and ultimately driving expanded market share and profitability. Nevertheless, the barriers to increased investments in technology by hotel owners and operators can be daunting. These include general resistance to change, lack of available funds or manpower to invest in technology, and a perceived inability to quantify benefits.
  • investments in technologies and effective application of these technologies in hotel operations and services will become one of the most decisive factors differentiating successful hotel organizations globally in the years ahead.
  •  
    This article discussed about the advantages the technology bring to hospitality industry and why it is important for hotelier to make investment in IT. Technology life cycle provides a model for companies to assess when to adopt new technology. The best balance between the investment costs and benefits are the leaders who invest less then pioneers and incur reduced risks. Hotel technology investment is critical today for the following areas, improve guest experience and improve operating efficiencies. Then the article continue to discuss the development of technology in the last and what the new technology investment brought to the hospitality industry. For example the client server technology brought the integration in the 1990s, more advanced and well-integrated system for on-stop guest services and database marketing. Technology advances have the potential to generate benefits critical to remaining competitive and ultimately driving expanded market share and profitability. The barriers to increase investment in technology by hotel owners and operators include general resistance to change, lack of available funds or manpower to invest in technology and perceived inability to quantify benefits. As a result, investments in technologies and effective application of these technologies in hotel operation and services will become one of the most decisive factors differentiating successful hotel organizations globally in the years ahead.
kenziemoody

Technology in the Hospitality Industry - Have We Gone Too Far? | By Court Williams &amp... - 3 views

  • The hospitality industry is changing, and is rapidly becoming super high-tech.
    • kaylaabad
       
      The hospitality industry is changing, and is rapidly becoming super high-tech.
  • On arrival at their destination, guests no longer need to wait in line for the key to their room. They can now check in and out using electronic kiosks, online and mobile check-ins. Automated payments and the use of smartphones for keyless entry, making requests, online purchases, or even placing room service orders makes self-service an attractive option.
    • kaylaabad
       
      Arrival technology - On arrival at their destination, guests no longer need to wait in line for the key to their room. They can now check in and out using electronic kiosks, online and mobile check-ins. Automated payments and the use of smartphones for keyless entry, making requests, online purchases, or even placing room service orders makes self-service an attractive option.
  • With the advent of technology, however, many activities previously performed by live humans have been replaced by automated methods, mainly in the attempt to streamline functionality and improve service
    • kaylaabad
       
      With the advent of technology, however, many activities previously performed by live humans have been replaced by automated methods, mainly in the attempt to streamline functionality and improve service
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  • With the rising popularity of online reviews, hospitality guests now have the ability to research any venue to see what others have posted.
    • kaylaabad
       
      Pro:With the rising popularity of online reviews, hospitality guests now have the ability to research any venue to see what others have posted.
  • Both review websites and social media platforms have become active gateways to global opinion, and travelers use these extensively to help them decide where to book
    • kaylaabad
       
      Pro:Both review websites and social media platforms have become active gateways to global opinion, and travelers use these extensively to help them decide where to book
  • Technology is shaping how lodgings and restaurants are found and booked
    • kaylaabad
       
      Technology is shaping how lodgings and restaurants are found and booked
  • Improving a guest's experience depends on the ability to identify the individual guest's preferences. The best way to determine these is by collecting data from first-, second- and third-party sources, combining and analyzing it effectively.
    • kaylaabad
       
      Data has enhanced guest experience: Improving a guest's experience depends on the ability to identify the individual guest's preferences. The best way to determine these is by collecting data from first-, second- and third-party sources, combining and analyzing it effectively.
  • guests can now control all the functions of the room from a single device
    • kaylaabad
       
      Pro: guests can now control all the functions of the room from a single device
  • We have also seen the emergence of cost-saving technologies that not only focus on guest loyalty but also reduce fixed costs and overheads.
    • kaylaabad
       
      Pro: We have also seen the emergence of cost-saving technologies that not only focus on guest loyalty but also reduce fixed costs and overheads.
  • statistics that show an undoubtedly positive response to technology,
    • kaylaabad
       
      Technology in the industry is well received
  • Biometric authentication offers the most secure method of proving identity that's currently available, and the hospitality industry has been quick to realize the need for this level of safety.
    • kaylaabad
       
      Technology has improved security: Biometric authentication offers the most secure method of proving identity that's currently available, and the hospitality industry has been quick to realize the need for this level of safety.
  • Theoretically, it should improve the customer experience, particularly through the use of data collected by using the various technologies
    • kaylaabad
       
      Theoretically, it should improve the customer experience, particularly through the use of data collected by using the various technologies
  • two-thirds of U.S. hotel guest respondents felt it was either "extremely important" or "very important" for hotels to continue investing in technology to enhance the guest experience.
    • kaylaabad
       
      two-thirds of U.S. hotel guest respondents felt it was either "extremely important" or "very important" for hotels to continue investing in technology to enhance the guest experience.
  • it seems travelers of all ages are keen to make the most of online hotel reservations and reviews
    • kaylaabad
       
      it seems travelers of all ages are keen to make the most of online hotel reservations and reviews
  • hey understand the need for (and value of) using technology to support the guest experience, and although they are rapidly embracing many aspects of this brave new world, they still need to be able to consult with a human being if required.
    • kaylaabad
       
      They appreciate t hey understand the need for (and value of) using technology to support the guest experience, and although they are rapidly embracing many aspects of this brave new world, they still need to be able to consult with a human being if required.
  • it seems travelers of all ages are keen to make the most of online hotel reservations and reviews
  • he experience is now facilitated by technological factors,
    • cleon087
       
      The key word is facilitates, I think that technology has enhanced experience but should never replace the hospitality warm feeling aspect.
  • Baby Boomers who look set to remain the most prolific travelers for the next two to three years, and see if the numbers support the theory that technology has improved the hospitality experience.
    • cleon087
       
      I think that technology is becoming a necessity in the hospitality industry. There is a need to be up to date. Especially if you want to attract the new generation of travelers.
  • But is it really an improvement, or has the industry gone too far? Do these changes enhance the guest's experience, or have we forfeited the true meaning of the word "hospitality" in the process?
    • cleon087
       
      I think that the industry is just simply evolving with the times.
  • how much is it taking away from the guest's personal experience?
  • shows the reviews for companies in the hospitality industry are considered 48% more important and valuable than in other industries, which indicates the target audience takes online reviews exceptionally seriously
    • cleon087
       
      I think that this just leads to different opportunities. Now you can show off on your social media how great your hotel is and its advantages. The only negative is how easily someone can write a negative review that might not even be true.
  • These have taken off extensively, with research showing one half of millennials, 26% of Gen Xers and 12% of Baby Boomers consider themselves "travel hackers," which means they believe they know all the best ways to use technology for good deals. Chatbots on booking websites enable the user to ask questions without even getting up from the sofa.
    • cleon087
       
      People are spending more time looking for the perfect hotel and for the best price. I know I do this whenever I travel and most of the time becoming a member for something like the Marriott, will end up being the best deal.
  • The benefits of automation will soon become crystal clear.
    • cleon087
       
      This just helps improve the service and you will still need someone at the front desk.
  • Guests can stream SHOWTIME shows for free through the app, without needing to input credentials or create a subscription. Anyone who prefers not to download the app can operate the same controls using a simplified, in-room remote device.
    • cleon087
       
      I feel like this just enhances the experience and makes it more personal.
  • from notifications about special deals to managing their loyalty program account.
    • cleon087
       
      Investing in a well designed app for your company is crucial now.
  • e, for example, the system can automatically send the conference itinerary and a map of the meeting spaces to his or her device.
  •  
    The Hospitality industry have been greatly impacted over the years by the advancements made in technology. Customers have everything assessable by the click of a button or utilization of an app. Various software is being created to provide for quick and easy service but in turn takes away from the personal experiences.
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    "All of this indicates that while a hotel offering a truly connected experience is likely to be full of very happy, empowered guests, we can't quite replace the human touch completely just yet." Though technology is taking over the industry, it is important that we not lose or completely replace the humanity of the industry. While technology has enhanced the employee experience and guests do appreciate it, they also like to know that they have a human waiting for them should they have any issues. All in all, technology has improved the industry by enabling a more personalized and empowering experience and increasing the safety of the guests and employees.
  •  
    This article is about the new advances in technology and investing whether it has been taken too far. It analyzes the new advancements such as apps where reservations are made. These new technologies have been made to enhance experience but not replace the warm feeling that hospitality gives you. The article concludes that we haven't taken it too far, instead it has made guest experience better. Especially when it comes to checking in, and not having to wait a huge line when you just want to get to your room.
  •  
    As we learned this week, technology is impacting the hospitality industry. As the article states- "improving a guest's experience depends on the ability to identify the individual guest's preferences." This reminded me of the Smart Bar video we watched this week. Technology can enhance the quality of experience. However, depending on the businness/ company- most people would be unwilling to put a an investment into tech unless they see a significant uptake from the technology. Even though technology plays a major role in the industry, it has not completely took over human interaction.
AQUEELAH THOMPSON

iPhone as hotel room key? Technology offers 'high level of security,' tech chief says -... - 0 views

  • Holiday Inn next month will begin testing technology that lets you convert your iPhone into your room key - but several readers said they're too skeptical to try it.
  • "It's new," he said. "Those questions are all valid questions."
  • The basics: Guests who opt to try "fast check-in" will give the hotel their smartphone number and download Open Ways' app. Then, two or three days before arrival, they'll receive a text message containing their room number and a unique and encrypted sound code that they'll use to unlock their hotel-room door.
  •  
    This article is about technology of combining the room key with the iphones. Holiday Inn will test this technology next month. Though this is a creative idea, some people may feel skeptical to try the new room keys. As this technology is new, some guests may not accept that use the cell phone as their room keys and there are many questions come into being with this new technology. For hotels, they must think about the using guests' iphones as the room keys is optional or required. The article also illustrates how the iphone works and what will happen if the iphone is lost or stolen. Besides, more hotels will test this new technology and the technology will work with regular cell phones. In my opinion, combining the cell phones with the room keys is a good idea, because many customers today use iphones today, and almost everyone takes a cell phone when live in the hotel. It is convenient for the guests to use their cell phones as the room keys. This technology can give guests fast check-in because before the guests arrive, they will receive a text massage containing their room number and a unique and encrypted sound code that they'll use to unlock their hotel-room door. When they arrive at the hotel, they can directly go to their rooms. It also can reduce front desk's work. . However, security is still the main factor that the guests will concern and there are some risks if the cell phones lost or stolen. Besides, some guests may prefer to use traditional room key and may not accept the change. It relies on the Open Ways (the secured network) and can work with more brands of cell phones. I consider hotels can provide this technology for the guests as an option because some guests prefer the traditional room keys while some like the new technology.
  •  
    This article is about the use of I-Phone of Blackberry as your room key. It explains that Holiday Inn will be trying this new technology and many guests are not sure about trying it out. Many guests are not sure about trying it and question how safe it can be. The article explains that this new technology is not required and is rather an opinion. The article explained how it works and is simply a code sent to the customer to their phone and this is used to open the door and the code is only used once and resets every time. The article goes on to explain that there is no issues if the phone is lost or stolen because the codes aren't saved to the phone but rather the server the app runs on. I feel that this is a new cool way to technology. However, I don't see where it is anymore secure than a room key and really it doesn't make the process any easier. I feel its new and innovative but its not the best idea.
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