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This article talks about a research on customers' attitude to green products in hotel.. The research brought out questions like do customers want green products in hotel, are they willing to pay for them, and is so, who are these consumers and what are their characteristics? After some study, the research harvest some interesting results. According to the study, more than half customers hold positive attitude with green promotions and hotel should have its individual green department. But there are limits with their support. First of all,guests appear to be in favor of greening activities that do not limit or affect their comfort level in the guest room. They would like the hotel provide efficient lighting, recycling, environment friendly products and so on. But they would not prefer options like towel reuse, adjusting room temperature when nobody is in and some other options which might affect customers' comfortable stay. And the other limitation is money, most customers put the price over green efforts of hotels, they seldom picked the green hotels if they are out of their price range. So through this article, we can see green concept is getting accepted by customers gradually, but it still has a long way to go.

Wei, I am glad that you chose this article because it was interesting for me to read about the guests' part in being green. We always here about what hotels and companies can do to be green, but we hardly ever hear about what consumers can do to contribute to the green movement. The results that the article shares are, for the most part, what I would expect them to be. Like you said, people are willing to play their part in helping our planet, but only as long as it doesn't affect their comfort levels or if they have to spend more. I feel that people should be willing to sacrifice more for the sake of our planet.

Engergy always be the top cost generator in hotel expense. Hundreds of new technology is developed to control the cost of energy consume and provent guests' oversmart on wasting. Zenros Smart Engergy is a new energy management system for hotels. It is predicted that the system can save at least 35% in HLP cost.

Solar Powered Energy Management for Hotels "Hotels consume massive amounts of energy and use 50% more energy than a similar sized residential building despite having only 55% occupancy rates on average. " "Energy costs are the ghighest fixed expenses for hotels fafter salaries. It is very important for hotels to save energy  The article started by mentioning the most widely used sensor system. And smart energy management solutions are quite expensive and sometimes even impossible to be retrofit old hotels.  ZENROS is a new solar powered energy management system. It is believed  to be able to save at least 35% in HLP costs. It is connected to the room controller and use Zigbee Smart Energy, a panel wireless communication system to control all the electrical devices. This combination of solar energy and wireless enables restoration in most hotels, even the ones without electrical grid nearby. 

University of Wisconsin at Madison has partnered up with Physical Plant and the UW police department to upgrade their security system. Instead of the traditional hardwired cameras the university has switched to wireless cameras which should offer more benefits. The wireless cameras will allow all the cameras to be seen at one location instead of at the specific buildings or nearby locations. The new cameras are now color instead of black and white and have a highly upgraded motion sensor compared to the old ones. I think these cameras will help the university and help them bring the crime rate down around campus.

Email marketing, is quite old school but efficient way to provide more information to customers.  This kind of email marketing is about "Trigger-based" email, it would send to customers when customers had some specific demand and click at the link, then it would email some more rewarding information back to the customers' email address. From my opinion, this is really good and time saving, not so high-end but quite effective. But the problem is whether the information is complete or correct for customers. I would like to have the email that something I am interested in because it is easy to organize and check about it. Especially when you are not so interested at it first but then you want to figure what it is like but need to google it. 

Following a robbery at a Houston hotel in which thieves exploited security flaws in Onity locks first revealed at the Black Hat conference in July, Hotel Management spoke with Todd Seiders, director of risk management at Petra Risk Solutions and former director of loss prevention at Marriott, for tips on how hoteliers can keep their rooms secure. An NFC-compatible lock, such as this Signature RFID by VingCard lock, can streamline the check-in process.

Some of the major concern hotel such as Houston hotel are facing is robbery. A lot of the older locks in the hotel are so old that it may be easy to rob precious items from the guest rooms. NFC has a new lock where the newer lock does not have an encryption code, instead the guest will get a new code from the front desk. The new lock ensure that hackers can not easily hack into a guest rooms. In addition, the new NFC-compatible locks help guests skip the check in process at the front desk and instead use their mobile phone to open their guest room doors and check themselves into the hotel.

This article, though a few years old, discusses the implications and overall market share the POS has in the marketplace. While these suppliers saw a downturn in the recent recession (as most businesses did), they are beginning to see their business turn the 'corner' as hospitality companies invest into their companies...primarily getting out of date systems current and adding mobile applications. Proving that they are embracing the technology surge in the hospitality industry.

this article is about how the Electronics recycling Act, not only helps the environment recycling the e-waste, it also generate employs, this industry is growing faster making that americans can have another opportunity of jobs. 

The article was talking about how the hospitality firm can learn something from other industry, technology. As we all know the leader of the IT industry are Google and Apple inc. What is the most successful strategic to attract the customers? Through the article we can obviously find out the chrisma of the product is the most significant thing they have, the customer always expect some new things and improve at their new product, next version, this is the most important point of them to catch the customers' attention.  For the hotel industry, their have a lot similar things with technology area. The invariable system can not have any attraction in modem life, the hospitality leaders need to find out what is wrong with current system and operation and then find the solution. They should substitute some fresh thing for the old one, looking forward for the performance of new version, so the customers will have more increase in greenness and exception of the  new product in the future.

To improve the efficiency of event managing, event managers need several technology. This article introduced GPS techology, which can used to track vehicle and participants. Barcode scanners are also the important tools that can be used in printing the credentials in advance and check it to the event faster. Because most of the staff and volunteers have smartphone, smartphone based technology such as Excel spreadsheets and google Earth can also useful in sharing information and siting address. In addition, supported by cloud technology, staff can access to their event data from anywhere, which bring huge convenience to event managing, and allow managers effectively control the large event.

There are countless forms of technology that can help event professionals do their job better. GPS technology is a huge time- and money-saver. In the old days, we had to print out hundreds of pages with directions to rest stops along our events. Barcode scanners make credentialing and other tasks much easier. Participants can print their credentials in advance and check in to the event faster. Checking participants in and out of rest stops and main sites is faster, too.Another potential lifesaver is the automated external defibrillator (AED), which can restore a normal heart rhythm in cases of sudden cardiac arrest.Besides being free, Google Earth is the most accurate tool for route planning and site scouting that we've tested.

this is a old article but there is a good view for future marketing of hotel. that is mobile marketing. with more and more people using the smartphone, the apps for marketing will be a great way to expand your markets. airilines already use this technology to provide travel alerts concerning weather changes and flight schedules. why hotel can not provide such apps for customer. we can see that ther are several third part apps for booking and resevation already popular. so, how about a hotel creat their own apps for customers for the renovation and promotions. i think it will attrack more people to focus on you and bring more business for the hotel.

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to attend the New York City Food and Wine Festival Burger Bash.  This large scale event held 300 people and utilized 28 burger places to demonstrate their burger might.  The technology they used was interesting.  They first had ticket scanners that corresponded with bracelets, clearing you for admission.  They gave everyone coins to vote in a process that would declare the Burger champion.  On stage, they had many microphones, with a whole band rocking out.  They used ID scanners to check how old people are.  I think that this event utilized effectively technology, but only used somewhat dated means due to their relaxed nature.  It was highly successful, but in terms of tech, very simplistic.

This article breaks down why POS systems in multiple restaurants still are not relevant due to the price of them and how some restaurants prefer the old fashioned way instead. It also explains the major benefits of POS systems in restaurants and how it can make tipping harder.

This article speaks about beacon technology in airports. Beacons use Bluetooth technology to prompt the display of information, such as luggage location, directly to the users phone or tablet. This investment is hoping to show less congestion for passengers in the airports. She talks about how beacons are being deployed at security and check-in areas of an airport. In conclusion, airports are willing to invest this money in order to not only satisfy their guests, but also increase revenue by attracting new and old passengers.

This article emphasizes the importance of HVAC for hotel properties. Hotels have to work diligently on replacing the climate controls in HVAC systems and to make sure HVAC systems work properly in order to be more efficient and provide hotel guests with comfortable environment, resulting in guests' overall satisfaction. Large and modern commercial HVACs can save a large amount of money on unnecessary power costs and constant maintenance with proper controls. However, there are many hotels that cannot afford the large machinery of an HVAC, so this article introduces PTAC, Packaged terminal air conditioner, which is a type of self-contained heating and air conditioning system, for small-sized hotel properties. Generally, PTAC generates negative sound and visual impact on a room. Randy Dawes, corporate director of facilities at Select Hotels, advices hotels with PTACs to use transcendental wheel technology over fan blades, which reduces noise. This article also urges hotels to upgrade or replace their old HVACs for state of the art HVACs now. Since there are state and local rebates available for upgrading to modern HVAC technology, it is a good time to do so.

This article firstly reviewed the development of the PMS. Twenty years ago, the value of a PMS was in its computerized capabilities as properties began to switch over from manual systems. Ten years ago, the more valid comparison was between a DOS and a Windows-based system. And today the PMS has more functions and can do better for the hotel. As a hotel director compared the new PMS with the old one. The old PMS allowed only 20 or 30 letters for notes while the new one allowed him to review guest histories after checkout as well as to write unlimited guest notes on reservations. Lisa Jane Gibson, director of revenue management for the six Vintage Hotel locations, concluded three main trends with front and back of house systems. First is the wider use of technology to enable properties to run more efficiently. Another trend is more personalized interaction with guests. Finally, Gibson notes the upcoming deadline for all businesses to comply with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) mandate for specific security guidelines. The guest trend has an effect on the PMS, and the trend will lead the direction of the PMS product development. More and more people are becoming their own travel agents. The PMS is also very useful for the food and beverage management. The PMS can help the hotels or restaurants with tracking inventory and cost of sale as well as setting up and running reports for key areas of the business such as returns, refunds and promos. The new POS products can help the hotels save costs and cost saving becomes the hot topic for the new POS. For example, hotel management consultant Paul Lynch of PGL Consulting has been able to deliver a cost benefit of up to five to seven per cent on wage savings with H&L Canada Ltd.'s Workforce Management control system. Lynch initially used it to monitor staff rosters daily but now has embraced the package as a complete information and management tool for the sites that he controls.

With over 11% of U.S. adults owning a tablet computer, it's time for more hotels to get savvy with the trend. Utilizing an iPad or other tablet device in everyday practices at a hotel can be a rewarding, impressive, and fun way to interact with guests. Not to mention it can cut down on printing costs! Here are some ideas of how your hotel can use a tablet: Spice up the check-in process. Instead of the same old tedious check-in process, keep things interesting by showing your guests how tech-savvy you are.If they ask any questions about nearby activities or events, flip through a brochure on the tablet that will show them their options in a visually stimulating way. Show enticing photos on your menu.Guests can even order directly from the kitchen through the tablet.You can even take it a step further and use your iPad as a wine list at your in-house restaurant. Provide many in-room amenities.Software like that supplied by Intelity with just a swipe of a finger, guests can adjust the room temperature or turn on a light. They can browse area guides or place dinner reservations. Enhance your customer service. If a room needs more towels, the message can be sent directly to housekeeping. Guests will love the simplicity of the process and will enjoy being able to use iPads or other tablets to do something so straightforward.

This article lists pros and cons of Cloud Computing for Hotels. What is surprising is that Cloud Computing can be costly as opposed to the common belief that Cloud Computing is a great cost saver. According to this article, if your IT resource pool is too big, it is less likely that you'll see any enormous financial advantage in outsourcing to the cloud. In addition, there is a method being used by hackers to increase your Cloud usage significantly and make you end up paying a lot for it. The method is called DDoS(Distributed Denial of Service). Even a low-level of this can keep your server busy and give you an enormous bill. Sure, these problems can be prevented and benefits of Cloud Computing can outweigh them. However, this technology is quite new, you need to think strategically before you pounce on  it.

This article introduced the result of a survey for the adaptation of cloud computing global wise. 68% of the global organizations want to adapt this new tech but 51% have concerns that their old system may not be enough for the adaptation.  Then the article describes the pros and cons with cloud computing and solutions for hoteliers.  The pros are : no need to buy many expensive hardware, lower maintenance expense and software installing and updating fee, Cons: security, which is the biggest concern, redundancy, and other things. 

Copyright 2011 In 1991 I started consulting to hotels, specifically regarding technology. Since then I've been lucky enough to be published in this magazine, to have spoken at HITEC and IHMRS, and also to have presented to many hotel companies.

After reading this article, I thought about my travel experience over the years and how technology has advanced greatly. I clearly remember stay in hotels with 27 box tv , standard alarm clocks and brew style coffee pots.Luxury rooms had VCR and I'm talking circa 1999. Fast forward five years and high speed internet, dvd players and docking stations began to make waves, out with the old and in with the new. Today, with a world filled with smartphones, sleek and slim TV and laptops, social media and WI-FI, staying connect is a must. Hotels are finding innovative ways to keep guest coming back. LCD, LED, HD, 4G are all acronyms that keep guest happy. From access their social media site, using keyless Wi-Fi door openers and having an apps makes a world of difference to tech savy guest, regardless of age. A recent hotel stay left me in speechless, I checked in using the app I downloaded to my phone, I customized my movie selection, orders my favorite snacks from the room service, used my phone to swipe into my room. Yea I was blown away by that fuzzy bar code scanner thingy, actually work. And be part of it all, I used didn't have to change the configurations on my laptop to access any of my favorite sites, I log into everything via a wireless keyboard and there it was 37in HD LCD screen updated me on the happening in my world. Technology, oh where we would we be without you?

The owners of a Culver's franchise decided to install a digital signage to provide more menu information quickly because the menu board couldn't communicate enough with customers for a short time to select menu in the fast food restaurant. The challenge was how the small business owners and franchisee would handle their budget for the investment and added cost.  The problem was solved by selecting EzSign TV from LG Electronics which displays branded messaging and shows broadcast television or input content at the same time. Furthermore, the software offers a choice of more than 50 templates that can be customized with images and text. Therefore, the business can highlight the items with pictures and deliver their daily specials more efficiently.  Installation is easy, and daily specials menus can be replaced by simply clicking. The digital signage looks cleaner than old fashioned menu board, and saves more time to change menus. By implementing a system that requires limited attention from staff, Culver's can focus on customer service and deliver value. That was a good decision adopting a new technology fits in the quick service restaurants.