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At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.

At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.

At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.

At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.

However, due to the fact that GDS’ were originally created to distribute plane tickets, their database structure was specifically designed to store information about this product.

At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved.

At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and mor

At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved.

However, due to the fact that GDS’ were originally created to distribute plane tickets, their database structure was specifically designed to store information about this product.

The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.

As mentioned before, one of the first products distributed by GDS was hotel accommodation. Hotels have loaded the information related to their different types of rooms, description and price categories within the airline reservation system database. When this information became available online, thousand of clients started making bookings all around the world. This fact was advantageous for each participant. Hotels benefited from distributing their products to a larger audience, travel agencies had the opportunity of booking more products through their computerized system and GDS benefited from a growth in booking volume, which helped them to lower operating costs.

The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.

The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.

The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.

The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.

The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.

Nowadays global distribution systems interconnect almost everything within the hospitality industry, from hotels to car rental companies and travel agencies. There are four major GDS available: Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and WorldSpan. Some of the advantages provided by GDS are their availability (99,9% of the time), their response times (up to a fraction of a second), their multiple booking capability, as well as their top of the line architecture. On any given day, a GDS will be capable of accessing over 50000 hotels and approximately 1000 airlines. Through GDS systems, people are able to book various hotel rooms, tours, airline seats, cruises and even limousines.

The working idea behind a GDS is this: any GDS provides services to an electronic shop for all information related to travel and reservation-related needs. In other words, the GDS has become a very important distribution channel for any product sold through travel agencies. Basically, if a vendor wants to be sold through travel agents, he must be listed on a GDS

Nevertheless, these well-accepted attributes of HR have been challenged in the past few years, as several indicators reflect fundamental changes within the HR function,

although little has changed in this function over the past decades, there are growing expectations that HR will improve corporate competitive advantages by adding real measurable value to the organization.

The apparent difficulties in upgrading HR to a strategic position in organizations result in missed opportunities especially in hospitality and tourism, where the human capital has substantive potential to improve the competitive advantage of enterprises, particularly due to the growing competitiveness of the industry, as well as the centrality of the human element in the delivery of hospitality products and services

The second change in contemporary HR which, interestingly, is closely related to the previous one, is the growing trend of incorporating advanced information technology (IT) in HR practices.

There is extensive evidence to the growing transfer of HR functions to digital formats, as can be seen in the growing popularity of human resource information systems (HRIS) among organizations. HRIS is currently perceived as one of the important factors influencing the role of the HR function, as well as the workplace as a whole. Although in many aspects, technology remains under-utilized in HR functions (Jones and Hoell, 2005), recently its effects have begun to be evident in many organizational aspects,

Furthermore, it is widely argued that the adoption of HRIS is likely to promote HR to the awaited position of strategic partner in the organization. The main reason for this is that by using HRIS, HR professionals can improve their performance by gaining better knowledge of the organization and its employees, thus facilitate participation in strategic planning and implementation. In addition, by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the HR day-to-day administrative tasks, HRIS allows the HR staff to dedicate more time to strategic decision making and planning, which consequently provides more value to the organization to enhance its position within it

modern HRIS make optimal use of internet and web capabilities for performing their tasks

successful HRIS support the planning and implementation of managerial key processes in the organization, such as executive decision making, technology selection, interdepartmental integration, and organizational reporting structures.

Intranet-based employee self-service (ESS) provides employees direct access, mainly through a web browser but also through a centralized kiosk, to personal HR-related information. Thus, the employees can individually handle transactions that used to be carried out by HR personnel,

Both MSS and ESS create a trend of delegation of responsibilities and activities that were once considered to be the domain of HR professionals and administrative personnel, directly to employees and managers

HRIS was seen mostly as a special form of office automation systems, the emphasis being on reducing costs and staff while making the standard HR tasks more efficient

In addition, in today's workplace the HR tasks have become more complex, along with organizational trends such as globalization, consolidations, strategic partnerships, and greater than ever governmental and regulatory reporting requirements for employees.

Therefore, from the administrative perspective, by providing powerful computing capabilities, HRIS are changing and improving procedures and processes that were carried out less efficiently before,

the automation of routine transactions provides HR professionals with time to perform strategic functions related to the human capital

HRIS allow the firm to be proactive in HR planning, by giving managers a constant flow of employee information

since HRIS can significantly improve the way employees and managers communicate with each other through various communication channels, this improves the flow of information and expertise throughout the organization, thereby enhancing the firms' strategic capabilities

Another prominent perceived characteristic of the HR function has been its reliance on relatively low-tech methods in implementing its tasks

Although HRIS can provide both administrative and strategic advantages, it should be noted from the onset that they are usually expensive systems to purchase and implement. Designing and implementing customized HRIS, adapted to the specific needs of the organization, will significantly enhance its functionality, but will result in increased software and hardware costs, as well as time-to-deployment

the initial costs of developing such HRIS are high,

In order to reduce the costs of HRIS, an organization can purchase off-the-shelf applications composed of HR database programs, aimed at meeting the general needs of HR functions

These findings point to the vital need of the HR function to provide evidence of the effectiveness of HRIS, for the purpose of attaining the executive management support for the change.

for a successful implementation of HRIS, it is no less important to obtain the support of managers and employees in the organization. Although modern HRIS offer clear advantages to managers, through the use of MSS, for better management of their staff, the implementation of such systems is likely to be followed by a certain level of resentment on the part of the managers. Since MSS transfer the responsibility of performing employee HR-related transactions from the HR staff to the direct managers, many of them are frustrated since they feel that additional administrative tasks are being imposed on them

Another relatively common problem, concerning both the implementation and the flowing management of HRIS, is the question of who is in charge of the system. Since the successful development of HRIS requires the input of both the IT and the HR departments, it is not uncommon for disputes over areas of responsibility to break out between these departments.

Other territorial conflicts around HRIS may arise when departments feel that the system expropriates some of its authorities; for example, the payroll department might resist HRIS that combines payroll functions. A possible solution to such a problem can be the establishment of cross-functional teams that run HRIS projects

the implementation of HRIS raises both ethical and legal issues that need to be addressed by the organization. First, the use of relational database technology provides access to more detailed employee information than ever before.

Second, HRIS usually contain private information on the employees, while the access to this information is often allowed to employees outside HR, as well. As a result, some employees feel that their private lives are not protected adequately.

The hospitality industry is characterized by a higher turnover rate than other sectors of the economy

Traditionally, HR in organizations has utilized low-tech methods in recruitment.

Internet recruiting benefits both the organization and the job seeker's perspectives (Pearce and Tuten, 2001; Singh and Finn, 2003). The benefits to the recruiters include: Cost savings, as it is significantly cheaper to advertise on the internet than in a newspaper. Compared to the use of professional search firms (also known as headhunters) the amounts saved are even higher. Recruiters generally receive more applications, which results in a greater pool of candidates from which to choose. Recruiters may receive applications faster, often even on the same day a position is announced. Improved ability to target a specific audience, thereby decreasing future turnover. Time saving, as more unqualified or unfit applicants can be eliminated, through online contact, in the initial phases of the recruitment process.

On the other hand, internet recruitment is not without limitations.

Once the recruitment process has ensured a large pool of applicants to choose from, the next phase is to select the most suitable candidates.

Traditionally, these selection methods involve the visit of the candidate to the organization or, to a lesser degree, to an assessment center, for interviewing, pen-and-paper testing, or situational testing, including group dynamics.

The use of advanced technology allows the selection process to complete the widespread online recruitment methods.

Nevertheless, the main impact of technology in selection procedures is in relation to employee interviewing and testing.

Anderson (2003) broadly described the prominent technology-based selection procedures, along with an assessment of their acceptance and effectiveness.

Adequate training is essential in providing quality services, yet traditionally hospitality organizations have not invested adequate resources in training their employees (Conrade et al., 1994). Most of the knowledge and skills of hospitality employees is transferred through on-the-job training,

However, as noted by Collins (2004), delivery of organized and structured training programs in the hospitality industry is a constant challenge, mainly because of the size and geographical dispersion of the workforce, as well as the extensive resources – financial, work, and time – needed to establish in-house training programs.

Although technology-based training methods have been available for a long time, the hospitality industry has usually lagged behind other sectors in adopting them.

Web-based training (WBT) can deliver courses nationwide or worldwide at all time zones to any connected computer, and is easy to update and monitor.

Effective performance evaluation plays a critical role in the successful implementation of organizational strategy and in gaining a competitive advantage. Therefore, in addition to important HR decisions that greatly rely on performance evaluation, such as promotions, outplacements, dismissals, many organizations link performance to compensations and rewards. As noted by Bowley and Link (2005), a performance-based compensation plan, often known as “pay-per-performance,” should reflect the organization's goals.

the traditional methods, based on a disconnected blend of discrete applications, spreadsheet programs and paper-based systems, to communicate goals, track employee performance and manage compensation, are insufficient in the contemporary challenges of linking performance evaluation to organizational strategy (Bowley and Link, 2005). Yet, although sophisticated HRIS were developed to meet these contemporary challenges, Ensher et al. (2002) found little effect of HRIS on the process of performance management among HR executives, who still rely on paper-and-pencil administration and hard copy documentation of employee evaluation.

Nevertheless, CPM has drawbacks that are highly relevant to a service industry such as the hospitality industry (Miller, 2003). The main concern that CPM raises is that reliance only on quantitative criteria is likely to lead to the neglect of more qualitative aspects of performance.

Consequently, an effective CPM must be followed by the establishment of an employee development plan, designed in collaboration with his/her supervisor. The second application of technology in appraisal management is online evaluation and appraisal software (Miller, 2003). In contrast to the aforementioned CPM, in these cases technology facilitates delivering performance feedback, rather than generating the actual evaluation outcome.

360° feedback,

In addition, evaluation software packages can be used as stand-alone applications or as an integral part of the organization's HRIS, which offers computerized standard evaluation forms. The use of user-friendly software in evaluating employees allows managers to focus more on the contents of the evaluation, rather than on the forms.

Therefore, the use of computer software programs allows better coping with these challenges, while saving time and money.

While the organization enjoys the reduced need for complex bureaucracy, the employees enjoy better control and enhanced anonymity, as there is no need for dealing directly with HR staff on personal financial matters.

The use of HRIS has significant impact on the current affairs between the management and the employees, as well as the characteristics and the environment of the contemporary workplace. From the administrative perspective, through the HRIS the managers and the employees have access to relevant information on employee work rules, policies, and regulations on issues like privacy, illegal discrimination, and work diversity. In addition, the HRIS can assist discharged or displaced employees in finding alternative employment, by providing links to career counselors, training programs, and information, all of which are required for a successful and effective job search

technology has changed the nature of the workplace and employer-employee relations more fundamentally than just providing more accessible information.

Traditional e-commerce technology provides product/service, promotion, placement, and pricing strategic initiatives to external constituents through the use of extranet platforms merged with intranets (for instance, customer relationship management). HRIS technology provides the same initiatives through the use of intranets merged with extranet platforms (for example, recruitment). Thus, HRIS technology may be considered to represent internal e-commerce systems, which are crucial to the alignment of HR functions within strategic initiatives aimed at sustainable competitive advantages.

The evolution of HRIS platforms provides a range of tools for use by enhancing employee-employer relationships. The full service range of HRIS functions brings human capital closer to the strategic direction of the organization.

However, the technology is merely a tool that may enhance strategic alignment.

There is also evidence from the literature that a disengagement of the HR function from strategic initiatives exist in many hospitality enterprises.

It is common knowledge that the hospitality industry is labor intensive with many points of intimate service interactions of long duration. HR will produce sustainable competitive advantages for those firms that include the HR function in a united strategic direction.

The literature identifies the advantages of aligned human capital as a means to accomplishing sustainable competitive advantage for enterprises.

Switching to the cloud from a client server platform pays off with a big drop in both the initial capital outlay and the ongoing operating costs for the property management and other systems.

pects of a franchisee’s business, from guest check-ins and housekeeping services to billing and finances. Over time new features have been rolled into the software platform making it more robust and useful for hotel owners—it’s currently distributed in eight countries and available in four languages. And while plenty of cloud-based PMS packages are now available from third-party vendors like Micros, Maestro, and RoomKey, Choice’s internal solution has garnered its fair share of attention. “We had been getting knocks on the door from IT vendors at other hotel companies and individual Choice franchisees that own other brands, saying they were interested in our product,” says Pacious, “So we set up a new division so we could take a look at other opportunities we could develop.” This led the company to launch SkyTouch last year, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based software solutions to hotels inside and outside the Choice system. Pages: 1 2 3 4 2013-06-18 Sean Downey !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })(); (function() { var li = document.createElement('script'); li.type = 'text/javascript'; li.async = true; li.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:' : 'http:') + '//platform.stumbleupon.com/1/widgets.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(li, s); })(); inShare0 Related Articles attachment-3

his led the company to launch SkyTouch last year, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based software solutions to hotels inside and outside the Choice system. Pages: 1 2 3 4 2013-06-18 Sean Downey !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })(); (function() { var li = document.createElement('script'); li.type = 'text/javascript'; li.async = true; li.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:' : 'http:') + '//platform.stumbleupon.com/1/widgets.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(li, s); })(); inShare0 Related Articles Hotel Market Insight: Cleveland a

This led the company to launch SkyTouch last year, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based software solutions to hotels inside and outside the Choice system.

Augmented Reality or AR is an interactive experience or enhanced version of the real world to be presented in a more understandable way with the help of computerized tools.

digital tools like - animations, graphics, sounds, etc. to be able to create an amalgamation of the real and the virtual worlds to be able to get a detailed view of what is present or the necessary information related to it which is put on. 

can be accessed via smartphones and internet-based devices. This can be done via scanning a barcode printed on real-life items to get an artificial view of them or by applications specially crafted for specific purposes.

1. Interactive Hotel Rooms 

Also augmented reality-based interfaces are capable of providing a lot of information to the guests or to the staff that they might need, this makes the process as easy as pointing the camera to a real thing which might then connect to the related server to fetch the required information. 

Augmented reality can be used by hotels to enhance the physical surroundings by making them more interactive.

The stay rooms can have a 3-dimensional display feature on the portal so that the visitors can have a look at them in a realistic way while they are booking a room or seeking to grab a service. 

360 degrees virtual tour before being physically present. 

2. Map Features 

Hotels and resorts around the tourist hub can have this feature where the visitors can point their smartphones to a map to get a view of the other places of interest and their timings with other details nearby

3. Gamification 

The hotels can enable augmented reality-based games in their premises to keep the visitors engaged and entertained throughout.

Hotels can engage in games like treasure hunts by taking them to a virtual platform, improvising the features as per their discretion which can be played on their premises.

4. Beacon Technology

Beacon Technology works by the Bluetooth-based interface somehow connected to the concept of augmented reality which allows the people operating to send related information when the users are in specific locations. 

This technology is predominantly being used in the hospitality industry to make the people exploring the premises have various wireless connectivity opportunities using their smartphones only. 

5. Guest Recognition

guest recognition can become the catalyst in providing relatively better and convenient services to them.

Augmented reality-based applications can help in getting details about the guest and their preferences and choices. IoT based cameras can be used in connectivity with the AR setup working by providing the details about the guest and their previous stays, the services they took, room preferences, food preferences, etc.   

6. Maintenance Information

The users can get related information about the machines and areas under maintenance and also about the estimated time taken in resuming the facility so that they can feel transparent enough with the inconvenience.

7. Translation Facilities 

In such a case augmented reality can come to the rescue, for instance, the guests can point their smartphones at the various texts and guides or even the hotel menu, for instance, to get the related information with the option to choose from multiple languages.

Examples of AR in Hospitality   Starwood Hotels uses beacon technology to send the virtual keys to the guests which helps them in unlocking the room using their phones.   Holiday Inn has this feature where the guests can point their smartphones to see the realistically virtual depictions of famous celebrities in the hotel.   Premier Inn has rooms with maps installed in them enabling guests to point their smartphones at them to have information about the nearest points of attraction.    The Mansion uses AR-based brochures to display its accommodation facilities to its guests. 

AR can be put to use combined with other technological dimensions like IoT, big data, and virtual reality to maximize usage. Also, this is not just a tool to provide a better customer experience, this can be used by the management to maintain the guests and give out accurate instructions and details on the AR-based portal. 

A related threat is that of “skimmers,” or devices that catch credit card numbers when consumers use them for payment. The problem primarily is contained to the restaurant industry, but Callaghan is concerned it could spread to hotels.

Ironically, one of the main reasons terrorism tops the list is because it has become less of an issue in recent years, sources said.

“The greatest business risk, as I see it … is insurance fraud. And it’s the most expensive,” he said.

The hot-button issue within the realm of hotel-information technology is mobile and cloud technology.

“Liability” as a general label refers to hoteliers being held liable for the acts, which are often criminal, of third parties, the AH&LA’s Callaghan said.

“Security” still is something of a taboo in the global hotel industry, said Paul Moxness VP for corporate safety and security at The Rezidor Hotel Group, a Brussels-based hotel management company, with more than 400 hotels and nearly 90,000 rooms in its portfolio.

While such changes will definitely impact the future growth opportunities for global distribution systems, there will continue to be a role for them as they evolve to meet the needs of travel planners, travel websites, airlines and groups of individuals.

Finally, an organization’s Resilience depends on the number of business partners that have developed their commercial offerings and lifestyles based on its standards and market and the number of people who feel a sense of shared ownership of its open resources.

these levers and principles in relation to some of the most disruptive companies in the tourism industry

they owe their initial edge to their community,

Not all innovations are specifically sought; sometimes they arise in response to a problem or need.

In short, to be innovative, an action must mark a milestone, such as: – Opening a new market. – Creating a new product. – Modifying an existing product. – Improving a production method. – Finding a new source of supply. – Creating a new form of organization

technology permeates the reasoning and experiential part of the brain much more powerfully and markedly in the new generations.

For the cruise customer, the software will be able to make meaningful recommendations in terms of shore excursions, for example, before they take a cruise. This serves two purposes, he said: it generates revenue and helps making the booking stick. Guests who purchase shore excursions before making their final payment are less likely to cancel the cruise.

“What is important is to make relevant recommendations based on the customers’ history that is stored and interpreted by the software. The self-learning engine takes into consideration the guest profile, nationality, gender, age, if they travel with extended family, friends, where they are sailing; it looks at many data points before making recommendations.” For the supply chain, the AI engine can find correlations between cruise lengths, weather, deployment and special occasions, according to Lindthaler. “Our current system can handle all of this,” he said, “but requires more data maintenance and also experienced provision masters. With the growth of the industry, there is a shortage of experienced crew, however, and this is where the technology can help. Sailing seven days out of Miami, it is not very difficult, but for global deployment, accurate forecasting becomes more of a challenge.”

MXP was also the first software provider to provide mobile solutions custom-designed for cruise ships ranging from POS to check-in, housekeeping, hotel maint

enance, and much more.

FLEXIBLE, CUSTOMIZED CONFIGURATION

indows based Property Management System that incorporates the latest in advanced technology. It is designed to provide all the features of a sophisticated Front Office system linked with other computerized hotel applications on the same relational SQL database. 

he Optima Property Management System enables maximum performance, utilizing the latest technology. Together with the use of a modern GUI it offers the ultimate system for any Front Desk. 

Outside of personal word of mouth recommendations, the channels that consumer’s relied on most were user-generated review sites, such as YELP; the restaurant’s own website, and blogs

According to analysis of Shamoon by computer security firm Symantec, the way the virus gets into networks may vary, but once inside it tries to infect every computer in the local area network before erasing files to render PCs useless.

Yet those sources say such protections could not prevent an attack by an insider with high-level access.

insiders were implicated in just 4 percent of cases last year.

Saudi Aramco has said that only office PCs running Microsoft Windows were damaged. Its oil exploration, production, export, sales and database systems all remained intact as they ran on isolated and heavily protected systems.

Because the virus wiped the hard drives, it is difficult for Saudi Aramco to determine exactly what information the hackers obtained.

The Shamoon virus is designed to attack ordinary business computers

. It does not belong to the category of sophisticated cyber warfare tools

The hackers behind the Shamoon attack siphoned off data from a relatively small number of computers, delivering it to a remote server

It is standard industry practice to shield plant operating networks from hackers by running them on separate operating systems that are protected from the Internet.

Enable your staff to enter and view information for specific properties and locations, without giving them access to the financials of other locations or the entire business.

Track real-time performance centrally and across all of your locations. View your information by individual location, by groups of locations, by concept, by region—or by any other dimensions you use to measure performance

2. Integrating wearable technology and sensors:

3. Providing rich travel related multimedia content:

4. Leveraging social media:

5. Artificial Intelligence:

Recent advances in technology related to renewable sources of energy (solar, geothermal, wind, etc.) have improved the economics of using these kinds of alternative energies at the property level.

As hoteliers begin to realize that they can provide an enhanced guest experience by integrating natural elements, there has been an evolution in “green thought” in the community inspired by multiple factors:

Cost is always a driving factor and reducing operating costs provides a compelling incentive for hoteliers

Our government has enacted a variety of economic incentives to encourage the development of environmental retrofits and the construction of “green” buildings.

Current environmental regulations targeted toward the hotel sector are largely focused on facility operations such as storm-water management, hazardous materials handling, and environmental health and safety.

A greater number of hoteliers understand that investments in environmental technology can have a direct positive impact on guest experience.

Adopting a sustainable corporate culture can provide a distinct advantage in terms of attracting and retaining talent.

Most major hotel brands have incorporated some level of sustainability platform into their brand definition. Several brands have been repositioned to cater to a younger generation of more environmentally and socially active customers.