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This article goes into detail of the processes involved in flight booking and how GDS's play a role in this process. GDS's allow for airlines to disburse their flight information to various search engines which allows the consumer to have it at their hands in a matter of minutes. Booking is now made easy and GDS's have decreased the work load of hotels and airlines alike.

This article goes in depth into GDS. It explains the concept of the GDS is and how eaxctly it works. It also gives examples of some major GDSs. It talks about the benefits of using GDS in hotels.

The global distribution system in the hospitality industry is beyond vital in the act of keeping the ball rolling. GDS provides live products and offers to travelers across the globe. Whats really amazing about GDS is that live availability and rates are transferred through a channel manager directly to online booking sites. This allows guests to acquire the best rates the soonest as opposed to waiting to call a hotel or resort to see what they have and at what price.

This article shows us everything we need to know about Hotel GDS. It includes GDS in the hotel industry, GDS work way in travel, seven major GDS systems, the way to access leading GDSs with GDS software, GDS conditions of use, benefits of connecting hotel to the GDS, and how to use the GDS to capture cruise travel bookings at hotel.

This article dives into the ways that technological innovation is disrupting the hotel industry. Hoteliers are struggling to keep up with guest needs and demands. Technological innovations, while a necessity, can never replace human touch. This rapid change represents a challenge and opportunity for the industry to overcome.

This article explains the technological advances in the hospitality industry and how this has been attributed to being a crutch for the industry and/or a burden. With the utilization of technological software such as kiosks, automated checks in's, and mobile ordering, the hospitality industry has had a disruption in the product that they are offering. The article also undergoes the understanding of taking the implementation of technology and the human interaction and combining them to work cohesively in the hospitality industry. Understanding that it is a balance that both must intertwine in order to find success in hospitality.

In this article, all the incredible sides of innovative technology within the hospitality and tourism industry are highlighted and discussed. Along with the discussion of what some of the newest technology is, it touches on how it positively and negatively affects the industry. For example, the article talks about how the average person is so much more willing to go about self-service check-ins and hotels and airports, as well as ordering from a kiosk at a restaurant. From this, while it can be super convenient for the customer, it can also cause extreme damage to the business. Because so much of the industry has transformed to just being at the will of your fingertips, it leaves customers forgetting that not everything comes with instant gratification. "Long queues to check in at the hotel become unacceptable; unresponsive or slow room service lead to negative hotel comments on TripAdvisor; and some expect 24 hours' housekeeping even in a budget hotel", a quote from the article reads. The article also talks about how while there can be many negatives, there are equally as many rewarding positives. For example, "Due to the large numbers of internet users, including mobile, online review platforms, attract lots of traffic which, in turn, means plenty of business potential for the online travel agencies (OTAs) in particular". One of the main points in the article talks about how even though many hospitality jobs are being taken over by computers and AI, the one thing a robot will never be able to grasp and give is human interaction. "A machine can cook dishes exactly to order, but it cannot experience how the guest feels; a robot might be able to deliver a pot of hot water to a hotel room, but it is unable to tell whether the guest is feeling unwell; an advanced voice control system could make it easier to order room service, but it cannot tell whether the guest enjoys the meal". In conclusion, while there are indeed many disruptive changes that have bee

A plan developed by the U.S Travel Association and a panel of travel and security experts aims to improve security at America's airports and reduce the burden on travelers. Among the most notable recommendations are the creation of a trusted traveler program and a requirement that travelers be allowed to check at least one bag at no additional cost to the ticket price as a means to reduce the amount of luggage going through the security checkpoint. There are recommendations about this plan: Reduce duplicative TSA screening for international arrivals.  Expand trusted traveler programs to qualified international passengers. Give TSA authority over the entire checkpoint area.  Develop a comprehensive technology procurement strategy.  Implement well-defined risk management processes. 

This article was all about the hotel security concerns for 2012. The 5 things the article lists as issues are: IT, terrorism, skimmers, liability and insurance fraud, and finally security as taboo. IT in a concern for hotel security because mobile and cloud technology is becoming very popular. Companies that do not protect their information with passwords are even more at risk. Data protection needs to include end to end management so companies are not just patching the security. Terrorism is another issue that was a concern in 2012. Hotels need to keep staff and travelers knowledgeable about possible threats, but in a way that does not scare them. Campaigns were placed in airports to educate travelers about notifying security upon seeing something suspicious. Another thing that hotel security should be concerned about is skimming. Skimming is a device that catches credit card numbers. Usually there is a need for an inside man for this type of threat. These people usually aren't criminals, but opportunists. Prevention of this in your hotel could be to hire an investigative team man making that known to the employees. This will keep honest people honest. Insurance fraud is one of the greatest business risks and it's the most expensive. Claims could be as small as a guest seeking a free room for stubbing his toe to a drawn out worker's compensation case. Liability is the label that hoteliers are held liable for criminal acts of a third party. Hoteliers should properly educate themselves on these issues and consulting an attorney if necessary. The final issue is security as a taboo. Security should become a part of day to day operations and hoteliers will be better able to address it. Hotel executives should insist their GM's make security a priority. This article was written for the year 2012. I still think that all these issues are relevant in 2013.

I am adding a travel site rather than a travel article. The Future Travel Experience site provides news of technological innovations for travelers world wide. Every travel consideration is covered, including Self service, Baggage Handling, Facilitation & Security, Mobile Technology, Boarding & Gates, Immigration, Arrivals, and Technology. The index page lists all these on the menu at the top, as well as displayed below as separate "file folders" which show the most recent article for each subject. This website has a wealth of up-to-date information regarding world wide travel technologies in place and how such innovations enhance and simplify the passenger experience. The information is even relevant to would-be travelers by explaining available options for booking travel arrangements, and assisting them when they arrive at their destination. The site describes such options as being able to order food delivered to the gate that is properly packaged according to airline requirements (B4 YOU BOARD). Other articles describe self-boarding, curbside lounge access, and sleeping pods for layovers. This is not only a extremely informative website for world travelers, but also is a forerunner in media that provides exclusive international travel related topics and information. Any site visitor can browse the articles and gain a greater understanding of the technological capabilities, and the issues present in the world market. The site is connected to Facebook, and LinkedIn, and has ongoing Twitter updates right up front. FTE is an interactive site which fully communicates travel considerations worldwide and provides comprehensive information regarding technological systems available for travelers so that they can know what is being offered, where ever they are going, and how to utilize it to their benefit.

Point of sale systems are revolutionizing the retail and hospitality industry. They have gained much attention and are now much more common then the older cash register terminal systems that once used to be at every retail store in Australia. The reason for their increasing popularity in retail stores, hotels, and restaurants is that they are more efficient and make processing and tracking orders easier. In the hospitality industry a POS system is much better because of the different needs, requests, and reservations of customers. Data must also be stored, and processed by the staff of the hotel to ensure smooth operation of the hotel. Because POS systems can record date such as payroll. labor, volume of good sold etc, they are more feasible then a cash register system. POS systems are now found in high volume restaurants. Restaurants that bustling with clients have installed this new software to be able to track and complete orders in real time, similar to a rail or airport flight schedule. Customers appreciate when their food is delivered on time, and when their orders are not mixed up. For high volume or busy restaurants the POS system offers incredible advantages and the possibility of increasing profits.

This article reaches out and speaks to revenue managers within the hospitality industry. It first introduces the purpose of GDS systems and the factors you should consider when selecting a particular GDS to advertise with. From the information included in this article, it discusses exactly how beneficial advertising can be by including features of the GDS, stating how useful this tool is for the hospitality industry and travel agents, and the large opportunity to build product awareness in order to maximize revenue. Revenue managers can then learn how to purchase advertising and a suggestion of "teaser lines" -text that appears on the travel agents' shopping screen is given. This article ends by providing a description of a standard campaign operates and the criteria it goes by such as the display period, promotional period, city code/airport code, GDS outlet, and other options that may be targeted within searching for travel.

November 19th 2009, Planes at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport in Atlanta, Georgia experienced numerous of delays. Airlines were cancelling and delaying flights all over the United States, due to problems with the airline system. The system that collects airlines flight plans was experiencing technical difficulty. During the time of the problem, safety in the air wasn't the issue; planes were still flying. Various airlines resorted back to manually processing flight plan. The biggest issue that the airport, and other airlines faced during this time; was the fact that so many flights were being delayed. I can only imagine the agony to plan and arrange flights manually. One of the most important factor, is that everyone safety wasn't threatened by the system problems.

E-commerce is booming in recent years and it will definitely become a trend in managing hospitality industry. The trend refers to consumers can book a reservation or order food wherever they are. It means convenience and fast and easy to do. And m-commerce is a upgrade promotion to e-commerce since people can book a room when they arrive at airport with their handset devices. It has absolute geographic advantages. Because smartphone is wildly used by more and more people, m-commerce will proliferate throughout all over the world.

This article discusses what travel agents think about the enhanced ability of both corporate and leisure based travel agencies to sell airline ancillaries because of improved Global Distribution Systems' technologies. Ancillaries are products and services that airlines sell to gain additional revenue on top of your ticket price. Ancillaries have become increasingly popular in the airline industry because of the sky rocketing price of jet fuel. To keep ticket prices down airlines are "unbundling" items from the overall experience. This presents them with an opportunity to turn a profit by charging fees for bags (carry on, checked, additional), on board food and drink, credit card purchases, headphones. It seems like everything you encounter from when you arrive at the airport to when you disembark the plane has a fee. This phenomenon is especially present in Low cost carriers such as Spirit, Air Tran, Jet Blue, etc. However there are consumers who disagree with this additional costs as is apparent in Southwest's continuous marketing campaign. I'm sure everyone has seen the commercials with Southwest representatives 'flagging' down unnecessary fees in order to promote their 'bags fly free' campaign. Anyhow the reason I am explaining ancillary revenue is because travel agents are now starting to sell more ancillary products such as hotel accommodations, travel insurance, rental cars because of GDS technologies. They can track the sale of fees through EMD (Electronic miscellaneous Documents) which is the current industry standard. In the article some agents state that the EMDs are hard to understand and use. I believe until the EMDs become "seamless and easy to use" there will exist some hesitation to sell airline ancillaries. However on the other hand the article states that Travelport is working towards a simple and uniform platform called Travelport Universal API/Desktop. Once this comeplete perhaps more agents will feel comfortable selling ancillaries. This is a goo

I still remember when most airlines used to include breakfast or dinner for their passengers including alcoholic beverages well that doesn't happen any more. I believe when Travelport Universal Desktop becomes available it would become more clear to travel agencies the transaction process and for the consumers what products and services they are ofering.

I too miss the days of free sodas and peanuts. "Sigh-" sometimes its the little things in life that bring the most joy. I agree I think the new Travelport Universal Desktop will be a valuable tool if utilized correctly.

This article shows an explanation of people with metal placed in them because of surgery. The alarm will go off with the several types of metals, although there is no type of card or identification that will help you pass through TSA easily because it is easy to create one of the cards by hand. If the detector goes off, you will have to be searched regardless.

Having a content aggregation would be a great development in any industry specially in Travel business. At first place GDS  was ment to be  designed for airlines but as the time passed other sections of travel business got involved and took their share in this powerful content aggregation. Now one of the most powerful sectors of GDS is Hotel industry and reservations of hotel rooms which are made through this computerized system.  However, this improved system of GDS could not be much of success in rail industry. Because the railing system is much more sophisticated than air transportation system. There are numerous rail stations existing out there which would be hardly controllable and arrangeable to be collected under a single computerized system.  However, if every and each of the major owners of GDS consider the whole chain and don't look for their very own profit this system would not only work out but also improves and reaches higher standards. 

The article is about the use of biometric technology being tested by CBP to authenticate cruise passengers as they enter and exit a ship. The trial was conducted at Cape Liberty Port, N.J. with passengers disembarking a royal Caribbean ship. The test not only demonstrated high-quality and high-speed facial matching but also expedited inspections. CBP is also testing exit biometrics in a number of international airports across the nation, including Houston Hobby and George Bush, Las Vegas' McCarran, Washington Dulles, and Chicago O'Hare. The article was published in November 2017 and indicates that by early 2018, CBP would have already implemented this technology at the top 20 U.S. airports. Furthermore, CBP is working with JetBlue on a facial recognition program that uses a picture in lieu of boarding pass.

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

The article focuses on various past decade information technologies which significantly changed the way the hotel industry controls and manages operation. Information technology security is controlling access to sensitive electronic information so only those with a legitimate need to access it is allow. There are three main objectives for information technology security these are confidentiality, integrity and availability of data.While many technologies have been utilized, some newer technologies have emerged in the literature , practice and many of them impact the hotel's security. Australia joins security crackdown on tech in the Middle East airport. Airline passengers flying from the Middle East to Australia faced an increased scrutiny and potential delay with the introduction of new electronics screening processes in three major transit airports. In addition, Instagram added two factor authentication to the photo and video sharing social network, which increase there security measures for their 600 millions users.

Technology is providing travelers novel experiences and interactions. The new technologies include: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), connectivity, and other technology. Artificial intelligence is currently being integrated into chat bots for phone calls, but there are far greater uses. Facial scanning and voice recognition is starting to gain traction. It offers more secure, faster, ad better customer service. Some hotels have even added Amazon Alexa devices for their patrons. The internet of things features hotel guests to unlock the door to their room using only their smartphone. Blockchain and cryptocurrency transactions eliminate the need for third-party mediators. As a result, hotels that utilize blockchain and cryptocurrency can offer better rates to the consumer without affecting profitability. All of the emerging technology frees up the preexisting staff to provide and maintain excellent customer relationships. "Over the last few years, travelers have been meeting robot butlers and concierges in hotels like Hilton's Connie, powered by IBM Watson AI technology." "SoftBank Robotics' Pepper, a humanoid robot developed with IBM Watson, has been introduced at Munich Airport and Václav Havel Airport Prague, where the robot not only informs but entertains passengers by dancing and offering to take selfies." "Gartner predicts that 85% of customer interactions will be managed without a human by 2020." "At Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland, face scanners enable guests to verify their identity at check-in, pick up a digital room key and gain access to the dining room at breakfast." "Two Roads Hospitality has partnered with Amazon and Volara to develop a customised Alexa for Hospitality platform that facilitates daily tasks for staff, such as identifying maintenance problems or signaling that a room is ready for check-in." "Luxury hotels like The Plaza New York, Aria in Las Vegas, The Torch Doha in Qa

A security researcher, Mr. Noam Rotem has found a security vulnerability in the widely used Amadeus airline software. Mr. Rotem booked a flight with El Al and the company sent him a link to retrieve his Passenger Name Record (PNR). Rotem inputted a random booking reference number into this link, which is sent to all customers upon booking, and he was able to access other passenger's information. This raises concerns among attackers changing seat flights, meal specifications, or claiming flyer miles. The security researcher also viewed email addresses, phone numbers, and was even able to cancel flights. Additionally, this data can easily be accessed because reference numbers and last names are printed on baggage tags, making this available for many to see in an airport. The Global Distribution System does not have any form of authentication factor or password to keep this information safe. The GDS has not been updated to ensure security in many years. The company claims that the PNR process must be in accordance with the whole industry, and it needs to collaborate with everyone in order to form a new procedure.