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Dongyun Oh

Red Robin CIO Drives Change Through IT Management - 0 views

hospitalitytechnology.edgl.com/...ge-Through-IT-Management-85049

Technology hospitality

shared by Dongyun Oh on 08 Mar 13 - No Cached
  • Dongyun Oh on 08 Mar 13
     
    Statistically speaking, CIOs don't become CEOs. But it's not because they don't want it. Research shows that nearly half of CIOs aspire to become chief executive, but only four percent actually get there. Much more frequently, CEOs for the world's top companies - about half in fact - come up through C-level financial or operating roles (Vanson Bourne, 2012). Chris Laping, CIO of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (www.redrobin.com), strongly believes this is because technology executives are too often focused on engineering and IT solutions to embrace their most valuable leadership quality: the ability to manage change. Technology leaders, he believes, possess powerful project management skills that can and should be leveraged across the business for even the most non-IT initiatives, with the particular role of being agents for change. Laping's official role at Red Robin is indicative of that practice: he's the company's senior vice president of business transformation and CIO. In that role, he oversees the company's technology, learning and development, enterprise project management and operations services teams. In this exclusive interview with Hospitality Technology, Laping shares how the technology team has taken on a business transformation role at Red Robin, and describes his overall vision for IT leaders. But it's not something CIOs are handed; they have to drive it, says Laping. Driving this change, perhaps, will also help more CIOs chase down their chief-executive dreams. HT: Let's start with some definitions: "business transformation" and "change agents" are pretty heady buzzwords that get tossed around executive boardrooms. What does business transformation really mean? LAPING: If you look at a classic Wikipedia definition of business transformation, it talks about people, process and technology. So when you push change through people, you usually do that through training. If you want to change business performan
Ruoxi Wang

[Update] Global Hospitality Accounting System Project - HFTP Connect - 0 views

blog.hftp.org/lity-accounting-system-project

accounting hospitality

shared by Ruoxi Wang on 20 Oct 12 - No Cached
  • ecognizing that operating hotels is a global industry, HFTP determined that there is not a globally accepted method that financial professionals, ownership structures, investors and benchmarking information services can use to support efficient operations. There is also not a globally accepted method to monitor investment performance from region to region without significant assumptions and data mining.
  • Currently, research is being conducted into current practices. This research will identify who is doing what in different parts of the world, with a view to establishing best practice and providing practical guidance for students, practitioners and professionals involved in the industry.
  • In order to create a global resource for the hospitality finance industry, Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) began development on a global hospitality accounting system users guide this past March. Recognizing that operating hotels is a global industry, HFTP determined that there is not a globally accepted method that financial professionals, ownership structures, investors and benchmarking information services can use to support efficient operations. There is also not a globally accepted method to monitor investment performance from region to region without significant assumptions and data mining. HFTP’s Global Hospitality Accounting System Users Guide (GHASUG) will address this need. Where does the project stand right now? Currently, research is being conducted into current practices. This research will identify who is doing what in different parts of the world, with a view to establishing best practice and providing practical guidance for students, practitioners and professionals involved in the industry. The guidance will be formulated by industry experts, based on the research findings. To date HFTP has commitments from major information benchmarking companies, hotel corporations, hospitality associations and globally recognized hospitality schools around the world. Once completed, HFTP will make the outcome accessible online, together with analytical tools. It will be available at a minimal cost and users will have the capability to print versions if they desire. The hotel sector currently enjoys the benefits of an accounting structure developed in the USA specifically for the industry.  The Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry has been widely adopted, principally by US based operating companies, and linked to management contract terms.  HFTP has been involved in this project for many years and will continue to sponsor the 11th edition in support and via a monetary contribution.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • The Global Hospitality Accounting System Users Guide will provide for a wider community of information users, and demonstrate approaches to the production of alternative analysis of data for hotel performance measurement.
  • Jingjia Zhang on 20 Oct 12
     
    In 01 Mar 12 someone share a article about the global hospitality accounting system. That article talks about how the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) are in the process of making a user guide for the global hospitality accounting system. This article is an update that publish recently. It shows where does the project stand right now and what is next for the project. However, the first part of phase one- covering the UK and continental Europe- is now well in progress.
  • ...2 more comments...
  • Sherine Mattison on 20 Oct 12
     
    It has been found by the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals that a global hospitality system needs to be developed. They recognized that there is no globally accepted method that can be used to support an efficient operation. "There is also not a globally accepted method to monitor investment performance from region to region without significant assumptions and data mining." The hotel sector in the USA currently has in place an accounting structure, but based on this research that is going on comparison will be made of what is happening globally and they will devise some best practices for persons involved in the industry.
  • Yuting Peng on 02 Mar 13
     
    Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals began to create a global hospitality accounting system for the hospitality finance industry. Currently, the research is being conducted into current practices. This will give a view to establishing best practice and providing practical guidance for students, practitioners and professionals involved in the industry. Once it is completed, it will provide for a wider community of information users, and demonstrate approaches to the production of alternative analysis of data for hotel performance measurement. Now, the first part is in well progress covering the UK and continental Europe. And the project will still take a further 12 months to complete.
  • Xueling Wang on 04 Mar 13
     
    HFTP's Global Hospitality Accounting System Users Guide will set a global method for hospitality industry.   Recently, research is being conducted into current practices. This research will identify who is doing what in different parts of the world, with a view to establishing best practice and providing practical guidance for students, practitioners and professionals involved in the industry.
  • Ruoxi Wang on 16 Oct 13
     
    Hospitality Financial and technology professionals was developing a global hospitality accounting system in the past year. Their fist step is to cover the UK and continental Europe. The second step is to do search about South and central America and cover them. The third step will begin for China and India, and the last two segments will be Russia and North America. This is quite a large program. If the program was completed, a globally accepted method that financial professional, ownership structure, investors and benchmarking information services can use to support  efficient operations will be formed, and a globally accepted method to monitor investment performance from region to region will also be formed.
Juan Franco

What is a Property Management System? - 0 views

ezinearticles.com/?What-is-a-Property-Management-System?&id=812527

shared by Juan Franco on 20 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • A more sophisticated PMS will support multi-currency and multi-language features to meet the requirements of global operations. Rates and revenues should be dynamically converted from the local currency to any other currency. The appropriate language for guest correspondence should be automatically determined by the guest's profile language; and a country-specific address formats should be supported. The user interface should also change to the language of the user based on their sign on password.
  • Juan Franco on 20 Feb 12
     
    WebPMS Pros * Typically less cost involved with computer equipment compared to server based. * Full time IT department at the hotel may not be necessary. * Remote access is easy when owner, manager or reservationist is not at the property and they need access to the property management system from a different location. * Consistent Data backup is completed at the data centre.(You need to verify this with your vendor, see the Service Level Agreement provided by your vendor for more information.) * Software enhancements and upgrades are typically done regularly and easily. * Quick deployment. Cons * Does not work optimally without a good quality high speed Internet connection. * Data access is dependent on the Internet connection being available. * Not a good choice for areas that have unreliable internet connections. PMS/Server Based *Costs to setup and maintain are typically higher than web based systems *Backup is done at the property and may not be tested for integrity or may be forgotten. *Data is physically located at the hotel; data security may not be as high. *Software enhancements and upgrade need to be applied via modem, internet or CD and are done less frequently due to the slower procedure.
Panpan Xie

Technology Could Help Enhance Security At Hotels | By Suresh John - 0 views

www.hospitalitynet.org/...4038969.html

hospitality IT security

shared by Panpan Xie on 18 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • In a day and age of increasing insecurities, it is time that we take proactive measures to protect our guests, our own selves, our industry and our world. Technology comes to the rescue, yet again.
  • There are simple ways in which each one of us can ensure that our surroundings are secure.
  • Upon entry into the property, it is vital that a guest’s baggage is scanned and the baggage count is added to his data for cross verification during the check-out,
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  • Guest history modules
  • a special report
  • The House Keeping module
  • CCTV surveillance
  • The next step would be to have a stringent recruitment procedure in place.
  • In addition, all employees must be allowed access only into their areas of work.
  • an online central passport and ID card verification mechanism must be introduced,
  • A communication engine can be further used to send out pre-defined messages,
  • simple technology put to effective use,
  • Jingyi Wen on 18 Feb 12
     
    Terrorism attacks on international hotels have turned the industry's focus on security issues. No doubt about it, both government and hospitality entrepreneur pay more attentions on security after September 11, 2001. It is important for hotels enhance security by using technology. Hotels use Vehicle Management System to tab all vehicles entering the property. This VMS also can be tagged with the guest information, drivers' information and vehicle number. Hotel should use the guest history modules to store the information about every guest especially for those 'first time guest'. The information includes the copy of passport detail of the international guests, guests' flight detail, an emergency contact number and copy of photo registration cards. The house keeping module makes report of Sleep-out guest. This system can share the occupancy reports and nationality wise occupancy report automatically with local police. Also the incoming call can be tracked. Hotel should have a stringent recruitment procedure in place. Hotel can use biometric access to restrict employees only allowed access their working place. The gate-pass system, vehicle management system and biometric access control system ensure only authorized staff and vehicles are allowed into the property. The online central passport and ID card verification mechanism can automatically verify the document against data available with the security agencies. The communication engine can send message to stuff, supervisors, in house guests and authorized external security bodies about the emergency like suspicious guest, fake passport and so on. Effective use these technology can save the hotels from the worse that can happened.
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  • YUCHEN TI on 29 Mar 12
     
    Hospitality industry was affected by terror attacks. This article pointed out how new technology increased security in a property. For instance, having an able Vehicle Management System can keep a tab on all vehicles entering the property. This can also be tagged with your Guest History data, enabling tagging of vehicles with in-house guests. The Vehicle Management systems also have room for adding Driver and Vehicle number details to the database. Upon entry into the property, it is vital that a guest's baggage is scanned and the baggage count is added to his data for cross verification during the check-out, in order to ensure that no undesired material is left behind. Guest history modules in a property management system would also prompt for extra information to be noted for a first-time guest. On check-in, a photo registration card must be printed and handed over to the guest. The photo can be stored in the database and also compared with the central list of criminals / suspects identified by the authorities through an online module that should be made available to all the hotels by the central bodies. a biometric access control can be interfaced with the property management system, restricting a front office executive from entering into the Kitchen area. Also, only authorized supplier staff and vehicles must be allowed into the property.
  • Xu Wang on 04 Nov 12
     
    This article gives us some tips on how technology could help enhance security at hotels. By summary the article, we can find out that the technology can help enhance security at hotels in maintaining copy of passport or ID card of all guests, noting an emergency contact number always, storing data at an off-site location for easy access in case of mishap, installing a biometric access control system for in-house and supplier staff, scanning baggage and maintaining baggage count of each guest and cross-verify on check-out, and monitoring sleep-out guest report closely. By using these simple technology, hotels can save a lot, and make hotels secure.
  • Panpan Xie on 20 Mar 13
     
    The hospitality industry is hassled by the terror attacks at luxury properties, so it is important to use technology to protect the guests. A Vehicle Management System can be used to keep watch on all vehicles entering the property. The property management system is used from check-in to check out to verify the baggage and guests. A stringent recruitment such as biometric access can prevent unauthorized staff or guests step into the specific area. Also, there is an online central passport and ID card verification can verify the guests' identification and give an alert on a fake ID or passport. All these measures can help to prevent worst things from happening.
Chris Cardoso

Hotel Telecommunications Strategies - 6 views

www.hotel-online.com/...Mar03_Telecommunications.html

shared by Chris Cardoso on 28 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • No matter what telecommunications strategy a property takes, one thing is for certain, it needs to be a different one from the past.
  • The guest now has a variety of choices for communicating including fax over the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, calling cards and now even Internet-based phones. 
  • Assuming that the wireless reception quality is acceptable, it is very difficult for the hotel to compete on a cost basis.
  • ...18 more annotations...
  • Given the hotel’s advantage in quality over the guest’s portable devices, the proper packaging of services will lure even the most avid self-contained guest back to using the hotel’s telecom services.
  • Hotels are unable to compete on price with devices that the guest has brought with him.  What the hotel can do is offer a better experience at a reasonable price to entice guests to use the hotel’s telecom infrastructure.
  • Attracting the Guests to Use the Hotel’s Telecommunication Services
  • The guest now has a variety of choices for communicating including fax over the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, calling cards and now even Internet-based phones.   All these alternatives offer a less expensive means of communicating than using the traditional hotel guestroom phone and other services such as fax.
  • No matter what telecommunications strategy a property takes, one thing is for certain, it needs to be a different one from the past.
  • The guest now has a variety of choices for communicating including fax over the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, calling cards and now even Internet-based phones.   All these alternatives offer a less expensive means of communicating than using the traditional hotel guestroom phone and other services such as fax
  • No matter what telecommunications strategy a property takes, one thing is for certain, it needs to be a different one from the past.
  • Attracting the Guests to Use the Hotel’s Telecommunication Services   Hotels are unable to compete on price with devices that the guest has brought with him.   What the hotel can do is offer a better experience at a reasonable price to entice guests to use the hotel’s telecom infrastructure. No matter what cell phone the guest may carry or what service provider is used, no wireless connection is as good as a land-line connection
  • Guests had little choice back then but to use the guestroom phone and grumble about the cost.
  • Assuming that the wireless reception quality is acceptable, it is very difficult for the hotel to compete on a cost basis .
  • Assuming that the wireless reception quality is acceptable, it is very difficult for the hotel to compete on a cost basis
  • Another concern among hoteliers is what can be termed the self-contained guest
  • Another concern among hoteliers is what can be termed the self-contained guest
  • Theoretically, the self-contained guest needs no hotel telecommunications services .  
  • Theoretically, the self-contained guest needs no hotel telecommunications services
  • Guests had little choice back then but to use the guestroom phone and grumble about the cost.
  • Hotels are unable to compete on price with devices that the guest has brought with him.   What the hotel can do is offer a better experience at a reasonable price to entice guests to use the hotel’s telecom infrastructure. No matter what cell phone the guest may carry or what service provider is used, no wireless connection is as good as a land-line connection
  • The early 1980s marked the beginning of an era of profitable hotel telephone departments.  The advent of call accounting systems (thanks to deregulation) enabled hoteliers to easily mark up calls to a profitable (some say too profitable) level.  Guests had little choice back then but to use the guestroom phone and grumble about the cost. This era has come to an end.  With few exceptions, most hotels have seen between a 15 percent and 25 percent drop in telephone revenues over the last five years.  The main reason for this decrease is guest choice.  The guest now has a variety of choices for communicating including fax over the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, calling cards and now even Internet-based phones.   All these alternatives offer a less expensive means of communicating than using the traditional hotel guestroom phone and other services such as fax . A fax machine in the guestroom was considered a premium amenity for many years.  With the Internet explosion, however, the machines have seen less use.
  • weiwei lu on 28 Jan 12
     
    No matter what telecommunications strategy a property takes, one thing is for certain, it needs to be a different one from the past. The early 1980s marked the beginning of an era of profitable hotel telephone departments. The advent of call accounting systems (thanks to deregulation) enabled hoteliers to easily mark up calls to a profitable (some say too profitable) level.
  • ...6 more comments...
  • Qianlin Wang on 04 Sep 12
     
    Nowadays, people have many choices for communicating including fax over the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, calling cards and now even Internet-based phones. Hotel guests are restricted by the largest telecommunications service providers from making long distance collect and credit card calls to countries other than their home country. The guest is not able to complete his desired call from the guest room telephone. In addition to frustrated guests, this generates absolutely zero revenue to hotels. What the hotel can do is offer a better experience at a reasonable price to entice guests to use the hotel's telecom infrastructure. The hotel can use some systems to reach this goal, such as the BBG Communications. It can increase revenue for every international operator assisted call. It assumes all responsibility for billing and collection of all calls. It has over 500 multilingual, live operators servicing customers. The most important thing is there is no cost and risk to the hotel, because the BBG assumes all associated cost and responsibility.
  • Shuqiong Huang on 05 Sep 12
     
    This article is talked about hotel telecommunications in the 21st Century. No matter what telecommunications strategy a property takes, one thing is for certain, it needs to be a different one from the past. The early 1980s marked the beginning of an area of profitable hotel telephone department. Few years later, this area has come to an end. The main reason for this decrease is guest choice. Later on, guests have a variety of choices for communicating including fax over the Internet, e-mail, cell-phones, calling cards and even Internet-based phones. All these alternatives offer a less expensive means of communicating than using the traditional hotel guestroom phone. With the time passed by, hotel telecommunications update and improve better and better. Nowadays, High-speed Internet access is fast becoming an expected amenity. This the revolution for hotel telecommunications in the 21st Century.
  • rebecca Bonet on 08 Sep 12
     
    This article that is written by Geoff Grisworld. Talks about how telecommications has changing in the 21st century. One of them being hotel. Hotel takes a big advantage in telecommication because there is always a change in the communication system. That is why hotel have to upgrade their system often. This is why hotelier organizes packaging deal when it comes to communication system from using the phone to HSIA. This is a few system that is always need to be change constantly, so the hotel can offer a better experience at a reasonable price while they are enjoying their stay.
  • Paige Hanna on 09 Sep 12
     
    This article speaks about the growth and development of telecommunication within the hospitality industry in the 21st century. "No matter what telecommunications strategy a property takes, one thing is for certain, it needs to be a different one from the past," the article states. Since the 80s hotels utilized their telephone department to offer a service for a profit. Because there was little to no competition with communication, this was profitable as guest pretty much had no choice but to use the phone service provided at a set cost by the hotel. Today, however, we see a shift in technology now where everyone has communication at their disposal via smart phones, Internet and other communication tools. With this happening, "it is very difficult for the hotel to compete on a cost basis." (Griswold) It also explains how high-speed Internet access (HSIA) is almost seen as an amenity anticipated by the guest and has worked in the hotels' favor. The article goes on to describe the "self-contained guest" that carries a smart phone, small printer, notebook computer and technology of their own which allows them to virtually have no use in the hotel telecommunications services. So what does this article suggest for concerns as such? Hotels are to attract guests to use their telecommunication services. By offering packaged deals at affordable prices, Griswold believes hotels will be able to be the ideal option for telecommunications services. After viewing this article, I realize how hospitality industry workers think about those they serve all the time and should always display it. Even though the hotel is trying to make money by charging for Internet and phone services, they wish to market the service as the best option for the guest. The Internet connection would be faster provided by the hotel over a smart phone is one feature they wish to advertise. This type of mentality is smart yet should be withheld throughout the industry and always show that the
  • Ling Xiang on 24 Jan 13
     
    The early 1980s marked the beginning of an era of profitable hotel telephone departments, because guests had little choice back then but to use the guestroom phone and grumble about the cost. Nowadays, guest has a variety of choices for communicating including fax over the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, calling cards and now even Internet-based phones. All these alternatives offer a less expensive means of communicating than using the traditional hotel guestroom phone and other services such as fax. And high-speed Internet access (HSIA) is fast becoming an expected amenity in 21st century. Today hotels are unable to compete on price with devices that the guest has brought with him. What the hotel can do is offer a better experience at a reasonable price to entice guests to use the hotel's telecom infrastructure.
  • Karin Goodine on 26 Jan 13
     
    This article explains how much are creating incentives for hotel guest in an effort to get them to use the technology that the hotel provides.
  • Yawen Zheng on 26 Jan 13
     
    In modern society hotel need more attrahent thing increase revenue. The traditional way may lose competitiveness, like telephone services. Because almost everybody using personal cell phone and more and more people prefer to use internet to communicate such as email and skype. In my opinion if hotel build some telecommunications use internet such as physical skype phone and provide cheap service that may be attract more people to use that.
  • Chris Cardoso on 15 Sep 13
     
    With the emergence of "self-contained guest," hotel telecommunications departments must change its offerings because old strategies no longer apply. A self-contained guest is one that does not need the traditional amenities hotels would offer for telecommunications, such as fax machines and printers. Guests now look for a fast, free internet connection as an amenity. Some may not even need wifi, because they have a faster mobile service that they use. Even hotel telephones, guests no longer want to use the land line and pay hotel fees to make a call. Cell phones have eliminated that need (even for international calls). So hotels must not stay the same, and must change their strategies for producing revenue from their telecommunications department.
Jennifer Koren

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

hospitality.cvent.com/...f-with-increased-group-revenue

IT Technology Hotels Hospitality

shared by Jennifer Koren on 18 Jul 12 - No Cached
  • 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
  • ...19 more annotations...
  • 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.
  • Mengchao Li on 18 Jul 12
     
    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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  • Irine Wallace on 17 Sep 12
     
    "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
  • Irine Wallace on 17 Sep 12
     
    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.
  • yuzhu li on 24 Oct 12
     
    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. 
  • Qike Chu on 25 Oct 12
     
    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. 
  • Michael Anthony on 26 Oct 12
     
    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.
  • Ting Li on 26 Oct 12
     
    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
  • LU DENG on 26 Oct 12
     
    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.
  • Yaping Li on 27 Oct 12
     
    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.
  • TIAN LIU on 06 Mar 13
     
    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.
  • Xueling Wang on 07 Mar 13
     
    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.
  • Jennifer Koren on 24 Oct 13
     
    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.
ravicka

E-Commerce for the Hospitality Industry | News | The Moscow Times - 0 views

www.themoscowtimes.com/...449373.html

shared by ravicka on 02 Jun 14 - No Cached
  • a list of the basic e-commerce strategies that will help to get the best from the Internet world.
  • ensure that your landing pages clearly reflect the offer promoted in the ad copy and includes clear calls to action and conversion factors.
  • We forget that the human brain can only consume limited information.
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • Site download speed is one of the most important ranking factors in organic search.
  • Maps, photo galleries, videos and press releases are creative ways to distribute content on different channels.
  • 93 percent of social media users expect companies to have a social presence. 85 percent of social media users want companies to interact with them on social sites.
  • changing one word in a headline increased sales over 3 times
  • Search-friendly web site design
  • Improve conversion and usability. With the increasing volume of information that hoteliers are trying to provide travelers, it is key for hotels to focus on usability and conversion.
  • Paid search. This instantly drives targeted, qualified traffic to the web site and increases conversions.
  • Real time search — natural ranking. Building strong sites with compelling fresh content, and quality incoming links will always be essential for any site.
  • Hotels can leverage the mobile market by optimizing their site for mobile phones, improving the download speed of their site by avoiding heavy graphics and flash, making sure their site is mobile compatible, and promoting mobile sites across all platforms including paid, social and local.
  • Embracing social media.
  • A well-planned social initiative can turn fans into brand evangelists.
  • Hoteliers need to ensure that they are using the full potential of the Internet.
  • nadiatc on 02 Jun 14
     
    With the rapid growth and increased use of the Internet over the past 2 decades, industry professional Andrey Smirnov gives 7 tips to other industry leaders on maximizing their presence in e-commerce and in consumer minds: (1) make your website quick to download and easy to find; (2) organize content by prioritizing information; (3) when offering promotions, clearly reflect it with a call to action; (4) distribute 'fresh' content on different channels (i.e., photo galleries, press releases, etc.); (5) maximize on mobile marketing; (6) embrace social media; and (7) continually improve by testing new things.
  • haelidenton on 13 Sep 14
     
    The internet is constantly changing, the way we communicate and they way we do business. The hospitality industry is always quick to capitalize on new technologies. However, the e-commerce growth in the hospitality industry has created an urgent need for simple changes to companies' presence online. So when every hotel is involved in e-commerce, why is it so important today? It is simple. Today, the internet is the lowest cost hotel-booking channel. As well as now, most travelers are searching and making hotel reservations online. Lastly, social media and online hotel reviews are increasing and have made an important decision factor. Now, hoteliers need to keep focus on what information customers are seeking and what they are looking for online. There are a few basic strategies that will help drive usage from the internet world. Some of those are: vave a search-friendly website, focus on usability and conversation taking a holistic approach and prioritize information, and lastly make websites compatible for mobile phones. If hoteliers can use the full potential of the internet, they will maximize their return on investment in e-commerce. The hospitality industry needs to constantly learn and look for ways to use the new developments and trends.
  • ravicka on 27 Jan 15
     
    Andrey Smirnov in his article "E-Commerce for the Hospitality Industry highlights how the internet has changed the way business is done not only in the hospitality industry but as a whole. He stresses the importance of e-commerce in the hospitatlity industry and why hoteliers must utilise strategies to ensure they make the most of the marketing and sales opportunties the internet provides. There are a few things that hoteliers must do to make the most of what the internet provides. They include: (1) Search Friendly Website Design - "site download speed is one of the most important ranking factors in organic search" says Smirnov therfore hoteliers must ensure that their site is properly designed and compatible across any browser, any items that causes the site to perform poorly shoud be eliminated as internet users similar to hotel guests tend to only visit sites where they can receive the best experience yet. (2) Improve conversion and Usability - content on website must be properly organised and users must not be bombaded by information. (3)Search - Hoteliers must focus on Paid searches as well as Real time search to increase traffic. Paid searches ensure that your targeted traffic are directed right to you. Whereas with a great web design with strong content that is also timely the natural ranking of the oranisation website can be increased thus increasing tracffic to it. (4)Mobile - Mobile devices have become a popular means of conducting e-business related activities for consumers therefore the hotel that ensures that their online services are accessible from mobile devices will be putting themselves ahead of the game. (5) Embracing Social Media - According to Smirnov 93 percent of social media users expect companies to have a social presence and 85 percent of social media users want companies to interact with them on social sites. With this being said one can see why a social media presence is one that cannot be overlooked. It is important that co
kgall030

Hospitality Upgrade | Hospitality Industry Technology Focus 2017 - 0 views

www.hospitalityupgrade.com/...stry-Technology-Focus-2017.asp

hospitality E-Commerce hotel technology trends

shared by kgall030 on 24 Sep 18 - No Cached
  • more than 70 percent of the respondents indicated that they would be increasing their IT investment in the coming year
  • Most organizations realize that in order to grow their companies and revenues they need to invest in technology and systems that will create operational efficiencies, improve the customer’s experience, and help generate sales.
  • Fewer than 10 percent of the companies surveyed reported that that they would be reducing their IT spend.
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • With the market continuing to be extremely competitive, revenue management and channel optimization remain key focal areas of investment for publicly traded companies as well as independently owned organizations alike.
  • Enhancements to CRM and loyalty programs are also on the list of investment directives.  A number of responses (almost 70 percent) indicated that they were targeting business intelligence (BI) initiatives for the coming year as part of their technical focus and in an effort to become more strategic in managing the business and targeted revenue focus. 
  • The investment in guest experience technology continues to be strong as hotels attract guests to hotels. There continues to be increased expenditures on key drivers such as improved Wi-Fi service, self-service mobility applications and expanding the in-room offerings.
  • With a number of breaches within the hospitality industry this past year, and other large corporate breaches such as Yahoo headlining the news, this continues to be an area of concern. 
  • With the sophistication of the threats and the possibility of breaches increasing, companies are looking to outsource their information security/cybersecurity requirements to third-party service partners that specialize in countering these risks.
  • in recent years corporations are beginning to understand that investment in human resources is one of the most important assets they have.  A recent Forbes article referenced the Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends Research analysis, which said, 78 percent of business leaders rate retention and engagement as being urgent or important. 
  • While managing Big Data has long been an Achilles heel for most companies, most would agree that there are significant competitive advantages that can be gained from being able to effectively manage the information.  With a number of respondents targeting CRM projects for the coming year, the promise of being able to effectively target individual guest preferences becomes more obtainable.
  • A significant number of companies are continuing to look at transitioning to cloud-based applications for some of their applications.  However, more than 80 percent indicated that they are not ready to transition all of their applications to the cloud. 
  • With more than 70 percent of respondents reporting that they expect an increase in their IT spend this coming year and only 10 percent expecting a decrease, 2017 promises to be a good year for the hospitality technology industry.  Most respondents indicated that their primary reason for investing in new technology was to improve their customer engagement and experience.  This was closely followed by their directive to make operations more streamlined and efficient.
  • kgall030 on 24 Sep 18
     
    This is a very detailed article about the various ways that hospitality firms are utilizing technology and using their capital to invest in IT related projects. A variety of hospitality firms were surveyed to produce this article on ways they plan to invest in IT and the various projects they feel are most worthy of their dollars. Some of the areas that were most noted and listed as worthy of additional IT investment include improving technology to improve financial performance and enhancements in CRM and loyalty programs, guest experience technology and ensuring the guest stay is always seen as paramount, as well as improved information and cyber security technology as well as an increased focus on understanding big data and improving employee engagement. This article is highly detailed in what it analyzes and it lists a long list of potential investments that a variety of companies will be taking on in the future. The focus of this article was on the year 2017, but many of these concepts still apply to the hospitality industry today and well into the future. Many of these things listed are also things we can see that many companies worked on leading to 2018 and continue to work on and it is the companies that put these IT investments at the forefront that will be leading the hospitality enterprises of the future.
lvela051

KOOVS' co-founder launches India's first B2B e-commerce platform for the hospitality se... - 0 views

brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/...60431524

technology Hospitality ebusiness

shared by lvela051 on 03 Jun 18 - No Cached
  • The e-marketplace aims at transforming the B2B hospitality procurement space for buyers as well as suppliers across the country
  • widest catalogue of choicest items with curated shopping experience and secure collaborative space for suppliers & buyers.
  • more than a decade of experience in business management, product development and cross-platform technologies.
    • lvela051
      lvela051 on 03 Jun 18
       
      Important to have someone with experience guiding the project. Helps also with business planning.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • the real strength of this platform is the way it handles and streamlines the industry supply chain.
  • Talks are on with hotel aggregators for providing curated procurement portal to cater to their specific needs.
    • lvela051
      lvela051 on 03 Jun 18
       
      Aims to increase the exposure of the site.
  • helping them define and scale product, harvest technologies and streamline operations.
    • lvela051
      lvela051 on 03 Jun 18
       
      Knows how to get started with an e business.
  • improving demand prediction for suppliers and simplifying the process of product discovery and supply chain management.”
    • lvela051
      lvela051 on 03 Jun 18
       
      Besides bringing suppliers and buyers closer, helping the demand and supply chain management is a priority for the business.
  • Avinash Garg – a hospitality management veteran who brings with him over 35 years of experience in the Hospitality Industry.
    • lvela051
      lvela051 on 03 Jun 18
       
      Knowledge is power.
  • Amit is very positive about the future of hospitality industry and shift to e-procurement.
  • the companies that have adopted the e-commerce route saw a 51% increase in their revenues and a 49% increase in profits.
    • lvela051
      lvela051 on 03 Jun 18
       
      Helps to increase the popularity of the site. Seems to be working for the better of those companies that are adapting to using the site.
  • lvela051 on 03 Jun 18
     
    The article goes over the different ways that an Indian company is creating an e commerce platform to transform the way business is done. It goes over the benefits, challenges and impacts that are faced when trying to launch the platform, which is becoming more widely used. With technology providing a bigger platform for the industry, the e marketplace aims to help improve the way suppliers do business, by making it easier to manage sales. The article pointed out that companies who have started to implement the e-commerce have seen 51% increase in revenue, which is remarkable. With all that being mentioned the article does briefly mention how the use of this business aims to provide ways to bring suppliers and buyers to improve the way business is conducted. How the supply chain is handled seems to be the biggest priority of the platform. With e ecommerce being such a major market, the ability to capture the online market is important. I think that the article does not touches upon several points that need be focused on, such as website design and security. Having an operational website that is easy to read and directs the consumer to what they are exactly looking for is one an aspects that affects the way a company does business. I these cases, the quality is as important as the quantity of information that is being given. I went ahead and took a tour of the site and seems easy to use, which is important. The site is generating revenue sales, but with more sales creating more information being stored. Having the ability to adapt to higher volumes of personal information creates a security issue, that would need to be addressed if not handled correctly.
ggara004

Ten Fresh Event Safety Tips for a Brave New World - 0 views

www.eventmarketer.com/...ten-fresh-tips-event-safety

event safety tips technology hospitality

shared by ggara004 on 12 Feb 20 - No Cached
  • From eliminating foreseeable risks to being prepared for the worst, there’s never been a more critical time for event marketers to arm themselves with the intelligence and resources necessary to maintain safe and secure event
  • In the event of an emergency, especially a medical crisis, documenting the incident is vital to keeping insurance premiums in check and staff informed.
  • “You want to document everything to make sure your insurance is covered, your event is covered and everyone knows what happened,” says Connor Fitzpatrick, coo at event medical services company
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • When it comes to selecting a location for your event, make sure the venue is willing to do its part to communicate key messaging to attendees. Remember: if an incident occurs, cooperation will be key.
  • Might sound like a no-brainer, but establishing exactly who is in charge of what and when can save precious minutes in an emergency. From brand ambassadors to event managers, everyone should be crystal clear about what their role entails.
  • “The key thing here is when it comes to decision-making, who is in charge?” says Shannon Jones, vp at Civic Entertainment Group. “The chain of command at an event needs to filter to the overall broader chain of command in an emergency situation as it relates to the company or brand.”
  • The uptick in terrorist attacks, including the Las Vegas shooting, which was executed from a hotel room and stands as the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, has many event marketers on edge. And while planning for these types of crises is essential, don’t assume that past tactics will be used at future events
  • The approach may vary depending on your budget, but implementing an attendee screening process is a highly effective security measure that can be executed before the event even begins. “Many events these days, particularly the corporate activation events, are free,” says Anthony Davis, president at AD Entertainment Services. “So, you have an audience that has not paid an admission or whatever format you use to access them.
  • Medical emergencies can, and do, occur at events of every variety, so having medical personnel on-site is crucial. Just as important is ensuring that the team is friendly enough for attendees to approach in the case of an emergency. Remember that uniformed first responders can be intimidating, especially in regards to drug-related incidents.
  • Hiring security staff is a great start when it comes to maintaining a safe event, but communicating your event’s layout, including areas of concern, is absolutely essential to getting the most bang for your security buck.
  • Bad news travels fast, so you have to be clear about who has the authority to develop crisis communications. (Hint: It’s not the guy handing out samples.)
  • You don’t want a brand ambassador or event staff taking it upon themselves to communicate what’s going on if there is some sort of emergency information. The cascade of information in that scenario is really critical as is deciding what the key points are and the information you want them to disseminate.”
  • When it comes to event safety and security, there is probably no more important document than your on-site emergency action plan. It’s an essential guide to navigating and preparing for foreseeable risks, informing event staffers of the appropriate safety protocol and ensuring insurance premiums don’t skyrocket
  • Every live experience is unique, so it’s important to establish priorities for taking action in a variety of emergency scenarios. If you fail to do so, you may find yourself in hot water with your employer, your insurance agency or the law.
  • In an industry that prides itself on producing unforgettable experiences, the last thing you want burning in your attendees’ minds is how poorly your staff handled an emergency. So, be informed, be attentive and be prepared—but don’t let the process get you down.
  • As Davis puts it, “For years we’ve taken it for granted that it’s a fun day, it’s a nice special event, let’s just get out and have fun. And we should still have that mentality. We shouldn’t let recent terrorist acts or potential acts deter us from producing special events. The onus is now on us to be more creative in terms of our staffing.”
  • ggara004 on 12 Feb 20
     
    This article reviews ten tips on how companies can better prepare for event security. Based on recent terrorism attacks, threats, and natural disasters it is important to prepare for any type of emergency especially in events. This article offers insight on tips to navigate event security. For example, one tip is to document everything. In any type of emergency, it is important to document names of attendees and employees who were involved in the crisis. This way if insurance or any assistance is needed, companies have detailed information of who was involved or affected by the disaster. This article is very useful because some things can be forgotten however this can be used as points to discuss other security measures.
Hui Chen

What's global distribution system? - 5 views

www.programming-pool.com/...lobal-distribution-system.html

GDS hospitality

shared by Hui Chen on 19 May 12 - No Cached
  • A global distribution system (GDS) represents a computerized system used for managing different transactions within the air travel and hospitality industry. 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.
  • 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.
  • ...21 more annotations...
  • 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 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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
  • Hyeyoung Jang on 19 May 12
     
    The first products distributed by GDS was hotel lodging reservation system, such as different types of rooms, description and price categories with the airline system. GDS has been increased on the travel market, such as number of flights. Travel Agencies (TA) also use GDS to offer complimentary products, such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation tickets, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne,That means, GDS has become more important distribution channel for nay product through TA. Also TA had more opportunity of more products their own system and GDS system from increase number of booking volume with lower operating costs. It was the first and major goals of GDS being used in the hospitality industry. Even though hopitality ingustry use GDS system, there are few problems, such as show only simple structure. For example, there are 4 different kinds od room and 3 categories od comfort, it means they have 12 different kinds of combination. Because of the GDS database structure, only there 12 combination could be displayed. It took a while to fit all the multiple types of comport rates, rooms and services in GDS standard database structure. Instead of choosing GDS system, they cans choose other alternative system with develop several computerized system to make a database structure closer to product specification. Nowadays, GDS using all of the hospitality industry from reservation hotel rooms to car rentals and Travel Agencies. Through GDS as globally, people are able to to book different kinds of hotel rooms in different destination all around the world, tours, airline seats, cruises and eeve limousines.
  • ...2 more comments...
  • Casrine Kelly on 15 Jul 12
     
    Global Distribution System were develop and meant only for the airline reservations. The impact of the GDS on the travel industry is that it increase competition, more flights were available and this reduce cost. With the increase and cost reduction travel agents start to see decrease in their earnings they received from airline sales, so with the GDS they were able to book other services such as hotels and car rentals with airline reservations. With GDS it is much easier and convenient to make a reservation from flight, hotel and car rental because everything is link together.
  • Irine Wallace on 03 Sep 12
     
    Summary of a global distribution system (GDS) A global distribution system (GDS) represents a computerized system used for managing different transactions within the air travel and hospitality industry. Historically, GDS' were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a result, GDS' are now implemented for hospitality industry as whole. The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights increased which led to increase competition among the players and this brought down the overall prices. The main purpose of a GDS is to provide services to an electronic shop for all information related to travel and reservation-related needs and one of the first products distributed by GDS was hotel accommodation. Hotels throughout the market uploaded 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, thousands of clients started making bookings all around the world. This fact was advantageous for each participant. Hotels provided GDS with a challenge of fitting all the different sizes, styles, amenities, and etc. It took a while to fit all the multiple types of comfort rates, rooms and services in a GDS standardized database structure. A general strategy was therefore needed. Rather than loading hotel products inside the GDS, the accepted solution was to develop several computerized systems with a database structure closer to product specifications. 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.
  • cbespinel on 12 Sep 12
     
    Looking at these numbers it becomes very clear how important GDS are to the hospitality industry, more rooms booked means increased revenues and more jobs for hospitality professionals. I am sure that this technology will evolve and transform so it is important to stay current and understand how to get the most out of it.
  • Hui Chen on 16 Sep 12
     
    What's global distribution system? This question is kind of cliché in our group, but this article gives a very good introduction about GDS and it's quite easy to understand comparing to many other articles introducing GDS. This article tells us: How GDS develops from being used only in airline industry to being generally adopted in hospitality industry; What is the working idea behind the GDS; Four major GDS including Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and Worldspan; Advantages provided by GDS.
Maria Zuniga

Event Planning In The Hotel Of The Future - 1 views

www.eventmanagerblog.com/t-planning-hotel-of-the-future

shared by Maria Zuniga on 09 Jul 17 - No Cached
  • Combining today’s recognizable technology, such as touchscreen and virtual reality, with concepts that are beyond our time, these are some of the notable features hotels in the future will have.
  • he idea of using robots could help break down the language barrier that is sometimes the case when planning in other countries as these robots are naturally multi-lingual and can adapt to the language you are using.
  • This includes robot butlers, entertainment, greeters and business services which for planning events can be more cost effective and reduce human error, streamlining the process of communicating with the systems to get exactly what you want.
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • As one of the strongest drivers for change in the event industry, technology plays a prominent role in the planning and management of events
  • It could also be the case that it loses that human touch for the guests and when quick problem-solving is needed, robots won’t be able to deal with this as intuitively as they follow set protocols.
  • With 3D bio-printing currently being researched, it is not a huge leap to consider 3D printers in hotel rooms that can accommodate products such as headphones or clothing and accessories
  • Based on votes and crowdsourcing, venues can be made-to-order and self-assemble the environment around them to suit.
  • Larger venues and associated grounds could create an event in themselves by recreating famous landmarks or even movie settings that could be explored.
  • Based on your DNA, own health and genetics you would be able to visit health centers and spas that could promote longevity. It could become the latest trend in bachelorette parties or healthy event experiences that cater to the health conscious.
  • A hotel that is short-term and could pop-up in limited spaces would work hand in hand with pop-up events and mean they could be reproduced on a larger scale.
  • It is suggested that fast and effective hovering, autonomous airport transfers would be able to go supersonic in order to beat the traffic and reduce the journey. If this is the case it could free up plenty of time on the itinerary for corporate or destination events and this means providing a better experience.
  • As sustainability and environmental issues are becoming an increasing concern and given prominence, it makes sense that future hotels and venues would plan sustainable events and accommodation
  • Sustainable hotels that produce and operate on clean, self-sustaining energy will become a viable option for the environmentally conscious guest and the suggestion is that all hotels would have the option to become sustainable.
  • These would work in a similar way to how a concierge app works now and would streamline the travel bookings and searches. In the same way that Siri can help you access items from the internet or your phone, these avatars would be a more complex and capable version that cuts out the need for travel agents
  • rom biometric payment systems which can greatly reduce the risk of identity theft to eye scanner room entry, DNA authorizations will be more popular. As technology develops, so does the need for security
  • kingleo7 on 09 Jul 17
     
    This article talks about the future of event planning. The efforts hotels will have to make to be competitive in the industry. It also talks about the technology that will have to be offered such as VR (virtual reality).
  • Maria Zuniga on 07 Nov 17
     
    This article is very interesting because it lists all the ways that event planning will be in the future because of technological advances. It talks about autonomous staff, 3D shopping, made-to-order venues, personalized longevity health spas, pop-up hotels, supersonic air travel, sustainable hotels, personal travel avatars, and DNA authorization. The article describes the benefits and downfalls to each one and puts emphasis on the fact that these advances are closer than we can imagine.
irinatroitskaya

New Tech Tools for Event Registration | Smart Meetings - 0 views

www.smartmeetings.com/...-tech-tools-event-registration

shared by irinatroitskaya on 11 Nov 17 - No Cached
  • registration yields 48 percent of total event revenue
  • 75 percent of attendees would be more likely to use pre-event planning tools if they earned perks at the event, such as preferential seating.
  • The more you know about your audience, the easier it will be to provide personalized experience.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • As the process that kicks off the trajectory of your entire event, registration should be intelligently designed and executed.
  • irinatroitskaya on 11 Nov 17
     
    This article highlights the importance of event registration stage. According to the survey, registration produces up to 48% of total event revenue. Thus, it is crucial for the event planners to make this stage easy and effective. As internet gives an opportunity to easily submit registration information online the event planners need to make sure that they make the whole process simple and convenient. First, mobile integration is very important. Since more and more people access internet from their smartphones and tablets rather than from their desktops, a great attention should be paid to the mobile compatibility of the service. The prefilled fields could be automatically offered to save registrants' time. Mobile integration could also imply automatic check-in with RFID badges at a conference or surveys that are pushed to the attendees' phones after they are checked in. To increase registration numbers some easy steps could be undertaken. The form could contain easy links to share the event on social media. The "no" registrants may be offered "regret surveys" and asked to reference those who might be interested to attend. Electronic event registration provides the event planners with plenty of structured personal information. It could be used for personalization and customization of services and further engagement of the attendees. So in my opinion, event registration software gives the event planners a powerful tool to engage the people coming to the event and make their experience unique by the means of customization and personalization. It also helps to keep the track of all registrants for further marketing.
vmorr026

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

www.aurecongroup.com/...ng-the-very-latest-trends.aspx

shared by vmorr026 on 06 Sep 16 - No Cached
  • 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.
  • amichellemagluta on 06 Sep 16
     
    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.
  • lkastwood on 27 Aug 17
     
    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
  • vmorr026 on 26 Sep 17
     
    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.
cleon087

Cybersecurity at Hotels: 6 Threats For Hotels to Manage - 0 views

www.socialtables.com/...cyber-security-hotels

Technology hospitality

shared by cleon087 on 23 Apr 19 - No Cached
  • hishing att
  • Ransomware
  • Point of sale/ payment card attacks
  • ...21 more annotations...
  • DarkHotel hacking
  • Customer data/ identity theft 
  • Over that past few years, the industry’s most well-known brands have all been victims of cybercrime.
    • kaylaabad
      kaylaabad on 29 Feb 20
       
      The hospitality industry is a huge target for cybersecurity breaches
  • Phishing refers to the sending/receiving of emails that appear to be from a genuine source.
    • kaylaabad
      kaylaabad on 29 Feb 20
       
      Phishing: Phishing refers to the sending/receiving of emails that appear to be from a genuine source.
    • cleon087
      cleon087 on 20 Jul 20
       
      It is important to know about what this means
  • intends to convince the recipient that he/she should share information
    • kaylaabad
      kaylaabad on 29 Feb 20
       
      Goal of phishing: to be information from recipients
  • In recent years, this threat has become increasingly sophisticated, with attacks targeting those in authority. The aim is to take over a user’s email account to send bogus emails to colleagues. These emails often attempt to persuade recipients to authorize transactions, which are ordered from above.
    • kaylaabad
      kaylaabad on 29 Feb 20
       
      Phishing example in the industry: In recent years, this threat has become increasingly sophisticated, with attacks targeting those in authority. The aim is to take over a user's email account to send bogus emails to colleagues. These emails often attempt to persuade recipients to authorize transactions, which are ordered from above.
  • Hotels that have fallen foul to this crime have in the past paid more than $17,000 to be able to let guests into their rooms and create electronic keys.
    • kaylaabad
      kaylaabad on 29 Feb 20
       
      Ransomware - Hotels that have fallen foul to this crime have in the past paid more than $17,000 to be able to let guests into their rooms and create electronic keys.
  • Cybersecurity for hotels should always include a process to mitigate any compromised systems should they go down in a DDoS attack.
    • kaylaabad
      kaylaabad on 29 Feb 20
       
      distributed denial of service attack
  • Cybersecurity issues of this nature, often result in customers being out of pocket, and the media getting involved. Which, of course, means bad press for a hotel. Furthermore, there could be financial implications for the business.
    • kaylaabad
      kaylaabad on 29 Feb 20
       
      POS attacks: Cybersecurity issues of this nature, often result in customers being out of pocket, and the media getting involved. Which, of course, means bad press for a hotel. Furthermore, there could be financial implications for the business.
  • The attacks use forged digital certificates to convince victims that a software download is safe.
    • kaylaabad
      kaylaabad on 29 Feb 20
       
      DarkHotel hacking: The attacks use forged digital certificates to convince victims that a software download is safe.
  • Protecting the identity and information of a customer is paramount to the success of any business and hotels ar eno exception.
    • kaylaabad
      kaylaabad on 29 Feb 20
       
      Protecting the identity and information of a customer is paramount to the success of any business and hotels ar eno exception.
  • That is often passwords and financial information; this scam is one of the oldest on the internet.
    • cleon087
      cleon087 on 20 Jul 20
       
      It is important to be informed of this type of attack as a hotel owner because your holding sensitive information.
  • taking information and certain systems hostage. The purpose of this attack was to gain financially from those who paid the demanded figure to free their data/systems.
    • cleon087
      cleon087 on 20 Jul 20
       
      A lot of times that ask for a ransom and you pay and still you don't get access back to your computer. Also they can take credit card information and use guest credit cards.
  • Every day regular items such as sprinkler systems to security cameras are vulnerable to hijack. After which, entire computer systems can be made to come crashing down.
    • cleon087
      cleon087 on 20 Jul 20
       
      Having access to cameras is concerning because this is sensitive information. They can get access to private areas of the hotel and use it to their advantage.
  • And that means somewhere there is a weakness in the system which has been revealed by human error.
    • cleon087
      cleon087 on 20 Jul 20
       
      This is why it is important to invest in the security because you don't want your guest to experience this.
  • criminals use a hotels Wi-Fi to target business guests.
    • cleon087
      cleon087 on 20 Jul 20
       
      This is scary because people go to hotels to get a vacation and they trust the hotel.
  • ncourage guests to use virtual private networks (VPN) if they plan on conducting business with sensitive data.
  • Especially when there are criminals from all over the world trying to steal identities, and credit card data.
  • his crime is forever changing.
  • for hotels, an almost perpetual arms-race to secure both data and networks.
    • cleon087
      cleon087 on 20 Jul 20
       
      This is why it is important to be up to date.
  • Phishing refers to the sending/receiving of emails that appear to be from a genuine source
  • zxu009 on 23 Apr 19
     
    This article lists of some common security breaches that hoteliers need to be aware of and prepare the hotel system for.
  • edagt001 on 25 Oct 19
     
    This article talks about how cybersecurity can critically affect hospitality businesses if they are not careful about what ways could attack their business.
  • kaylaabad on 29 Feb 20
     
    As the article states, "Protecting the identity and information of a customer is paramount to the success of any business and hotels are no exceptions." Quite unfortunately, cybersecurity issues are some of the biggest obstacles that hotels are experiencing nowadays. With hacking attacks such as phishing and ransomware, hotels need to invest in increasing their cybersecurity as any breach can lead to a downfall in business loyalty and brand.
davidclark33

Restaurant Technology in the Post-COVID-19 World | Hospitality Technology - 0 views

hospitalitytech.com/technology-post-covid-19-world

shared by davidclark33 on 26 Aug 20 - No Cached
  • Those who believe that business will resume under the same rules and rituals from before COVID-19 are not reading the social and emotional cues that have taken place over the last few weeks.
  • Our conventional payment models of cash and plastic credit cards are a petri dish of germs and potentially contagious agents. According to factmonster.com, a $1 bill is in circulation for 18 months; $5 bill, two years; $10 bill, three years; $20 bill, four years; and $50 and $100 bills, nine years. The number of hands that this currency will go through during the life of the currency presents a clear concern in the minds of a new germ-conscious consumer who emerging from the COVID-19 crisis will be better informed and educated about contagion.
  • The new awareness and concern over contagion will be a major driver for existing technologies to be fully implemented; this includes EMV, contactless, tap and pay, and mobile wallets. In each of these cases, there is no person-to-person transfer and the chance of passing any germs is greatly mitigated. All of these technologies have existed in the restaurant industry for years, and for the most part have been slowly and often begrudgingly adopted. 
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • It would be an interesting capability should timeclocks have the ability to take a temperature either through some biometric means as part of the clocking in process, with the ability to alert the manager should anyone clock in with a high temperature.
  • t has been clearly established that germs can exist on plastic surfaces for several days, and the newly educated customer base will be sensitive to the notion of being handed a menu that could easily be cycled a dozen or so times during this period. Restaurants should look to providing an option for a guest to pull up the menu on their own device as well as look to leverage digital menu board technology wherever possible. In some cases this may mean an alteration in the current serving model or perhaps new hardware to be developed that allows a server to bring a large digital menu to a table for ordering, but the intention is to avoid another concern that P-C19 customer will certainly have.
  • Organizations that do not embrace and promote a contactless payment environment will find themselves suddenly behind the operations-technology curve.
  • Employees interact on a regular basis with POS hardware and other types of technology during the normal course of their business day. Many of these surfaces are plastic and allow germs to survive on them for an extended period of time. Surfaces like a POS touchscreen, a KDS expeditor, or a biometric thumb scanner can be used by dozens of people on any given day. It will be important for employers to look at solutions, such as anti-microbial POS screens, as well as improved cleaning habits, in order to avoid passing germs as well as to set their employees at ease. This may also be the kick-in-the-pants that the technologists need to further refine and perfect the voice ordering capabilities in order to virtually eliminate the need to use a POS touchscreen altogether. We have long spoken about the promise and potential of this technology only to see it expand rapidly in our personal lives with Google and Amazon and yet be almost non-existent in our commercial operations. Now would be a good time to step up development and implementation of this technology.
  • davidclark33 on 26 Aug 20
     
    This article is about Restaurant Technology and how it is changing due to Covid-19. It highlights technology that may be necessary for the customer as well as technology necessary for the employee.
amcqu004

What will ChatGPT mean for the travel industry? | PhocusWire - 1 views

www.phocuswire.com/t-mean-for-the-travel-industry

travel industry AI chat technology hospitality hotel

shared by amcqu004 on 15 Jan 23 - No Cached
  • ChatGPT (which stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a free artificial intelligence chatbot that has incredibly human-like communication skills (and a fee-based premium version in development)
  • Microsoft is reportedly considering a $10 billion investment in ChatGPT owner Open AI according to multiple media outlets.
  • Because of this, tech companies are seeing value in data-driven personalization solutions and ChatGPT fills that need. It can help save companies time and money to allocate resources to solve more complex and specific problems.  
  • ...22 more annotations...
  • With a large dataset already in place, integrating this technology into our platform could hyper-personalize search results for travelers and supports our vision of offering open-ended, flexible search options. 
  • saved more than eight million hours in agent time, allowing travelers to resolve issues faster with self-service. 
  • but the technology is still in a relative state of infancy
  • ChatGPT really captured everyone's attention when it launched,
  • - it's already dividing opinion with responses that can range from entertaining and creative to glaringly inaccurate
  • It's too early to say whether the likes of ChatGPT can truly emulate those very human instincts.
  • First, people need to recognize that it's not generating anything new as much as scraping and regurgitating the internet
  • Every single tour operator, even single hotel, every transport company now has the same opportunity to be as productive as a company much bigger than themselves. I see that as a commodity – everyone has access to it therefore, in some ways, where’s the value. But it’s the most productivity-enhancing thing I’ve ever seen. 
  • However I don’t think that’s the real impact. I think that’s just the start of the game. Once AI starts to get into the actual experiences – not just tour experiences but hotels, airports… the ability to speed up and enhance the actual experience, especially in something that is not a good experience at the moment like an airport, is going to be quite dramatic.And the real game changer... is once the general public has it, it changes everything. You are a tour operator, and you create itineraries. The consumer can now do exactly the same thing as you and do it in real time. And 1,000 people can create 1,000 different experiences tailored to what they like. So the creation of a travel experience on the ground, which tour operators have dominated, is going to be disrupted by travelers being able to do it themselves. 
  • it’s not the live data, it’s not up to date, the facts may not be 100% and it doesn’t have geolocation.
  • The weakness at the moment is it’s only scraping data through 2021. So
  • This could make entirely new businesses or it can destroy businesses.
  • will save hundreds of thousands of dollars on freelance costs, so there's big disruption to come.
  • For basic service copy – simple product descriptions, basic articles, email campaigns, that sort of thing, it's going to be very useful for brands and very painful for content creators.
  • There’s some interesting use cases that we hope to explore such as improving automation and responses for common customer service requests through chat (and eventually even speech and video), as well as concierge-like services to recommend travel destinations, create personalized itineraries and the like.
  • . So there are issues with accuracy and truthfulness, and it needs human expertise to fact-check the output.
  • ChatGPT might herald a revolution in automated content creation, but I also think it could create a new premium for genuine human expertise too.
  • ChatGPT has been trained with information existing until end of 2021. Travel is a super dynamic category where this morning’s information is no longer relevant a few hours even minutes later. Inventory availability, prices, category of rooms/seats/cars change by the minute. You need good old-fashioned technology like CRS, WBE, RMS, etc. to handle these dynamics, not ChatGPT.
  • Google can provide a much better AI-powered chatbot than ChatGPT that spews much better answers in milliseconds, but how are they going to make money?
  • Specific to ChatGPT, I believe that this technology will eventually be used in conjunction with a brand’s own content, in addition to the internet as a whole, so that it can be trained and customized by the brand to answer questions.
  • What’s also really interesting is how this once again demonstrates that the most disruptive innovations often come from outside the travel industry.
  • ChatGPT is gaining that trust in its ubiquity and daily usage, so I think travelers could be much more likely to accept its itinerary recommendations without nearly as much research and shopping around. This has implications for human agents too.
  • amcqu004 on 15 Jan 23
     
    ChatGPT is a new technology that is hoping to take over the travel industry. It is an AI product, similar to google, which will generate answers to questions that travelers may have via a chat service. It is meant to replace tour guides, travel agents, and concierge experts and can either save business time and money, or create chaos and the need to speak to an expert human instead. Like all technology products, there is always room to improve and grow in the initial stages, and not all roles are better off being completed by a computer, rather than a human. Although AI may have access to more information at a quicker pace, and may even be able to write better than most people, some companies believe that the possible errors and inaccuracy provided by ChatGPT will make content creators and human expertise way more valuable. ChatGPT accesses data from 2021 and prior, which means it is not current and up to date. This is a major flaw that will need to be improved.
aquin206

What is Proximity Marketing? How Does it Work? - 0 views

www.avsystem.com/...proximity-marketing

shared by aquin206 on 20 Jul 22 - No Cached
  • Proximity marketing is a marketing technique whereby recipients are targeted with marketing messages based on their vicinity. Simply put, it’s when you send ads to people who are close by your venue
  • WiFi-equipped smartphone these days and logs into public hotspots, meaning that you only need the right software to collect customer data and advertise to them using your guest WiFi.
  • The way it works is that when a customer logs into your guest WiFi network, you collect data about their device (specifically the MAC number of the device), based on which you can “follow” the customer around the venue and later identify them when they return
  • ...24 more annotations...
  • QR codes
  • Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
  • NFC stands for “near field communication
  • pay at the store with your phone
  • QR codes are scannable barcodes
  • 5 proximity marketing technologies you need to know
  • An example would be when you enter a store and get a push notification on your phone with a discount for your shopping, or when you scan a QR code at an event to download promotional materials.
  • How to best use proximity marketing?
  • How does it work?
  • One of the easiest, yet most versatile ways to implement proximity marketing in your venue is to use WiFi.
  • This platform should have indoor positioning features, so that you can easily locate your customers, and WiFi marketing features, so that you can effectively communicate with them when they are nearby.
  • This is a somewhat antiquated method compared to the other ones we’re discussing in this article, but it has its benefits.
  • This solution has been making waves at various conferences and events.
  • it requires extreme proximity (we’re talking millimeter to centimeter range), so it’s less versatile than the other technologies discussed.
  • even though most people can turn on Bluetooth on their devices, they don’t necessarily do that. And even if they do, that’s only half your road to successful marketing with BLE.
  • Similarly to BLE, geofencing with GPS requires the user to turn on the location services on their phone, as well as have a medium of communication with you
  • What is proximity marketing?
  • sales
  • if you notice that someone visited your store several times
  • but never made a purchase, it’s time to act! Pop in their mailbox, offer a discount,
  • loyalty
  • behavior analysis
  • indoor navigation
  • gamification
  • mmdmd99999 on 20 Jul 22
     
    wifi, QR codes, NFC, BLE, GPS
  • ...1 more comment...
  • smend120 on 25 Sep 22
     
    This article discusses how marketing technology is utilized for proximity marketing. By targeting recipients with marketing communications based on their proximity, proximity marketing is a marketing strategy. It uses many technologies, like WiFi, BLE, NFC, or GPS, and can be done for a variety of reasons, including advertising, feedback, and customer service, to deliver advertisements to individuals who are nearby your location. An illustration would be if you scanned a QR code at an event to download promotional materials, or if you entered a business and received a push notification on your phone with a discount for your purchases. One of the simplest and most adaptable methods to use proximity marketing in your venue is through WiFi. You gather information about a customer's device when they sign into your guest WiFi network. Although a fairly outdated technique, QR codes have several advantages. It is incredibly simple, affordable, and quick to install. This compromises its effectiveness, although, for some applications, it will be adequate. The user is directed to a certain website by these scannable barcodes. At numerous conferences and events, the QR code solution has generated a lot of buzzes. Exhibitors utilize it to provide background information about their brand that cannot otherwise be given in the booth because it is so subtle and affordable. You can use your phone or smartwatch to make a purchase at the store using near-field communication (NFC) technology. NFC is less adaptable than the other technologies since it demands close contact and is not as widely used as WiFi or QR code readers. Although it's a less well-known technology, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) access points perform similarly to WiFi access points. Although the majority of individuals can enable Bluetooth on their devices, they don't always do so. However, you need a medium, such as an app that they have downloaded, and you need to put BLE beacons at your location to communicate with g
  • smend120 on 25 Sep 22
     
    This article discusses how marketing technology is utilized for proximity marketing. By targeting recipients with marketing communications based on their proximity, proximity marketing is a marketing strategy. It uses many technologies, like WiFi, BLE, NFC, or GPS, and can be done for a variety of reasons, including advertising, feedback, and customer service, to deliver advertisements to individuals who are nearby your location. An illustration would be if you scanned a QR code at an event to download promotional materials, or if you entered a business and received a push notification on your phone with a discount for your purchases. One of the simplest and most adaptable methods to use proximity marketing in your venue is through WiFi. You gather information about a customer's device when they sign into your guest WiFi network. Although a fairly outdated technique, QR codes have several advantages. It is incredibly simple, affordable, and quick to install. This compromises its effectiveness, although, for some applications, it will be adequate. The user is directed to a certain website by these scannable barcodes. At numerous conferences and events, the QR code solution has generated a lot of buzzes. Exhibitors utilize it to provide background information about their brand that cannot otherwise be given in the booth because it is so subtle and affordable. You can use your phone or smartwatch to make a purchase at the store using near-field communication (NFC) technology. NFC is less adaptable than the other technologies since it demands close contact and is not as widely used as WiFi or QR code readers. Although it's a less well-known technology, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) access points perform similarly to WiFi access points. Although the majority of individuals can enable Bluetooth on their devices, they don't always do so. However, you need a medium, such as an app that they have downloaded, and you need to put BLE beacons at your location to communicate with g
  • aquin206 on 07 Feb 23
     
    This article explains what proximity marketing is and five different ways it is used through. Proximity marketing is used through WIFI, QR Codes, NFC (near field communication), BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) Beacons, and GPS. In addition to going in detail about all those, this article also explains how proximity marketing helps the company. It can help by boosting sales, retargeting, building loyalty, behavior analysis, indoor navigation and gamification.
peacejj22

Tipping your server makes sexism worse, whether you intend to or not | Mashable - 0 views

mashable.com/...restaurant-sexism-tipping

shared by peacejj22 on 13 Sep 22 - No Cached
  • Tipping your server makes sexism worse, whether you intend to or not
  • Federal tip minimum wage has been frozen at $2.13 since 1991, even with raises made to non-tipped wages.
  • Though some states mandate a higher minimum wage for service employees, many servers are stuck living on this extremely low wage, often left with few paycheck dollars after taxes.
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • While there are laws in place meant to ensure that servers get at least federal minimum wage by requiring employers to make up the difference if a server isn’t tipped enough during their shift, workers often report this isn’t the case.
  • And, even if it is, even federal minimum wage isn’t a livable wage in the majority of states.
  • “Any tipped employee, male or female, is on a stage,”
  • “[Servers] have to act in a certain way in order to receive those tips," Kitterlin says. "That being said, of course that opens an opportunity for women and men in our industry to feel that they have to accept certain levels of harassment -- be it sexual harassment or any form of rude behavior from guests.”
  • “We need to be careful of how we go about doing that because we have historically been a country where tipping culture serves as a huge motivating factor for employees. Our employees feel more driven to give good service in order to make a good tip.”
  • “It’s to get more tips, but it’s kind of opening the door -- especially in our industry and culture,”
  • I don’t want you to grab my ass. I want you to tip 20% or 25%
  • 90% of women in the restaurant industry report experiencing some form of sexual harassment while on the job.
  • “I’m spending all my day helping people who have $70 to spend on food, but I can’t barely afford my own,” Jessica says. “How messed up is that? I watch people go out, eat and they will spend $30 on an entree. I got paid $30 all day in wages -- and you just spent that on one entree.”
  • “People will be like, ‘I thought we just raised minimum wage? Don’t you get 10.50?’” she says. “No, not us. We got left out. We always get left out.”
  • For many women in the restaurant industry, the fastest way to prevent only barely making bills is to enhancing their “performance” through appearance. Jessica tells Mashable servers “wear what we can get away with wearing,” because a push up bra and tight shirt often means more tips. It’s service industry sexism at work -- and Jessica knows that.
  • “There is definitely value in considering the elimination of tipping,”
  • Without the "motivating factor," your server may not have nightmares about serving a too-cold-entree.
  • “I don’t think it’s right that people in America are getting paid $2 and change to do any job,” she says. “I don’t think it’s right. I didn’t have to live with it being in California -- I could just kind of forget that most of the nation is making nothing.”
  • peacejj22 on 13 Sep 22
     
    This article is in essence about the broken tipping system within American culture today. The title in my opinion is a bit exaggerated but is truthful nonetheless. People within the service industry are being horribly mistreated by being underpaid and forced to rely upon tips for wages. The issue with this is that specifically women are being forced to dress skimpy and act a certain way (possibly flirtatiously) In order to possibly get better tips. With their salary being on average around $2 an hour, without tips they are being forced to live far below the poverty line. So, it's not tipping that makes you inadvertently sexist, it's that tips contribute to woman acting in a more appealing way to male customers in order to pull the standard tip percentage (20% to 25%).
jazminesnyder

Six Technology Trends Revolutionising The Hospitality Industry | By Calum McIndoe - 1 views

www.hospitalitynet.org/...4060662.html

technology trends hospitality industry

shared by jazminesnyder on 10 Jun 14 - No Cached
  • Firstly, upfront investment is lower with the cloud as there are no initial hardware costs or associated expenses such as full time, in-house IT staff to maintain the system. Secondly, hotels like the idea of taking the headache and distractions of IT off their site, leaving them free to focus on the day-to-day business of looking after their guests.
  • tablets and smartphones revolutionise the way we interact with technology.
  • City Nites accesses its hotel management system on Apple iPads to eliminate old-fashioned, manual registration desk processes. This enables hotel team members to 'meet and greet' their guests at any location, improving the personalisation of the check-in experience and reducing the costs associated with static reception desks and all their technology at each location.
  • ...19 more annotations...
  • The online reputation of a property is business critical. It does not however, stand alone as a marketing department concern, but relates directly to daily operations.
  • the technology systems in use - especially those in large chains - must account for the global perspective.
  • Integrating these systems can provide more comprehensive management information, faster reporting and a truly comprehensive view of profitability.
  • Elsewhere, integration offers the possibility of being able to "revenue manage" the guest across all areas of their stay: this requires transaction level interfaces but need not be complex to use. Critically it aligns the marketing -based personalised offering with the financial outcome of the revenue secured.
  • Customers expect their experience within a hotel to be totally personalised to them:
  • However, the savings and improvements that technology can deliver mean that managers and directors really need to keep one eye on these six trends.
  • However, the savings and improvements that technology can deliver mean that managers and directors really need to keep one eye on these six trends.
  • However, the savings and improvements that technology can deliver mean that managers and directors really need to keep one eye on these six trends.
  • All of these trends have already brought about a profound change in the hospitality industry - and they will continue to disrupt and redefine operations. From the back office to front of house, from the hotel to the corporate office, the technology that underpins these changes will deliver a sharp competitive edge at all levels.
  • All of these trends have already brought about a profound change in the hospitality industry - and they will continue to disrupt and redefine operations. From the back office to front of house, from the hotel to the corporate office, the technology that underpins these changes will deliver a sharp competitive edge at all levels.
  • However, the savings and improvements that technology can deliver mean that managers and directors really need to keep one eye on these six trends.
  • However, the savings and improvements that technology can deliver mean that managers and directors really need to keep one eye on these six trends.
  • the savings and improvements that technology can deliver mean that managers and directors really need to keep one eye on these six trends.
  • All of these trends have already brought about a profound change in the hospitality industry - and they will continue to disrupt and redefine operations. From the back office to front of house, from the hotel to the corporate office, the technology that underpins these changes will deliver a sharp competitive edge at all levels.
  • around 85% of the queries we see from hospitality companies and hotels include a serious look at cloud computing.
  • The sum total of these drivers is that cloud technology is no passing fad: for the hospitality sector it is the new norm.
  • the low capital expenditure investment for mobile hardware and much reduced software costs mean that mobile is a viable option for small independent properties, looking to develop customer service as a competitive edge.
  • As such, social media monitoring MUST be interfaced with the hotel management systems so that swift, appropriate action can be taken.
  • it is embedding the process of capturing guest preferences and proactively using that data.
  • ypere044 on 10 Jun 14
     
    This article gives us a glance at six different technological trends being used and "revolutionizing" the hospitality industry. The six trends are cloud/software services, mobility, social media, personalized systems, integration, and globalization. The trends are all seen across the board in hospitality nowadays and are making huge changes in the industry. We have been talking about cloud computing and the pros and cons of using a cloud to store information and even with all the controversy, companies are investing and using the cloud. The use of tablets and smartphones has changed the way we interact with technology and the hospitality field is not staying behind. They are developing mobile sites and apps to help customers look at pictures and reviews about a place, check in and check out or make other arrangements. Social media is also revolutionizing hospitality by creating a reputation for businesses whether they be positive or negative. People can freely post about whether they enjoyed their stay at a certain hotel and helps build the online reputation of the company. In addition, more and more companies are looking to become more personalized experience. When I think about this part, I think mostly of the new systems rolling out at Disney World that scream personalization, guests can select their Fastpasses ahead of time, can use MagicBands to purchase things, get into their hotel, get into the park as well as to utilize the Fastpass system and every time a MagicBand is scanned at a touchpoint, the cast members know the person's name and whether they are celebrating something. With integration, customers and staff can access information from different departments all on one system and with globalization companies are trying to use systems that are global and used worldwide. 
  • ...1 more comment...
  • haelidenton on 30 Aug 14
     
    As technology continues to grow, it's hard for hotels to keep up. But, there are six trends that could be very beneficial to hotels. The first being the Cloud/Software as a Service. If hotels begin to use a cloud based hotel management system, it would reduce cost of ownership by minimizing property hardware. As well as take the burden of maintaining the system off IT. Another trend that is growing is using mobile devices, such as tablets, to interact. Some hotels have recently decided to use Apple iPad's at the registration desk. This is an idea that needs to grow in the hospitality industry, because it increases the personalization of the check-in experience and reduces costs involving technology at the reception desk. Social media has a huge impact on the hospitality industry. There are reviews, referrals, and other types of communication about hotels on every type of social media. It is crucial that hotel management monitors and addresses every type of social media, in order to respond appropriately and take action. Being able to integrate the operating systems of all the amenities of a hotel (accommodation, event catering, the spa, etc.) is another tool that would be beneficial to the hospitality industry. This would provide better management information, faster reporting, and will allow management to view profitability. Last but not least, the last major trend the hospitality industry needs is globalization. As international travel, trade, and business grows, hotel companies will need to create different management tools in order to survive. International links are important for the hotel industry. Which means technology systems, need to be global.
  • ravicka on 15 Jan 15
     
    Technological developments continue to have a great effect on all aspects of our lives, the hospitality industry not being an exception. Calum McIndoe in his article "Six Technology Trends Revolutionising the hospitality industry" outlines areas of technology that managers within the industry need to take advantage of. Cloud technology, though this concept is fairly new it can provide great financial benefits to companies as it cuts cost greatly due to the fact that it eliminates the heavy hardware requirements traditional technology offered. Mobility, the fact that portable devices can add a competitive edge to the service offered. Think traditional services being provided on the go away from a fixed station. Social; the popularity of social networking sites have changed the face of hospitality and tourism marketing completely. Properties are now forced to monitor social networking sites to learn about customer demands and to also learn about the image their company has out there and how they can improve it. According to Mr. "for any hotel to not at least monitor social medis is tantamount to willingly flying blind." Personalized systems; value for customers within this industry has to do greatly with the personal touch added to the service delivered. These merged systems allows properites to use data to ensure that guest needs are met. Integration; the joining of isolated systems used in all areas of operations on the property. The use of integrated systems allows for the pulling of data from the different departments thus ensuring proper management of services delivered and revenue management. Globalisation; It is important that hospitality companies adapt to changes and trends brought about by globalisation. Whether the current global outlook is taken into consideration when considering how a company operates can greatly impact the final product.
  • jazminesnyder on 26 Aug 15
     
    ((NOTE: The author already highlighted the article in yellow when I found it, my personal highlighting is in PINK. Sections 5 and 6 are not highlighted in pink because I agree with the parts that the author highlighted yellow in those sections; Diigo toolbar will not let you highlight over something that has already been highlighted.)) This article mainly focuses on the technological changes in the hotel industry in pertinence with storing hotel information versus the traditional method(s) used by hotels that involved little to no technology at all. The article lists six different points or examples and states that businesses, especially small or upcoming businesses, need to follow by these six trends. The part of the article that stood out to me the most when reflecting on the lectures and power points for this week is the first trend. The first trend speaks about a "cloud" software (which I am not really familiar with so excuse me if my explanation is not 100% sound) and announces that "around 85% of the queries we see from hospitality companies and hotels include a serious look at cloud computing". The author lists a few reasons why such a high percentage of hotels are doing it this way. He basically says that you do not need special staff or special training to maintain the system; the system maintains itself so you can have more time to focus on your guests and trends in their patterns. Also, as far as the cost is concerned, "upfront investment is lower with the cloud as there are no initial hardware costs or associated expense…". Even though I am not very familiar with this service just yet, I like the idea of freeing up employee time to go and interact more with the customers; attending to the customers' needs is the most important thing in my eyes. The article goes on to list mobility, social media, personalized systems, integration, and globalization as all equally important parts to this revolution of technology pertaining to the hospitality industr
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