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This article is an interview with Leigh Tymms from Green Edge Environmental on the marketing benefits of going green. The most beneficial is generating a positive reputation with customers looking to go green. These customers are increasing everyday. According to the article, a report by Travelocity stated that 80% of travelers are willing to pay extra to visit an eco-friendly destination. Basically, more and more guests are taking into consideration the size of a hotels carbon footprint. Although it may be costly originally, in the long run it is also economically beneficial for hotels to go green. Tymms warns that hotels ignoring the green trend in hospitality risk losing customers. And he also suggest that hoteliers make sure they are actually taking steps to go green and not just marketing false claims for revenue gain. 

This article discusses how proximity marketing is a new technology trend and the many benefits it has for both the consumer and the business. However, there must be a balance. After learning about this type of marketing in this week's module, I wanted to do more research. This article gave three real life examples of completely different scenarios that show how well this marketing can work and how beneficial it is to the consumer. It is especially beneficial to consumers who like deals and who do not like to make decisions.

This article is about how technology can reduce the cost using sustainability. Although that some people believe that green operation is more expensive and that guests are not interested in hospitality. According to Cornell University for hospitality research, the reverse is true for both. Recent advances in technology related to renewable sources of energy are beneficial and have cut the costs for energy. Not only that investment in environmental technology reduce the costs but also has a positive impact in our guest experience.

This article is about how technology can reduce the cost using sustainability. Although that some people believe that green operation is more expensive and that guests are not interested in hospitality. According to Cornell University for hospitality research, the reverse is true for both. Recent advances in technology related to renewable sources of energy are beneficial and have cut the costs for energy. Not only that investment in environmental technology reduce the costs but also has a positive impact in our guest experience.

This article explains the various sustainability efforts of hoteliers in effort to limit their negative impact on the environment. Although, going green is beneficial to the world around us, hoteliers have also realized its benefits within the industry. One important factor has been its cost savings and economic incentives. Going green also enhances the brand image of hoteliers which in turn creates a market for a specific type of traveller, whom deems it necessary for a hotel to maintain sustainability efforts.

This article went into great detail about what Hotel Accounting is and why it is beneficial for any hotelier. The article then focuses on hotel accounting software and why it is more beneficial than any other hotel accounting method. For example, if you are manually documenting information for your hotel, you may be subject to more errors versus inputting it into an online system which can let you know immediately when an error has occurred. The article then breaks down each aspect of a Hotel's accounting system such as business sheets, cash flow, profit and loss and lets the reader know why it is so important in their opinion to use the hotel software.

Starbucks invested $25 million to develop movie payment system with partnership with Square. The mobile payment integration with the point of sale solution will be available in November. The point of sale solution mobile app will make customers purchase using their phones through a digital Starbucks card and square will processing all of the Starbuck's credit card - based payments. Meanwhile, Starbucks also revealed its IOS app's integration with Passbook. When you approach a Starbucks location, a Passbook notification will appear on the screen of iPhone and you can then select the starbucks card and swipe your phone to make the purchase. Later Starbucks will integrate Squar's GPS- based point of sale system which should make purchases a breeze and speed up the lines during coffee rush hours. This allow you to select the item with Square app and simply say you name to the cashier to confirm the payment.  An image of your face will present from the profile photo to prevent theft or misuse. Since January 2011 starbucks first mobile payment app has host over 70 million transactions and the partnership with Square has been a mutually beneficial on for both sides. Starbucks will significantly expand Square's scale and accelerate the benefits to business on the platform in the future.

This article expounds how technological advances in POS systems are changing the way different organizations in the hospitality industry do business. The article explains how each business can gain a competitive edge with speedy POS payment systems as well. According to the article, there are three new ways for customers to pay that includes contactless methods of payment , prepay, and mobile ordering. All of these new features are having an especially beneficial effect, allowing lines to move faster as transactions are processed more efficiently. The article further explains how future POS trends goes beyond faster payments and quicker queues. Modern POS systems offer the unprecedented access to detailed customer data that focuses on individual customers' patterns and preferences. In conclusion, with all the benefits that the latest technology offers, it stands to reason that he latest POS systems hold the key to the future of hospitality.

This article was really interesting. I liked the different methods it referenced with regards to how customers can pay, as I know those methods are really becoming integral to the industry. I also like how it talked about how businesses can use data mining to find out exactly how fruitful these innovations will be or how they are helping the businesses that have already installed them. I'm interested in seeing what new technological innovations occur in the future, especially with regards to how people pay for their meals.

This article shares with us the experience of food composting in Four Seasons Hotel.  It shows readers many facts to prove that  food composting in a hotel can be successful and beneficial. It also gives readers many tips about how to compost food scraps effectively in a hotel.

I enjoyed the article very much. I do believe that having a sustainable business is the wave of the future. Its about time that we start giving back to the earth what we take. Having a sustainable business, a LEED hotel, is beneficial to being a leader in the hotel industry.

The article talks about how restaurants can use a POS system and reviews the pros and cons of whether a system like this is beneficial to an establishment. It states that customer service plays a huge role in the success of a business and having a well operational POS system aids in the success of the customer service offered. One example of being more successful is to be sure you can accommodate as many customers as possible… so offering the payment option of just cash limits your projected revenue whereas accepting credit cards broadens your horizon as a business owner. Saving on merchant fees may be hurting income all together. This article goes over the benefits of a POS system and how it can improve daily sales. These benefits include a quicker processing of payments, more accurate payments, splitting orders, opening the door to more customers, preventing errors and tracking inventory. All of these things assist in the accuracy and smooth running of an establishment.

Hello, This article is very insightful with regards to how a POS system can become beneficial. Indeed, customer service plays a major role on the business and having a well-positioned POS system. Therefore, as a hotel or a restaurant needs to focus on service, a POS system can complement this objective. Being able to accommodate as many clients as possible through great customer service and organization can be obtained through a POS system. Additionally, I think this system helps maximize time and optimize processes. I'm sure a wide array of companies are appealed to this, it is a matter of finding which type of POS system would be most suitable for them.

This article talks about how companies use HRIS for implementing employee scheduling and how it provides key labor management tools. Using HRIS for scheduling can be of particular benefit to workplaces in industries such as retail, medical, food service, and hospitality where shifts may vary widely. Labor is the number one expense for most companies, so it is important to manage labor in the most efficient way possible. This can help you to optimize scheduling on a minute to minute basis so that your company is making the best use of every labor dollar spent.This can help you to optimize scheduling on a minute to minute basis so that your company is making the best use of every labor dollar spent. However, having to communicate with each individual employee as they move through varying shifts to relay schedules can be disruptive to work and difficult. Communicating schedules instantly through HRIS can help to reduce headaches and scheduling mishaps. Depending on the available features, employees may be able to submit feedback regarding preferences in regards to scheduling. The article talks about when scheduling is made easy, it is possible to focus on scheduling strategically so that employees can be cross trained through various departments or otherwise receive instruction that helps them to grow within the organization.

I believe the hospitality industry can benefit greatly from the implementation of the HRI Software. This article in particular focus in an important part of the human resource which is scheduling employees. One of the biggest reasons of the high employment turn over in the industry has to do with the scheduling. The hospitality employees work very long shifts and on the days that the rest of the people rest like weekends and holidays. To have a program that will take care of the scheduling is very beneficial because all the employees get a chance to have off to to work on the requested days if possible. It makes it more equal for everybody and make it look less personal so that the employees do not think that the manager has any sort preferences among them. Overall makes thing more easy to handle and optimize the time of the human resources department because they do not need to put time aside for scheduling.

As we all know, the company can't be truly beneficial from using HRIS for scheduling if it operates on a 9-5 schedule. But in the hospitality industry, the company operates over a long period of time, having the different degree of complexity with scheduling. So, HRIS will help the companies to make scheduling easier. In this article, the author introduces several advantages that HRIS offers to the industry. HRIS provides hotels with labor management tools and alerts them to uncovered shifts. Moreover, it makes scheduling communication instantaneous and increase employee contentment. Most importantly, HRIS enables hotels to save time and money for providing a template, which allows hotels to strategically gear scheduling.

Investing in information technology can be beneficial for businesses in hospitality industry because it pays higher dividends over a long period of time. If businesses continue to invest in information technology systems regularly they can prevent problems caused by having older information systems. A security breach is a major problem that can be prevented by investing in information technology systems regularly. Another reason to invest in IT systems in the hospitality industry is to have a competitive advantage.

In this article, it basic discussed some of the key points of business switching to a point of sale system and why it would be beneficial. One reason was to prevent shrinkage. With a POS system, sales are automatically recorded during every checkout which help to maintain inventory numbers. Another key point is that POS systems are beneficial to owners who may have more than one store. This allows for business owners to have accurate pricing across all locations and it improves customer service as well. For example, if your store is out of particular product, you can sue the POS system to check which nearby locations have the product that the customer may be looking for. Lastly, POS systems have also been proven to be a great asset for making sure your business is operating effectively and efficiently. While away, POS systems allow for owners to monitor activity such s store performance and sales activity, in addition monitor the performance levels of employees to ensure everyone is staying on task and being productive. So all in all, switching to a Point-Of-Sale system is beneficial and a great move for businesses.

The author of this article targets entrepreneurs and explains the need to implement point-of-sale systems in businesses. The author explains that POS systems help businesses to track promotions more successfully and improve customer service, and thus, enhancing customer satisfaction. Besides, the system improves employee management.

Luis, I like this read. It makes some great points of how the investment of a POS is profitable for the establishment. One thing I did not realize that it is great for is to better track sales and promotions. This is an area that could really assist on driving sales with an establishment. If they analyze the data collected, the owner can know if the promotion was worth their wild OR a waste of time. Did it drive business and bring in new and repeat guests? Did it attract loyal customers? Did it help make new customers loyal? This is all information that is collected and can be very useful when using the POS. Thank you for your share.

This article introduces GDS, OTA and Meta in a short space. GDS stands for Global Distribution System, GDS is a rather costly selling channel that mainly allows the sale of rooms in larger quantities to bigger companies. Small independent hotels usually do not need GDS. OTA stands for Online Travel Agency. meta stands for Metasearch Engines. For small hotels, the cost of GDS is high and it is generally difficult to adopt. OTA and meta are two methods worth considering.

This article basically talks about a front-desk bypass solution that allows guests to head straight to their room without standing in lines to obtain a plastic room key as long as a guest has a mobile phone.  To sum up the article, mobile key by Open ways is compatible with any cell phone, as all of the 6+ billion mobile devices in the world. It simplifies hotel Master Key management by harnessing mobile technologies to make all locks 'on line' without the costly infrastructure. It also enhances a hotel's sustainability program because the Mobile key is made only of data and not plastic. Moreover, hotels can eliminate costs originally spent on toxic plastic key cards. It is a creative way to move the technology of mobile keys forward, giving hotels an added dimension to guest satisfaction and a new means of attracting the ever-important business traveler. In my opinion, this solution could be beneficial to hotels' revenue since the system is compatible with not only smartphones but also all kinds of cell phone. It works with all major lock technologies and relies on a combination of text messages and its Crypto Acoustic Credential (CAC) technology. The only modification required to a lock for it to work is the addition of a decoding listening device. I think this is a great convenience for both the hotel management and consumers. Furthermore, there might be a good marketing opportunity here modifying the system to pop up a special offer on a phone once the rock has been deactivated. For example, a free dink at the hotel bar, or a half price meal at the hotel restaurant.

Mobile Key by OpenWays allows hotel guests to bypass the front desk and go straight to their room upon arrival by simply using their cell phone as a room key. Many people do not want to wait in line at the front desk merely to get a plastic key card for their room. As long as the guest has a cell phone and the hotel is equipped with OpenWays they can get secure access to their rooms. Mobile Key by OpenWays is also very beneficial to the hotel as well. Since Mobile Key is only made of data, it cuts the hotel's costs of making room keys out of toxic plastic for guests as well as master keys for employees. The hotel is now "greener," saving money, and improving customer service. With technology growing and customers relying more and more on mobile technology while travelling, Mobile Key creates an easier and more enjoyable way to travel.

In my personal opinion, I love this renovation on mobile key. I don't like to wait a long time for check-in. With the Mobile Key, guests don't have to carry their room key anywhere anytime and if they leave it in the room, they have to wait a long time in the line to the front desk to ask for another one. My favorite part of the Mobile key is that this technology is green. Even though current room keys that used by most hotels made of plastic are reused and recycling, the plastic itself is a material that would pollute the environment. But I still have a question about it that how about guests lose their cell phone during their stay. Does the hotel have a plan B for helping guests to open doors without the plastic key?

In this article it begins to explain property management systems PMS going mobile in the hotel industry and how beneficial it is for hotel corporations and for customers. The author explained that the most in-demand PMS function for hotels is the ability to have a real time data of room availability, access to guest information such as comments and special request, room/ work order status, and up-to-date pricing. For customers facing mobile apps they would enjoy the guest self-service of booking, self check-in/out, service request, and messaging to staff. However even though mobile devices makes such functionality seem easier mobile-enabling a PMS is not easy at all in fact, making functions available via a browser would be a huge transition for a business.

More and more are properties interested in having a PMS device that they can be accessed at anytime and anywhere. The answer to this challenge is to have PMS functions accessible via mobile devices which can be challenging for some of the systems, especially those that do not reside in cloud. For some smaller properties, the goal is to have no front desk at all and some have been quite successful in making this a reality. As stated in the Property Management Goes Mobile article, the ski resort Tremblant Elysium has been successful with using the cloud-based FrontDesk Anywhere. The guests receive a letter a week prior to check in containing a door code and 30 minutes after their arrival concierge comes to their room to complete their check in and sign the registration card. The CEO of Tremblant Elysium stated: "Guests love it because it is simple and easy and we do not have staff waiting around for people to check in." As stated in the article, guest require for Mobile PMS to include access to room availability and full front desk access including guest profiles and preferences, room/work order status, up-to-date pricing and housekeeping access for rooms statutes. Mobile-enabling PMS can be quite challenging to design, as it can bring difficulties with screen size, performance or choosing which device to use as the code must be re-written for each one. Another major concern for this type of PMS is the synchronization with other system with which PMS is integrated. As hotelier consider implementing mobile-enabling PMS device for their property, there are concerns about security as far as data storage or mobile check-in or the issuing of keys for guests. In my opinion mobile-enabling PMS is the future for smaller properties. Why would a hotel need to have a stand-alone front desk when we can use mobile phones to do the work for us as we are on the go? Eventually, we can have our staff cross trained in smaller properties all equipped with phones, all available to ch

This article discusses the wish-list for hoteliers when they are considering cloud-based systems.Tthe most in-demand mobile PMS functions include GM access to KPIs, CRM and room availability, and front desk staff access to guest information such as comments and special requests, room/work order status and consolidated messaging among staff. It would seem that with all of these personal apps that are appearing on the market, that mobilizing a PMS would be easy, but that is not the case. The code is not universal; i.e. code must be re-written for each one, although there are tools like service-oriented architecture and html5 to help. There will naturally be concerns when considering adopting a mobile PMS across properties. Before investing in a roll-out of new technology, decision-makers must ask the right questions dealing with security, data storage, and functionality.

This is a very interesting article related to how employees interact with one another. Industry leaders such as Russell Brumfield, CEO of Wizard Studios Global Events, are using gadgets and apps to improve team building with employees on a constant basis, even when the individuals can not be in the same place at the same time. By using this technology, they believe that the process of bonding and learning becomes more interactive and therefore more fun. The article mentions that the addition of these technologies are especially beneficial in motivating "jaded employees." As Ian Fraser mentions, the game element of these apps is attractive to modern day employees; it just makes sense to integrate a technology that everyone is already craving in their daily lives. It is also mentioned the advantages of being able to connect massive amounts of people simultaneously. Lastly, the article touches upon the fact that these technologies are not meant to replace face to face interactions; instead, this is meant to improve upon this by extending the ability to interact and therefore continuously develop teambuilding.

This article talks about a successful online training program belongs to STARWOOD HOTELS&RESORTS which is called ProLearing module. This specific online training program is quite beneficial to travel professionals to have a full version of starwood's brands and get familiar with the room rates for agents. Online training systems are commonly used by most internal employees but fewer for externals in hospitality industry. Most of the hotels have their own online training systems for employees to familiar with company concepts, hotel operations, service manuals and even a sales system like StarHot. As a part of training program for externals, ProLearing module does a good job for its company band expansion for agents and finds new market segments which is not just includes regular guests and potential employees. I believe that more and more travel professionals will join this program and make it to succeed.

In the United Kingdom, the hospitality and leisure industry has become the third largest recipient of Funding for Lending Scheme loans. The only industries that lead the hospitality and leisure sector are agriculture and healthcare. This industry is a major lending market for NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland, which sees over £200m FLS loans to date. The current head of leisure for commercial banking at NatWest and RBS recently stated he was thrilled to help clients in this industry create cost effective funds. Additionally this team was created in September 2011 to focus on the hospitality industry. From 2011 to 2012 there was an increase in lending of eight percent. I find the concept of banking dedicated to the hospitality industry to be both beneficial and interesting. I feel this can help a business focus on creating the right types of investments in the hospitality field in order for a business to succeed. This can help small hospitality firms, hotels, restaurants, and other related businesses to seek financial help from someone who understands the field in the banking and investment industry. A dedicated system can focus on the needs of a hospitality business since it only focuses on this type of business for FLS loans.

Using social media for event promotion. And it could be beneficial to assign a person to be in charge of these media. It could bring better confidence of customers of the company.

This article focuses on the benefits that Maestro (a property management system) offers to hotels and how it has been benefitting hotels that currently use their system, more specifically, smaller, independent hotels. Most chain hotels and large facilities are required to utilize a flag-mandated property management system. However, independent operators are not linked with these mandated systems, and have a choice as to which system to utilize. Maestro claims to offer Northwind, a service that allows Maestro to be utilized in a cloud-based system, enabling it to host multiple properties and save the establishment money by not requiring them to purchase servers and security, whereas a traditional PMS would have done so. The president of Northwind also states that they strive for their clients to succeed and that it is more of a partnership with those who utilize their service, and their goal is to make a hotel's operations more profitable and efficient. The article continues on to explain the uses and functions of the Maestro system, including being fully-integrates and offering operators loyalty program benefits and the functionality to compete with programs that were solely available to chains. It also tracks points earned and redemption stays as well for those loyalty programs, and claims to minimize errors and save operators money. It also allows integrations that provides social media outlets through the property management system, allowing the user to operate their business simultaneously through different systems. Maestro also boasts that the utilization of their property management system allows hotels to increase their direct bookings through the property for a lower cost than if they were to utilize a different system in which it was not flawlessly and seamlessly integrated with a global distribution system. It seems to be a property management system that enables users to complete many tasks at once, from one location, without having the hassle of