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this article introduces the concept of eMarketing

Hotels put their information on the search engines, such as the Google, for their potential guests getting the information about their hotels. When people search on the Internet, they will focus on the first page of the search results, and for the hotels, if they are being listed in the top pages, they have more chances for attracting guests. However, how to boost their visibility in the hotel space on Google, Bing and the other local search engines? This article gives us three steps. Firstly, claim your local listings. Claiming your local listings will help the hotels ensure the name, address and phone number being consistent across the Internet correctly, and also show that the hotel is an active business owner. Secondly, tweak your onsite location pages. Here contains two basic steps: the corporate umbrella website conundrum , which is suitable for a hotel management group; and single domain per location, refers to a smaller business with one location. Thirdly, get a little more technical. Do not ignore the small changes, such as repeating addresses and other location information, these small changes can strengthen your credibility and lead to increased visibility.

From my personal experience I will choose the search result on the top page. So this article is very useful for the hotels to increase the website visit. The high website visit means more potential customers.

Yeah, put information of hotels on search engines is a great idea as a advertisement promotion. But it takes lots of money, and more expensive with the more popular search-engine. How to spend lowest money to have most benefit? Anyway, this is another problem, this article is good to summarize a guidance for hotels.

For the hotel industry, Revenue Management is able to steer the overall revenue activity reporting efficiently on For the hotel industry, Revenue Management is able to steer the overall revenue activity reporting efficiently on all segments and channels at the hotel level. Complicated pricing situations within each market and the variations from day to day have made Revenue Management rely heavily on the assistance from systems to price correctly. I can see this every single day as I work for the Sales department of a hotel in South Beach and our prices have been fluctuating tremendously in the past few months. This article covers: - The evolution of analytics for hotels - Expertise in the industry - How hotels deal with the uncertainty - How crucial these IT systems are going to be in 2012

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

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

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

Accounting is very essential in any business. If not done correctly and accurately this can destroy a business. Hospitality Accounting Services is a multi-faceted company that is specializes in accounting procedures for the hotel industry. Furthermore, they provide clients with internal control auditing, data archiving and report automation systems and hotel information systems consulting.

is the correct model being used? is this representing the business? are all this questions and others being answered correctly?

"Travelport has taken steps to increase the availability of negotiated hotel rates in its system." This article discusses the inconsistencies often found in GDS online bookings (specifically those who use Galileo and Worldspan) and the steps Travelport is taking to remedy these inconsistencies. Some contributing factors include "...hotels' failure to load the data into the Property Management System (PMS) or Central Reservation System (CRS), the rate not being set up correctly or missing code information, or inaccurate code information being entered." Travelport has reached out to hotels for support in this endeavor, including "...conducting rate audits with hotels, designing and implementing new processes and removing the availability of outdated and duplicated codes." I think that this is a smart move for Travelport and its subsidiaries that will motivate other GDS's to audit their systems for greater consistency in bookings. Having worked with reservations and front office in a hotel utilizing third party bookings, I could not begin to tell you the level of frustration that sometimes occur in explaining to guests why certain rates differ so greatly for the same time period. On the reservations side, it often takes hours to manually adjust and update these rates, so I am sure that this will be a great help to all parties involved.

The Basel Convention is a great step forward in controlling e-waste, the US still needs to get on board and deal with electronic waste within its own territory and not send it abroad to be dealt with. Once this happens then the reality of how much waste is produced will be evident and actions will be taken to reduce, reuse and recycle.

It is important for companies to get involved in protecting the environment. The need to ensure that we are recycling e-waste properly to protect our lands is vital. The government needs to mandate that technological companies protect the environment and force them to ensure that e-waste is being performed correctly. It is great to know that both Dell and Microsoft are working together to make this happen (http://venturebeat.com/2010/04/22/microsoft-joins-with-dell-to-tackle-e-waste-on-earth-day/).

The author of this article, Jitendra Jain, talks about how there are many things to promote in hotels beyond rooms, yet there is not many e-marketers venturing into the world of hotels beyond rooms. A wide range of food and beverage options, spa, sports, and recreation are just a few of the perks that hotels offer. He explains that in the Middle East, dining in some hotels can contribute nearly half of the hotel revenue, giving the food and beverage department a loftier position than properties elsewhere. Revenues like this from food and beverage outlets are unheard of in North America and Europe, making it imperative to promote and sell other areas of the hotel. Jain goes on to outline a few ideas to comprise a good e-marketing strategy. They consist of starting off on the right foot, reaching the right people at the right time and in the right manner, capturing new customers, creating a buzz, making things interactive, tracking correctly, refining, and repeating.

Matt, great post! Marriott Corporation is utilizing eMarketing through emails. Once you book your room reservation, you will begin to receive information regarding dining, recreation and spa treatments that you can enjoy while staying at a specific Marriott. This allows the hotel to expand its products and enable guests to book prior to arrival. The use of eMarketing is a great tool for any business to capture new customers and anticipate guests' needs.

The article give a specific description of the importance of marketing analytics in hospitality industry. It can provide a ways to better understand guests' purchasing and staying behavior, as well as audience engagement across a variety of marketing channels.

InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta and Park Hyatt Chicago have upgraded their inventory tracking by implementing new technology, the RFID. This will provide cost saving benefits and more efficient operations by automating manual tasks. With RIFD technology, InterContinental Buckhead Altanta will be able to automatically track each piece when assigned to an employee and as it goes to and from the laundry company. They will be able to know how pieces are sent out and how many return. The system will also reduce labor costs and track daily movement of linen items. All linen items are equipped with UHF_RFID laundry tags. Allowing the new technology to monitor the location of each tagged linen to cut lost-item cost and minimize handling. If any item is not returned, the laundry company is held responsible for the replacement cost. Park Hyatt Chicago has invested in the RIFD Uniform System. This allows uniforms to be automatically tracked when staff members take delivery and when they are sent to the laundry company. They also have a U-Pick-It System in place to distribute uniforms to employees and make sure they are correctly monitor. This reduces garment handling labor expenses and increase the accountability of employees.

Ever wonder what happens to the little soaps you use at the hotel you recently stayed at? Hyatt Hotels Corp. has become one of the major hotels to start recycling toiletries through the organization called Clean the World. When guests are done using their shampoos or soaps at a hotel, the housekeeping staff collects all of the used and unused products and recycles them or donates them to other countries. The organization has only been around for a few years, however other hotel chains are joining the cause to helping the environment and also humanity. It is not just in the United States that hotels are getting involved but it is expanding globally. Hotels are sending used soaps that has been re-sanitized to battered women's center and also to countries like Africa to local clinics and orphanages.

It looks like the industry is taking notice of what they can do and stepping up to the plate. It all comes down to the front line workers though, in this case housekeeping staff. Turning a room correctly is labor intensive and time consuming. Adding the step of separating the used soap and shampoo does take time. 1 minute per room per day in a 200-room hotel at 90% capacity comes out to 21 man hours per week. At $10/hr that's nearly $11,000 per year. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done. I think it's a great idea. It does many people (including the hoteliers) a lot of good. If we consider this as "goodwill" in our operating costs, it probably works out for everyone.

I have never pay attention to where the leftover of the toiletries would go, and it's nice to know that they are going to the charity. This is a great way to recycle, help reduce waste, and help support the people in struggle. Knowing such information doesn't help making the booking decision, but it sure does increase the hotel's reputation.

Introducing the new dining app Reserve. It creates a seamless dining experience by storing a customer's credit card info upon reservation and immediately charging it once the meal is completed, also charging the customers' preferred tip. That way customers do not have to wait for the back and forth that occurs once they are done with their meal and servers collect payment. While the idea seems amazing, I am worried about the safety of storing people's credit card information on this app.  I also think that with the tipping already pre-included, the incentive on the wait staff's part to deliver great service is diminished. It is also a negative for the client because even if they are not satisfied with the service (or on the other hand if they feel that their server went above and beyond), they are not able to adjust the pre-arranged tip accordingly.  I do think that it is a great way for restaurants to make a nice profit through bids for "highly-sought-after reservations" because people will be more willing to spend a lot to to ensure they get a table at fancier restaurants. 

This article mainly talks about why hotel e-commerce is really important today. The hospitality captures new technology via the website platform. Customers want to seek new resources of information to make the purchase decision. Online sales are really important part of the business. There are lots of advantages that e-commerce can bring to hotels and customers. The Internet with the low cost. It's really important for hotels. Smart hoteliers need to focus on the fundamental shift. They need to make an e-commerce strategy. Hotels need to promote their offers and special deals. Hotels need to make their online information freshly and correctly. Companies must make sure to test new things.

Doing more research on the topic of this week HRIS, I stumbled upon this very helpful article. It goes into detail about Human Resource Information Systems their use, and pros and cons. The article lists eight advantages that come from having one of these systems. It only has to be uploaded once, it integrates reporting and evaluations, it removes human error therefore improving accuracy, time saving because of self service, reminders, paper saving, administrative tools, and recruitment tools such as those we discussed in our class discussion. Where as there are only three disadvantages mentioned; security concerns just as there are with any online system, cost which is predicted to decrease rapidly in the upcoming years, and staffing because systems like these often require IT team. These three disadvantages are synonymous with that of the disadvantages we have seen on all of the softwares or systems we've learned about this semester. There will always be a concern with security when a business has data online and when a company reaches a certain size it will be inevitable to have an IT team so I believe that these few disadvantages do not outweigh the benefits of HRIS. The statistics provided by the article are very helpful in noting that these systems are most effective for businesses with approximately 100 employees but can be used with those with as few as 50.

The right property management system plays a key roles in the success of any hotel. Property management systems store guests' information which helps make for a pleasurable stay at the hotel. On the back end having the proper property management system can be key tool in making a successful stay at the hotel. The front end has software that handles the point of sale, account receivable, banquets, conferences, restaurant, housekeeping, inventory, payroll, among other apps and modules that connect to make the hotel run successful smooth. The information that is stored in these systems generate reports that the hotel can review for decision making. Much like other software, technology can be exhausting at times when it doesn't do what we want it to do. The hotel software market is full of many different option management can choose do off with. A few things a hotel should consider when choosing software should be: How many modules will your new hotel software offer? Does your new property management system have third party products merged into it? Is your hotel software compatible with third party software? Does your property management system help you enhance revenue? Considering all these questions while choosing a new property management system can help management choose the best system that will be most beneficial for the hotel. As someone who has been part of choosing a PMS it is very important to consider everything. Every vendor tells you why theirs is the best. It takes a lot of time to review everything and determine what system will work best for the company. I think where companies go wrong when getting a new system is training. The companies I've worked for often do very little training. I think lack of training for employees contributes to employees not using systems correctly and to full capacity which causes errors in reports. As a sales director, I often read reports and knew the information wasn't correct and it was due to input error. This

This article was very interesting and it gives advice to any person thinking about opening a hotel in what software you can use. A hotel software is extremely important because that has all the guest information and store there experience that they had at the hotel. You have to see what software you want to implement when changing the hotel management system or property management system you need to know who is selling it to you and what is included in the software. If you are just getting a new system, you have to make sure that everything you already have is included and more. You also have to make sure that the software you get is compatible with a third party hardware. A hotel software system can make you or break you in a hotel. You really have to know the vendor that is selling you the software and make sure that they have experience with the software. The better the software that you have in the hotel, the smoother the hotel will run.

The article talks about the importance of using a PMS or Property Management System. The use of a property management system is very important to the success of a property. The article is also able to aid those who looking to implement a property management system by helping them narrow down what they will need. The article poses questions toward the reader to see what they are looking for in a PMS.

Phones essentially, and unfortunately, are going to be around for peoples time at hotels. People usually go away to get away from real life, but unfortunately everybody likes to be on their phones still. The first four examples of this article highlight how phones are important with recent technology updates. Your new phone can now serve as a phone key, concierge, and do so much more with an app. Robots and other technologies are being implemented to replace human interactions.

This article was a great read. For the most part I have either witnessed some of these advancements or heard about them in some form or fashion. The trend that intrigued me the most, of course, was #9 - Tech Enabled Meeting Spaces. This is ALWAYS a demand for my clients. Will they have wifi, will they have a polycom, adapters for their laptops, etc. Some clients, especially tech groups, that I have want their own entire network created and work hand in hand with our IT department to configure all that needs configuration. I think these trends are great, and positive, trends that if done correctly can meet the guests' expectations and as a result increase GSR (Guest Satisfaction Rates).

Many restaurants are choosing to go to hand-held POS systems for the many advantages they provide. Perhaps the number one reason to chose a hand-held POS system is time saved. A restaurant can save up to four minutes by placing the order via a hand-held POS system. This leads to more selling opportunities, and greater time with the guest. Information on 86'd items is immediately available, and the system can suggest possible "upsell" options. Order accuracy is increased, because the order is placed right at the table as it is given. Drawbacks include the durability of the unit, considerable start up costs, and complexity of the unit. Many of the durability issues have been addressed, but the units are still pricey. Costs have come down as the technology becomes more widespread. The complexity of the unit still remains an issue, as servers tend to focus more on the unit and placing the order, rather than engaging the guest.

I have seen these work very well at Chick-fil-a recently. They utilize these systems during high traffic times by having two associates out in the drive through line taking orders along with the intercom. By doing this, they are able to take three orders at a time and the line is very minimal. If used correctly, this is a great system to have.