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This article was very interesting and it was about how safety security is very important to the hospitality industry. This article also explained how a study shows the safety and security systems work in the hospitality industry. They also said that it is very important to update the emergency plan because you never know when something going to happen in the hotel and you always have to be ready for anything. This study just showed how an effective information system could prevent and being well prepared can definitely help prevent any emergency.

The article is a study that was conducted in regards to the security management within a hotel and how an effective security system can help in preventing accidents or emergencies from occuring. The main priority of a hotel or any establishment, besides the service provided, is having an effective emergency plan set in place to be able to respond and overcome a crisis. International hospitality being a focus over the recent years, has suffered crises, risks, and disasters causing negative impacts on tourism and the community. Hotels should "issue a check-list concerning a hotel's vulnerability to emergencies caused by natural disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis) or man-made crises (terrorist attacks, explosions, fires, spill, food poisoning)." Another part of the plan is to focus on the loss prevention aspect of a hotel by implementing information technology to secure or improve security. On technology mentioned was biometric to increase the hotel information system and also to help reduce cost and improve the way we recognize criminal activities. With the hospitality industry being one of the most vulnerable industries to crimes and disasters, it is important to recognize, improve and update the plans set into place to ensure accurate information. While it's impossible to say that these preventions are going to stop these problems from happening, it can help other learn about the proper steps to handling these situations. I personally think that as much as employers suggest different way, it's the job of the loss prevention team in every industry to construct a plan that address as many issues and conduct trainings that would help to prepare us for these occasions. Trainings are going to be the best way to properly analyze a problem and improve on the emergency plan set.

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.

This article discusses the development of new electronic distribution channels for hotel suppliers and consumers to use. There has recently been an emergence of new search engines such as roomkey.com and room77.com that offer a different booking experience than the more established Expedia.com or Orbitz. Roomkey.com is offering a search for high quality hotels with price transparency and links to direct booking on the hotels website. www.roomkey.com Room77 is interesting because it shows the rates of many other OTA websites, all the standards plus some less common sites. You can choose what OTA site you want to book from. The highlight is that room77.com offers floor plans of hotels where you can see the view from multiple rooms and even how far the closest elevator is. www.room77.com Another important emerging channel is mobile phone applications that are geared toward last minute travelers. These channels typically offer a limited inventory at up to a 30% discount. The discount group is yet another new development in distribution channels. Websites such as Tingo.com offer an automatic refund if the price drops after you book your reservation. www.tingo.com Social media also has to be considered. Online reviews can have a tremendous impact on future bookings and hotels have to take this into consideration.

Great help for my Strategic Management Class! Thank you...I wish though, there would be more numbers...But thanks anyway

This article looked at the views on IT investments of Hospitality Technology's Editorial Advisory Board. The Board represents a variety of hospitality industries. The article focused on areas of improvement, emerging technologies, IT priorities for 2012, "wish list" IT investments, and more. Among the areas for improvement, guest Wi-Fi and mobile apps, loss prevention technologies, and social media targeting older clientele topped the list. Older guests connecting to and understanding social media are a worry among many of the Board members as well as lack of standardized, secure payment methods. Many also mention that their current systems (POS in particular) tend to hold them back from implementing new IT technologies because they would not be compatible.  Most Board members listed having mobile devices that could be used for a variety of purposes on the guest end as well as on the business end would be top on their "wish list" for IT implementations. With almost everyone owning smartphones today, I think this would be the smartest and most effective IT implementation to invest in. Many customers and guests are looking for easy and accessible ways of navigating through the hotel and restaurant environments without extensive help from others. Since many people, especially the generation coming up, are more and more attached to their phones and tablets, mobile apps for nearly everything seems like the smart way to go.  Cloud-based servers were a close second in terms of what they wanted in invest in. Many of the Board members pinpointed technologies that have been around but are still new, especially in their respective areas, when speaking of useful emerging technologies. Mobile apps, tablet and 73456

this article gives a great overview of the steps leaders in the Hospitality industry are taking towards new technology. In this article members of the industry were interview regarding weaknesses in the current hospitality market as well as emerging trends that each believe is in rapid increase. Some of the answers give very interesting approach towards technology. Although, overall it seems that the number one emerging technology is the use of cloud-based/mobile-based services.

This article discusses how new demand of customers within the hospitality industry is driving current point of sale systems such as micros to re-term their systems to focus more on customers. It includes several factors that are potentially driving POS systems to be revolutionized. The possibility of POS systems becoming more "from the palm of your hand" is growing each day as more POS systems are converging with wireless devices. As other outside factors influence hoteliers to emerge and update their POS systems, the development and progress of having the most profitable POS systems requires close examination of what works best for each company. One example the article touched on was the change from regular cashier systems to IPad based interactive systems and interactive kiosks. In addition, the enhancements of POS systems overall seem to be increasing F&B profit-a section of the financial statement that was historically less profitable. As with all technology, It is best to refrain from making a large capital investment into emerging systems, starting slow and monitoring how the bottom line is increasing and specific areas such as Room revenue or F&B revenue is the ideal choice.

Excellent Article! POS systems are becoming more user friendly than before. The systems allow companies to track revenue and inventory at the same time. The Walt Disney World Resort tested a POS system that allowed hotel guests to simply flash their room key and the charges would go directly into the POS system then PMS. Hotels have added POS systems to spas, recreation locations and retail stores...(http://www.restaurant.org/nra_news_blog/2012/04/pos-systems-must-accommodate-new-secure-payment-technology.cfm).

Theodore your article proves a great point on the benefits of POS technology. Having a POS system adds more value that will cover its initial cost. Handles greater product volumes. Makes complex business logic possible. Provides more management possibilities of your daily operations such as sales tracking, refunds, time clocks, menus, pricing, revenue maximization, etc.Provides advanced functionalities such as reservation and table management for restaurants, hotels, bars, and any business in the food service industry. Realizes enhanced savings with greater efficiency. Delivers better workflow for staff. Improves customer service and increases customer through-put. Easily manage large numbers of customers and groups. Allows restaurant businesses to combine multiple services into a single invoice (hotel room, meals, events, services). Graphical management of store assets such as table, rooms, bar, etc. Delivers superior reporting and analysis features. Streamlines inventory management. Back Office integration. The purpose of POS system is to accommodate your employees and your customers. If you have happy employees this results in customers having a smile. You have to spend money (POS SYSTEM) in order to make money.

The article show us that when planning a convention, meeting planners consider how to incorporate a range of emerging new technologies for the program. MPI used a fog screen. The imagined possibilities for fogscreen technology, an emerging new technology, include the projection of corporate logos, messages and other images. Event and meeting planners should know about future technologies and how/when to use them in various programs. As part of the MPI WEC 2008 opening reception sponsored by Meetings by Harrah's at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, attendees walked through a fogscreen of the MPI logo as they entered the opening cocktail reception. Caesar's Palace's objective was to showcase how they can change the environment of a static room, explained Reina Herschdorfer, executive director of catering/conventions and events for Caesar's Palace. Fogscreen technology is an emerging technology that is dry, so attendees and guest will not walk through the fog and get wet.

The FogScreen is an extraordinary display option that offers a seamless projection area made, as the name suggests, of dry fog. Using ordinary water, a flat thin layer of mist is created, onto which you can make high-quality projections - that you can walk through. The fog feels cool and dry to touch and, by varying the density of the fog, different effects can be created to suit the venue and your purpose.  The screen is created by using a suspended fog generating device with no frame around, and works with video projectors. The fog they use is dry, so it doesn't make you wet even if you stay under the Fog Screen device for a long time.  The fog is made of ordinary water with no chemicals what so ever. With two projectors, you can project different images on both sides of the screen. It is a display device which is the application of computer graphics. With Fogscreen, planners are able to make better visual effect and encourage more participation and engagement of attendees. However, Fogscreen hasn't been widely used in terms of high prices. 

To prevent the potentially harmful effects by the disaster, the chief engineer Sam Lota of Sheraton Sacramento Rancho Cordova Hotel set up a detailed engineering contingency plan. The plan can protect physical plant systems, computer systems, gas system, etc., and can also back up the electric's battery power and phone system. Instead of reacting to crises as they occur, Lota set up some action plans in advance. He asked staff to review the emergency procedures and make sure the emergency generator can be used smoothly. However, the emergency plan does not specifically deal with the computer system interruption caused by earthquake. Some experts advised that the data should be backed up in an offsite location.

Recently, on October 2012, The Singapore Tourism board hosted a hotel technology conference to effectively inform to this growing industry how existing and emerging technology could be used. The highlights of the conference were how to understand, control, manage, and create the best guest experience. At this conference, they learned at firsthand how industry peers are implementing new technology in the hospitality and tourism industry. . By using technology effectively will support and help the aspects of growing revenue, improving operational efficiencies, and better customer services.

According to the article, a survey sponsored by SAP suggests that businesses are looking to make investments in IT and effective use of technology is seen as a key priority in achieving growth. When it comes to technology, becoming more efficient and using IT more effectively over the next year is among the top three priorities of those surveyed, with 46 percent saying using technology more effectively was a top business priority. The survey indicated this was especially important in emerging countries, including India (72 percent), Brazil (75 percent), Russia (33 percent), China (44 percent) and Mexico (33 percent). In addition, 60 percent of respondents said they are automating more tasks and functions now than three years ago.

According to an Economist Intelligence Unit survey, the survey of more than 1,000 SMEs included businesses from the developed economies of France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the United States. 53 percent of those in developed markets said growth were a top business priority. Effective use of technology was seen as a key priority in achieving growth, and according to respondents, the three main internal obstacles to growth were finding and keeping new customers, hiring and retaining people with the right skills and operating the business efficiently. When it comes to technology, becoming more efficient and using IT more effectively over the next year is among the top three priorities of those surveyed, with 46 percent saying using technology more effectively was a top business priority. The hotel industry usually does not invest enough to grow compared to other industries. I believe it is because they consider being a technological leader in this industry does not bring more profit than they invest. Investing on technology might not bring instant profits but it can be one of ways to become a top business priority.

Safety and security is very important in the hospitality industry. When you have tourist coming to your place every single day then you know you need to have your premises secure. In this article they talk about how hotels have separated and made two different categories, which are security and safety. This article also shows how it is very important that hotel train their staff for an emergency if it was to occur. Training your employees in safety and security would help prevent any emergency that can happen in the hospitality industry. This will just help tourist come to your hotel more because guest will feel safe at your hotel. The system that hotels implement about security and safety is very important and will help keep bringing in your guest.

Mobile web access for emarketing is used more than desktop computer because they are cheaper. Mobile phones connect to the outside world through Web access, voice communication and text messaging.This accessibility is facilitated by an industry that relies on large numbers of micro-payments and subscriptions for revenue.Some countries doesnt have access to phones for example in Africa. Mobile phones have the potential to connect educators with those needing to be educated.Mobile phones and their ability to facilitate communication and provide access to global networks and the Web could change the face of emerging economies.

This article gave us a five new online travel trends.Because travel is a hyper-competitive industry, the most pertinent emerging themes in onine travel are considered and experts insights and predictions are provided in the Las Vegas TDS North America event. First trend is the travel industry need be ready for a mobile-only world. Researches indicates that the mobile sales will increase extremely. Because it is expensive to develop mobile app, so traditional travel companies and online travel companies do not such into launching a mobile app in a short term. Convergence, commerce, content and how these impact customer behavior will be an ongoing theme. There is a risk of firms focus too much on one channel, Customers are using a range of different devices to plan, research, book and review their travel experiences.  Revenue management became essential for the business. It needs to integrate with sales, marketing, channel optimization, loyalty marketing , and operations. Think new markets and new customers like China, India, Brazil and Russia. Firms need to be actively targeting this market and make adjustment such as develop local website etc. Last trend is that there are lots of new development in the industry. Facebook start to monetize travel. Google and Apple are also developing their travel related products. This social travel planning tools become successful. Technology develops and standards emerge, mobile bookings may not just be for the last minute.

This article provides a brief overview of the emerging trends for hotel management information systems. The trends focus on easy mobile access, unattended point of sale, radio frequency identification and near field communications. An increasing number of hotel are using the the cloud for on the go mobile connectivity to their POS systems and revenue management software SaaS. You can manage your hotel from anywhere and be up to date instantly. This trend and the next eliminates the need for desk or office time. Lilipad has created an I-product that allows guests to perform their own transactions at I-Pad kiosk which eliminates time at the front desk. The other large emerging trend is tracking devices that can be implanted in phones or even loyalty cards that link to bank and credit card accounts replacing the traditional wallet. While other articles say there is no rush to cellphones replacing wallets just yet, hotels like Aloft are using RFID's in there loyalty cards eliminating the issue of room keys. Notice in all these trends that the face to face contact with guests that we hospitality students enjoy and train for is decreasing with every new technology.

This article continues on our modules topic of offsite backups. It explains the need for them in case of emergencies, whether it be a breach or a natural disaster that compromises your systems. It mentions the the biggest services; Amazon S3 and also provides their opinion of top 10 options. It provides the benefits for each of the storage services and why they would recommend them. I personally found that Zetta was a great option as they are not only affordable but also very efficient and safe as it uses a push button. It concludes with information that can help a business decide which company is best for them and encouragement to choose one if you want to keep your data safe and readily available in case of an emergency.

This article talks about the future delivery trends expected to emerge in the Ecommerce business. Many shoppers are moving their shopping experience online for reasons such as convenience, time saver etc. However, there are many consumers who prefer the offline shopping experience and some choose to do it because of the lack of certain services online. One of the main reasons they prefer going to the stores is because they have their product available to them immediately rather than having to wait for the delivery. Many retailers are working on solving this issue. The three trends that are most likely to emerge as solutions soon are: same day delivery, drone or robot delivery and pick up and pack companies. These three options will entice customers to shop online since they will be able to receive their products same day. "Research shows that consumers are willing to pay more if it means getting faster delivery. Although this could increase costs for brands, they will get more sales and will be one step ahead of other brands who do not yet offer this service".The retailers might raise the cost of the product but consumers are willing to pay a little extra for same day delivery.

This article expounds how hoteliers can ensure that their property provides a secure environment, while maintaining friendly customer service. This article goes into further detail about implementing key card access reviews in order to prevent the possibility for a criminal to gain undetectable entree to millions of keycard-protected hotel rooms. According to this article, establishing evergreen background screening protocols and controlling after hours access was also crucial in Hotels ensuring that their key card access systems are not vulnerable to hacking or unlawful access. Above all else, this article goes into great depth about maintaining an emergency response plan and team that would allow hotels to proactively implement prevention and response plans for everything from workplace violence to natural disasters.

This article highlights three hardware trends that is shaping the modern hospitality industry globally by focusing on the advances experienced in POS technology. The writer emphasizes that since the hospitality industry has been more focused on services than on retail, restaurant, bars, hotel and pub owners should pay keen interest on the technological developments. This technology is beneficial to the hospitality industry, as it will help the operators improve on customer experience. Hardware plays a critical role in improving the services offered in the hospitality industry. The three emerging trends in hospitality mentioned in the article relate to the trends in EPOS hardware in the industry. The first trend mentioned in the article is mobile EPOS (M-POS), which helps in taking orders, inputting them into the EPOS system, have the order forwarded to the kitchen and processing for the order payment by using wireless broadband. The second trend is kiosks that are self-service points in the hospitality industry. Kiosks have several uses like checking availability, making reservations when the patrons arrive in restaurants and allowing guests to order room service in hotel rooms. The last trend is the use of scanners, which is modern EPOS software for setting up a loyalty scheme for businesses. Scanners have not been a necessary part of the hospitality EPOS but their demand has grown due to the increase in popularity for loyalty schemes among businesses.

This article talks about the three hardware systems that are trending now in the hospitality industry. The Mobile EPOS, Kioks, and Scanners are all meant to make the job of the company run smoother and more efficiently. The EPOS makes it easier to get everything done in one place, for example placing an order, paying and receiving a receipt. Kiosks allow customers to place their own order and have the food delivered to them. Lastly, scanners are a great help when it come tp updating records.

Retail operators are now understanding that point of sale systems can also be used to not only assist in processing the final phase of the checkout but also throughout the entire process to increase the service aspect. The advancement in POS technology is the driving force behind this initiative. Operators of restaurants, bars, pubs, hotels, etc., are using POS technology to improve the customer service experience. The main focus of this is placed on modern specialised EPOS software and hardware systems and how they can help to integrate operations across an entire business. There are three emerging trends in hospitality EPOS hardware that are used to run the software. They are mobile Epos (M-Pos), Kiosks and Scanners. Mobile EPOS (M-POS) use single devices at the table to take orders, input into the EPOS system, forwarded to the kitchen and process the order for payment. Kiosks, on the other hand are self-service points that allow users to process orders and payments separate from collection they can also allow users to check availability and making reservations, allowing them to perform tasks like choosing tables and dining times themselves. Kiosks could play a similar role in hotel rooms, allowing guests to order room service or offering a smart concierge option. The final hardware option mentioned was the use of scanners. Scanners are used in conjunction with the loyalty schemes which are growing in popularity as a way to incentivise repeat business and for updating records.

This article discusses how emerging technology is impacting the hospitality industry. The article mainly focuses on Amazon's new platform, Alexa for Hospitality. This technology allows guests to book flights, order room service, etc. through voice commands, thus providing a more personalized experience. I think that this could be a controversial addition to hotels as many guests may not want a virtual assistant listening to their conversations. I feel that as long as there is a way to turn off the technology guests will be less resistant to this form of technology being used.

There are many reasons one still needs a travel agent. They are now called advisors or consultants because of what they can do and their knowledge. These advisors can assist with a multitude of things including emergencies, getting great deals on trips, They will be your best advocate when issues arise and at no extra cost to the consumer. In addition, a good travel advisors save you time and money on trying to plan you own trip. Travel agents who just booked flights and beds are a thing of the past, travel advisors play a much more complex role and provie a great variety of services.