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This article describes how a new company, HotelTonight, is attacking the market of spontaneous travelers. The company made an app for iPhone an Android users that sends "Impulse Rates" to users who have the app. Impulse Rates are heavily discounted rates on hotel rooms offered by hotels through HotelTonight for rooms that have been unsold that day. If users like the offer, they can book the room through the app in eight seconds with only three clicks.  There is also a little interview with HotelTonight CEO, Sam Shank in which he answers questions about how the company runs.  I think this is a great idea for company. It helps everyone involved - hotels increase revenue by selling rooms that otherwise would have been empty, consumers get great deals on rooms, and HotelTonight profits off of a nominal fee for processing the transactions. This is similar to the Ding! app from Southwest airlines but designed solely for mobile devices. 

Here is a link to the company's website. I don't have the app but it looks like it would be pretty easy to use. http://www.hoteltonight.com/

A great idea. Truly a win-win for all. I'm glad that they are finding the impulse rates are not affecting the amount of regular booking guests. I would like to try this myself and live life to the fullest.

This webpage is an explanation of all the effective ways you can market thru email in the hotel industry. Obviously if the guests received an email from your company is because they provided you with their email adress, meaning that they are interested. E- Marketing is not spamming. It is very proffesional. At the end of the guests stay, you can use e marketing tools to lude the guest back in your way. You can benefit from E-Marketing by upselling. It is a very powerful tool that can bring you a lot of traffic if you have a great business plan. E- Marketing is also important because you can get guest feed back and fix problems that might occur and also help them come back as well. E-Marketing has changed the hospitality industry in a great way. People no longer need to walk in to your hotel to find out information. If you have a great website, guests can quicly make their own assumptions. If a guest is coming back to the city, E-Marketing can lure them back in.

A Green Hotel Association hotel, which is in Duluth, MN, used LED lights to replace incandescent lights in the last winter holiday season. The LED lights is 99% more energy efficient than standard bulbs, because LED just 2.4 watts compared to 245 watts with standard bulbs. According to the hotel report, there was over 32% less usage than last year, during the 45 days holiday season. Moreover, LED lights have a longer lifetime than stander bulbs-25,000 hours versus 700 hours. Additionally, the feedback from guests was entirely positive. Frequently guests commented about the curb appeal of the inn's exterior lighting. There will more and more hotels use LED lights in the future.

That is a pretty cool article. A couple hundred dollars of savings might not seem like a lot when we think of hotels, but that is huge for a little bed and breakfast. Imagine what a chain of hotels could save if they switched to LED Christmas lights. In this class we usually talk about complicated computer systems but a more simple technology upgrade like this can have large impacts on the bottom line too.

From this article, using LED lights save the energy and save the cost for the hotels. And it is easy to see that green operation will be more an more pupular in hotels.

StarwoodMeetings.com is a new simple website that can provide all the useful information about the meeting planning in Starwood hotels. This website can give the planners full property details such as the hotel feature, integrated maps, photos and floor plans, on-site meeting service, and meeting management tools for event planners to plan their events easier. A compare view tool which provided by this website can helps planners to compare hotels and their special offers. This new site also includes information on signature services like Starwood Preferred Planner and On-site Specialty Event. The Starwood hotel listens to customers' feedback and tries to provide all the useful information which needed by the event planners throughout the planning cycle. What's more, planners can get special offer which available at more than 350 Starwood properties in North and South America when they book event through this website. In order to encourage planner to book meeting on this new web, hotel provide bonus for those planners. Those bonuses include a welcome reception, percent off master-billed rooms, or complimentary room upgrades.

This is a great tool for event planners and a very smart move on Starwood's part. By giving the event planners access to this software they avoid unnecessary phone calls asking basic questions and save valuable time that could be used for something else. If it enhances Starwood's productivity and does not frustrate the event planners (user friendly/ user acceptance) it should become more prevalent in other hotels as well.

The article is about the idea of scanning people's emotions (emotion harvesting) at events to measure the return on investment of the attendees. The article talks about how already existing technology could be adopted for event planners and businesses to gather real times response and feedback on events.

Highlight: IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) is inviting preferred business accounts across Asia Pacific to move to a dynamic pricing model, guaranteeing corporate travellers to always pay less than best unrestricted rates at its InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express in the region. My Description: InterContinental Hotels Group is making efforts to turn its original accounting and pricing system into a more dynamic and flexible one, which can make more market-sensitive hotel rates according to the demand situation. Currently , IHG is trying to increase the scale of market-sensitive rates to the traditional contract rates. Therefore Corporate travel managers should feel confident they have access to the best possible rates in hotels of IHG. This model guarantees they will pay less than any other unrestricted rates. One advantage of this market-sensitive accounting and pricing system to annualized rates is to respond to unexpected market condition. This dynamic pricing system will not only help corporate managers to reduce related costs but also bring more convenience to corporate travelers as the increase of booking channels. The application of IHG's dynamic pricing system bring many positive feedbacks, especially as these corporate customers usually end up paying less than their RFP-contracted counterparts

This article gives a good short look at the pros and cons of the Aloha POS system. The system is one of the most popular POS systems used in the industry. Aloha is currently used by small independent restaurants, local franchises, and national chains. The system is said to be a blend of many systems. NCR recently purchases Radiant Systems the developer of Aloha. The system includes both hardware and software. Some of the benefits of the system include the large number of training modules. Operationally the system has a "intelligent tracking system including on-screen dashboards that update in real-time to assist in management decisions in both FOH and BOH areas". In addition, the system can "personalized service by identifying repeat customers, remembering their preferences and keeping track of VIP guests". Back office features that are included with the system are labor assignments and work schedules. The systems also can keep track of maintenance, cleaning schedules, and daily duties. On the management side the system is said to provide "complete system control". Some critics of the system say the disadvantages are that the costs are too high and that restaurants pay for every upgrade. The quality of service depends on the quality of the local vender. Hardware may need to be changed with new upgrades is software adding to the high costs than expected by customers. After reading this article my feeling is that for an small independent restaurant the Aloha system might not seem like a good choice after considering the total cost of the system. Smaller, less complex systems seems like the way to go.

MICROS Systems, a leading provider of information technology solutions for the hospitality and retail industries, is pleased to announce that Morgans Hotel Group has chosen to implement cloud-based MICROS OPERA across its hotel portfolio, which includes 13 locations. The solution will be hosted in the MICROS US Datacenter. MICROS OPERA Property Management Solution (PMS) will be implemented initially at Hudson in New York, and is planned to be deployed at all Morgans Hotel Group properties by the end of 2013.

Morgans Hotel Group recently made a decision to use Micros Opera for their PMS system at all 13, and growing, locations. They made their decision based on the needs of their company and what the future has in store for them. Based on the article, I would say they probably did a lot of research before officially deciding what program to use. When comparing options, I can honestly say that no PMS system or similar is perfect. There will always be something that can be improved and there will always be different pros and cons with each one, it's a matter of determining what is important for your company and what will be beneficial for the future. As frustrated as I may get with some of these systems, I would say Opera is one of the most widely functional systems to use. I have noticed that Micros is good at listening to feedback and seeing where they can improve. If it's feasible, you can usually expect an update somewhere that will help increase their functionality.

After reading this article, it truly gave me a better sense that technology continues to grow within hospitality and customer service continues to be the focal point of every hospitality organization. The Keating hotel in San Diego, CA, invested in the RightHear app which provides visually impaired guests to navigate the property easily through the use of the RightHear app. Beacons (Bluetooth low-energy sensors) are installed throughout the property that enable playback of voice information in locations where they are installed. They contain a tiny, smart, self-powered sensor that uses Bluetooth technology to detect whenever a user is nearby. They can typically be found near entrances, restrooms, elevators, stairs or any other points of interest in the venues. The app picks up these sensors and reads the information to the user, allowing them to guide themselves throughout the hotel but also giving them the ability to call for assistance, if needed. The instructions are controlled on an online dashboard interface that is being updated by the hotel management. The Keating hotel is the first within the United States to provide such convenience for these guests, and they have been fortunate enough to receive positive feedback not only from the users but also venues who are intrigued by this implementation

The article discusses different ways that events can maximize the use of their data pre, during and post event. Using their registration software analytics, you should pay attention to which channels are most successful and monitor abandonments, which can be followed up on individually. Skipping a lengthy registration questionnaire at the beginning makes it easier for guests to sign up and then its recommended to follow up with an invitation to 'join the community' where you can dig deeper into their details and find out what they are really interested in. Utilizing a social component allows guests to promote different activities to each other and those not yet signed up. I think the most important take away from the article is to have software that can be compatible with other functions that are taking place around the event including payment, sponsor management, merchandise sales, early bird and walk up registrations. Having all of this data in one place allows an event organizer to analyze and share it with internal stakeholders on the sales and marketing teams but also sponsors that want detailed guest information to show the ROI on their sponsorship.

MODULE 7: This article is about the growing trend of quick-service brands implementing mobile and kiosk ordering for their customers. For major quick-service brands like McDonalds, Burger King etc. they've started to implement self-service kiosks or mobile apps allowing their customers to pre-order their meal and pick it up without waiting in a long queue line. At the base of this ever-growing trend, the trend is very similar to when banks started to provide self-servicing ATMs. According to the article in the next three years most of any quick-service brand that has multiple locations on a regional and/or national scale will have implemented a mobile ordering system within their operations. While taking this into consideration, quick-service restaurants need to be careful in how these mobile apps are perceived by people who isn't using it. Some may think that using the mobile app promotes those people to "skip the line", which can cause some negative feedback. With that said, now these quick-service brands need to satisfy their customers who don't use the mobile app so that they don't feel obsolete for not partaking in the trend before. With this growing trend, these quick service brands will not only have to think about their customers walking in their locations but also for the potential customers that are walking on the streets with their mobile devices.

This article is showing how social media can positively impact guests experiences. This article was extremely useful for me. As a marketing consultant for a restaurant my main job is to interact with potential customers via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Yelp. One thing the article mentions is how social media is constant. This is extremely true when you have the ability to access communication with your costumers or clients. For example, in my case, if a customer posts a picture of a featured dish on the menu, I can easily and quickly reply with a positive comment, which could increase the potential for a loyal customer. The article starts off by how one can also monitor negative reviews on social media. I think this issue is so important to ensure good rapport between employees and guests. If a guest(s) posts a bad review on Yelp or Facebook, it is imperative to repair that by publicly apologizing and offering another free service or stay etc.

Events and event planners can use wearable technology like smart watches to maximize the experience of the attendees as well as gather data. One use for wearable technology at events would be secure transactions. This would allow guests to update their payment credentials and use their band for easy payment. Hilton used a wearable device at their Hilton America' Leadership Conference and saw great success.

Event management could become a various tedious job depending on how large of an event you are planning. Event Management Technologies have allowed Event Managers to help better control their planning and spending budgets, as well help get the word out of their event through different social media platforms. This article helps supports these points and others. This article covers how with new technologies in event management there is the ability to compare past events similar to ones you are currently working on now and see exact prices of different items so you could determine if there is a cheaper route to go or if they are necessary at all. The platforms utilized nowadays allow planners to share with their crew and even clients what is going on in the planning process so all could be on the same page. There is also the ability to market events via social media which helps reduce costs of hiring marketing teams to get the word of the event occurring.

This was a very interesting article, it discussed how virtual reality and augmented reality are reshaping the event industry. Many high end brands are using it in their events to immerse the attendees. Additionally it is being used pre-event by both the attendee and organizer. The attendee can use it to pick their seats at a show and the organizer can use it to inspect a remote location without having to physically be there. I believe in the next few years we will see more events take advantage of VR & AR technology.

Artificial intelligence may sound like a topic for the future but this article helps to enlighten just how much we are using AI's and shows how they are the "now". The benefits that come from integrating artificial intelligence are incomparable. Examples of the limitless things an AI can do can include, controlling reward programs, detail occupancy patterns and adjust price accordingly, control chat rooms, create personalized experiences, organize marketing and social media, and so much more. It is so powerful that it can practically control and accomplish any task in any hospitality department.

This article discussed the importance of planning within an event and all of the aspects that have evolved with advancements in technology. Ultimately, making event planning more organized for the planner and the client. These interactive technology pieces can help keep all parties in the loop and prepared for anything.