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ROI?  Will it make a difference to you if you are able to track your luggage on a flight?  Would you pay an additional 20% for your luggage or possible rent one? This technology is being developed where you can track your luggage on your mobile phone.   Not sure the technology will actually make a difference in consumer choices.   

Many airline companies use the global distribution sysytem(GDS). People can compare flight costs on every reservation in one website. But American Airlines airefares can no longer be found on Expedia or Orbitz. They built their own booking website. Actully, customers sometimes they have their own ideas, but some consumers still rely on travel agents. So there is a dilemma for both travel agency and Airline industry. We should have a positive attitude to deal with GDS.

There is a lot of talk within the travel industry about the future of travel distribution. Some argue that direct bookings from airlines are the new future, while others are arguing that the continued use of GDSs still remain essential to travel distribution. ASTA and Travel Weekly conducted a survey of travel agencies to get their take on GDSs. Although the use of GDSs continues to shrink, the declining rate of use has been slowing down. In 2010, the rate was 76% and in 2011 the rate was 75%. In 2012, surveys found that 72% of agencies surveyed were still using a GDS. ASTA predicts that the rate of decline will eventually stop because no other method of booking flights beats the GDS System. Agencies surveyed said that they continue to use GDSs because of the speed, and the ability to easily compare airlines and hotels. Airline bookings continue to be the main reason for the success of GDSs, with 90% of air bookings made through the GDS. 95% of car rentals are made through a GDS, and 50% of hotel bookings are done through GDS. GDS systems continue to drive competition, and make it easier for agencies to negotiate with suppliers. Agencies also continue to receive incentives from GDSs as long as they use a GDS. I believe that as long as travel agencies stay in business and are continuing to turn a profit then the GDSs are safe. Travel agencies are not likely to switch to a new system if the easily accessible, and easily manageable system is still GDS. If travel agencies begin to become less popular, then GDSs may see a rapid decline in the use of the system.

This article is talking about the cooperation between the TTI technologies international and the Roosevelt Hotel. In order to provide a better customer service and hotel solutions, the Roosevelt Hotel chooses TTI company to help the hotel build a business center in the lobby. Why was the Roosevelt Hotel selected this company? TTI technologies has its special applications. The application has effectively implementing technology that can search and collect information from hotels, resorts, hostels, airports, retailers, and more by the internet. After installing the application in the PC and Mac, the hotel makes the guest more convenient to get the information about the flight information. This application has solutions to expedite guest check-in, improve operational efficiencies, and protect assets from false charge claims and erroneous personal identification.Also with the help of this application you can gain your guest satisfaction. Meanwhile because of the function of this application, people are willing to stay in your hotel longer. This can gain your reputation and profits. TTI system is a wonderful and useful application. It is a good choice for the hotel which wants to have a better customer service.

Mobile users are not just playing Angry Birds or checking the local weather, 38% have used their mobile devices to plan a trip and 60% of respondents said they have downloaded travel apps on their mobile devices, according to a TripAdvisor survey. While travelling, 62% of travelers said they use their mobile devices to research restaurants. 51% check their flight status and 46% research attraction, 28% have checked in to a restaurant, hotel or attraction using their mobile device while on a trip, according to TripAdvisor. (travelmole, May 2011). A research conducted by PhoCusWright shows that 75% of frequent business travelers (those making at least five trips a year) are smartphone owners. About half of frequent leisure travelers have smartphones. There's more than enough evidence for the hospitality industry to use mobile apps, and some hotels have already started and are successfully doing it.

this is a old article but there is a good view for future marketing of hotel. that is mobile marketing. with more and more people using the smartphone, the apps for marketing will be a great way to expand your markets. airilines already use this technology to provide travel alerts concerning weather changes and flight schedules. why hotel can not provide such apps for customer. we can see that ther are several third part apps for booking and resevation already popular. so, how about a hotel creat their own apps for customers for the renovation and promotions. i think it will attrack more people to focus on you and bring more business for the hotel.

This article introduces a new security tech at airport checkpoint. As the article mentioned, security check can be sad and embarrassing experience when before get onto a flight. The new imaging technology uses waves instead of x-ray to detect metallic item or other potential dangerous material on passenger without showing privacy image. And less scanning time gives a faster and more comfort experience rather than traditional invasive check. The new checkpoint machine will implement in more airports in recent future.

The Swissotel Chicago hotel was renovated this spring with a total investment of $10 million. The hotel decided to invest in new technology to attract more business and improve the overall performance of the hotel. "Updates to the lobby include a new earth-tone color palette and check-in pods in place of a central front desk. All front-desk agents are now equipped with laptops that allow them to roam and check guests in even when they're not stationed at the pods." This new renovated hotel offers a soundtrack of DJ beats, televisions, and multimedia plug-ins. The meeting space also provides the best in technology. "The hotel is the first Chicago property to offer Nervana's Bonfire Events Management app for meeting planners and attendees." This allow event planners to work more efficiently with schedules, flights, meetings and presentations "connects meeting participants through a social media site, and sends alerts for any schedule changes."

This is an interesting article mentioning how airline industry goes green. Air France and Airbus combined the latest Bio-fuel and air traffic management technologies and reduced CO2 emissions in half. Furthermore, Continuous Descent Approach (CDA) is becoming more widespread as a way to reduce fuel burn. It requires significantly less engine thrust and less fuel burn. These green bio-fuel and CDA strategies might make airline companies as sustainable and valuable chains.

Point of sale systems are revolutionizing the retail and hospitality industry. They have gained much attention and are now much more common then the older cash register terminal systems that once used to be at every retail store in Australia. The reason for their increasing popularity in retail stores, hotels, and restaurants is that they are more efficient and make processing and tracking orders easier. In the hospitality industry a POS system is much better because of the different needs, requests, and reservations of customers. Data must also be stored, and processed by the staff of the hotel to ensure smooth operation of the hotel. Because POS systems can record date such as payroll. labor, volume of good sold etc, they are more feasible then a cash register system. POS systems are now found in high volume restaurants. Restaurants that bustling with clients have installed this new software to be able to track and complete orders in real time, similar to a rail or airport flight schedule. Customers appreciate when their food is delivered on time, and when their orders are not mixed up. For high volume or busy restaurants the POS system offers incredible advantages and the possibility of increasing profits.

The tech people are saying the smart phone lock/key will change the whole industry. Some people are still worries about security issues but the it company is saying the technology is no different then programming a key cared which are already being used at hotels everyday.The smartphone is already a boarding pass,a flight tracker and travel guide so why not a hotel key ? Whats next ?

Sophisticated automation is changing the method by which reservations are requested and accepted. Never before have hotels had reservations coming into their property from so many varied directions. Legislation is being considered for presentation to Congress which would require divestiture of CRS by individual airlines. The bill would prevent any airline from owning more than ten percent of a CRS system that list flights and schedules of other carrier. The justification for this is that the airlines often find a way around any rules the US government enacts, including present ones.

In this article, the author mentions something about the online booking glitches happened sometimes. Although they are not a big deal, it affects consumers in some degree. First, the fare jump happens sometimes when consumers are booking their flights online. While they clicking the searching results, it will come out a price, the fare jumps after they click the price and they are ready to book it. For example, the price shows in the search result list is 582, when consumer clicks the price button and is ready to book it, the 'fare jump' happens at next booking procedure page. It always makes consumers a little angry but have nothing to do with it. I meet the same problems in the past when I booked the flight. Those spokesmen said that these are technical problems, those inventory systems, called global distribution systems, do not always have the freshest price information, which in some cases changes so frequently that between the time the travel agency site queries the distribution system for a requested fare and the consumer actually clicks on that fare, the prices could have changed. In my opinion, that's part of reason, staffs who in charge of the website is another big part of reason. Second, consumers also meet the problem of mix lower-class tickets into the first-class search results. That is the responsibility of e-travel agencies, because they mislabel or fail to label the fare on different occasions. It seems to be another glitches, but it will affect consumers a lot when they are booking. To sum it up, details determine success or failure. Even though these are tiny problems, in a long run, they will disappoint consumers and finally lose them.

This article suggests that consumers now purchase in a more customized why with new technologies offered through applications and data plans through consumer's phones, tables and laptops. Airline consumers have recently changed their purchasing habits to choices such as in-flight WiFi, priority boarding, premium seating, meals or doubling their miles instead of the traditional schedules and fares. Airlines have veered to selling these types of customized travel services through direct selling to consumers and have eliminated the use of global distribution systems GDS. Airlines have found that the use of GDS's are more expensive to both the airline and consumer and that GDS's technology has yet to evolve to enable the kind of customer-focused and customized shopping that other industries have embraced. Now GDS's has ask that the Department of Transportation DOT to protect its market dominance by having DOT force airlines to give them, free of charge, the ability to sell options services as checked bags, seat upgrades or club access. Airlines believe that consumers should know what the are paying for.

This article claims that GDS systems are actually limiting consumer choices. The author suggests that using new distribution technologies that connect us directly to reservation systems would be better for consumers because it provides them with all the choices the airlines can offer, without the extra charge. Purchasing a ticket through GDS is three times more expensive than purchasing the ticket directly. Airlines, which aim to support consumer choice and transparency with its customers, try to tailor travel options to accommodate a passenger's individual needs. However, GDS opposes this movement by urging airlines to use outdated equipment that requires its due fees, which in turn raises the cost of travel for consumers.  

Expedia hopes bloggers can serve as an important plank in its effort to re-engineer the way people shop for hotel and airplane tickets by incorporating those transactions into a marketplace driven by social networks. A senior director for travel research firm PhoCusWright, believes Expedia's plan is a viable one. Expedia's goal is to make planning the entire trip - from flights to hotel to transportation, with even restaurant selections and amusement park tickets - an integrated shopping experience. For example: your family is planning a spring break trip to Orlando. After booking flights, your hotel search would incorporate friends' views on particular properties. There's already some evidence that social networks spur sales in the travel industry. Expedia's plan could pose a threat to the largest source of online hotel reviews, TripAdvisor. Both company and bloggers say they aren't concerned that readers may be turned off by commercial relationships between the travel agent and writers.

Of course the company and the bloggers aren't concerned about what the readers think. The company wants to increase business any way that it can and the bloggers want free trips. Personally, I would be turned off by knowing that the blogger was compensated for their trip review. I recently watched a special on Aulani in Hawaii run by SamanthaBrown who works for the travel channel. I was very irrritated to hear her clearly non-objective opinions of the resort. I am far more interested in what other non-paid travellers think. I think that companies should be concerned about the perception of them paying for the reviews. I can understand the bloggers wanting to be paid for access to their followers, I just personally don't find any validity in these types of opinions. I think Expedia should keep looking for ways to tap into the social network as a business strategy, but I will trust the opinions of my actual friends over paid bloggers. I appreciate that Expedia would allow for negative reviews, but if a resort is paying Expedia for a review and Expedia is paying the blogger, then in my opinion precious objectivity is lost.

The article states that future Revenue Managers must be very tenacious in balancing the power of technology and managing the data process. With the advances of technology, social networking, e-commerce, online travel agencies, and mobile technology e-business have a great impact in our industry. Mourier claims "Already schooled in the way in which mobile has radically altered the air travel booking and in-flight entertainment experience, hotels guests are using everything from social media to online travel agents, (OTAs) to seek out and locate the best value." With the influence of social media, e-commerce, and travel review sites such as tripadvisor, Revenue Managers have to consider the impact those have in their businesses. Revenue managers need to understand what drives potential customers to stay in their hotels. The future Revenue Manager should possesses technological skills, understand the global market conditions, advances in technology, being cost effective, understand the importance of overall package deals and incentives, familiarize himself with the great impact of social media and advances in technology. "What's the cost-benefit analysis of launching a mobile-enabled web page versus an app and is having both redundant? Admittedly, there's no single answer to these questions and no one size fits all so the sooner RMs and hotel executives begin this conversation, the better," and have great leadership skills. It is really important that hotel managers understand that in todays' world technology can be a competitive advantage of their hotels if the use it adequately.

Your description of the article is very enlightening. Revenue managers really need to step up their game if their hotels are to remain in the running. This places a lot of pressure on them, but I like how you addressed their meeting with hotel executives. Perhaps the need for review of e-commerce and social media along with travel review sites will create a new position within the organization, it seems like too much for one RM.

This article, posted on seekingalpha.com discusses the success behind Kayak. Kayak is an OTA that "gives consumers a one-stop research solution to best fares along with other value-added services like flight status updates and pricing alerts." However Kayak's revenues stem primarily from advertising and referrals. The article futher breaks down the percentiles of the profits with ads at 55% and referrals at 38%. Kayak's stock is at a premium and only seems destined to improve. A very interesting graph portrays estimates of its improvements for both ads and referrals.

The travel industry has evolved over the past years. In the article it talks about how travel was limited in years gone by and you had to physically sit in a travel agent office in order to book your vacation. They were the only one who had all the information about travel. Then came the evolution of the travel industry and now everybody can book their vacation online with or without the help of a travel agent.

The article here explains the evolution of how we used Travel Agents back in the day and how we got to a point where we no longer needed travel agents. Back in the old days if anyone wanted to fly to another country or state, we went thru travel agents so we can get a booked flight and car services etc. Now we do everything ourselves. We find out information on our own and book and print our own tickets. Why? because of the internet. The internet will teach you anything and will give you whatever you are looking for. According to the article , people are overwhelmed in all the information provided by the internet that they cant decided where they want to go or where they want to stay at. So business is coming to travel agents. We feel so busy now and days that we give all the work to someone to do everything for us.

Arthur & Alex Beach were onboard the Costa Concordia when it began to sink. They were taken from one place to another on bus and train, until they go to an airport outside of Rome where they were able to call their son to call their Travel Agent, Jackie Berube, where she helped them book a flight out the next day. Many people these days have access to the internet where they can look at the information themselves. There are also many people that would like to save the trouble and call a Travel Agency to help them find specific information. Although when the Economy isnt doing so well, they begin to drop Financially because people are traveling less. Travel agents used to rely heavily on a percentage of the price of an airline ticket, now they often charge flat fees for airline ticket purchases or creating a custom trip package.

Some travel agents has made a shift in the way they do business. Since most agencies have went out of business after airlines took away their commissions and consumers started to shop online, they had to start offering more service than the internet can provide.