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This article takes a look at 3 to 5 star hotels in Zimbabwe and South Africa and their environmentally friendly practices. Research shows that the hotel industry has a huge impact on the environment and the use of natural resources. The hotel industry has been negatively impacting the environment by consuming large amount of energy and water, and by producing large amounts of waste. The government has been demanding that hotels implement green practices, these are methods and products that do not negatively impact the environment. The results from the data collected from these two countries showed that none of the hotels had a written green management policy. Even though some of the hotels insisted that there is a green management policy in effect, it was not written down. It is important for policies like this to be written so there is a clear understanding of what is expected.

It seems the main motivation to implement more eco-friendly practices would be legislation/regulation but I wonder how that would be received? Outside the hotel industry,. I wonder how much focus is generally given to environmental concerns? Interesting research.

As technology is advancing, the hospitality industry must also stay on top with the latest trends. Hotels and theme parks using RFID wristbands have gone in the last few years. "RFID Systems are advancing, and more companies than ever are offering these solutions to the leisure industry. This helps drive prices down for operators looking to take the plunge into RFID." The article mentioned 8 benefits of using RFID Wristbands in the hospitality industry. The 8 benefits are: improve guest check- in and entry, go cashless, a hands-free experience, family freedom, security and control, make a social splash, one wristband to rule them all, and lastly, data and insight. As mentioned in the article, Disney World released their wristbands, MagicBand, in 2013 and they have been a hit ever since. I personally worked at the main entrance of Disney's Magic Kingdom and it was much easier and quicker for the guest to enter the theme park with their band rather than an actual ticket. Those guests with wristbands already had them out and were ready to tap the band and touch their finger on the glass. Versus other folks where the parents had the ticket cards for their whole party and once they got to the entrance they had to look for the tickets, pass them out to their kids, and then collect them from everyone once they entered the park. Not to mention, they would have to pass the tickets back out o everyone if they are going to use a FastPass for one of the rides. RFID systems are not new to the industry, as they have actually been used for hotel key cards for many years, however, now they have given them a better use. RFID wristband users may use their band to enter theme parks, hotel rooms, and music festivals, and they can use them as a credit card to pay for things on the property. It's a huge advantage to use these wristbands because it is much easier to wear a band than having to carry around a room card, ticket and a credit card, especially at theme parks o

This article illustrates how advancing technology has dramatically affected the hospitality landscape and what the guest experience looks like for hospitality customers. Guests are increasingly demanding more customization in their experience, less waiting, and increased access to information and their specific preferences. Technology allows all of this and has given hospitality companies greater access to information, particularly customer information and preferences. Social media gives hospitality companies the inside information on what guests want and feel in relation to a hotel, robots are allowing simple, redundant, and sometimes time-consuming tasks to be done much more quickly and with no human interference or interaction, and VR and chatbots are enabling hospitality guests to have more personalized and individualized experiences. Technology is not going away and it is the companies that are able to effectively utilize it to its full potential that will succeed well into the future.

This article talks about 5 tech trends that are being brought into existence. It speaks on the importance of guest experience around technology. These five trends have now changed the game in term of a personalized guest experience. Technology, whether we like it or not has changed our world  indeed, it has revolutionized the way we plan our vacations. There can only be a few areas that have been transformed by technology quite the same way as travel.The Robot by far is the most interesting in terms of being able to carry out request from the guest.However, I believe that this will fill the void of an actually employee. There are pros and cons to the different trends that are coming about. Hotels will really have to evaluate if these trends will fit in with their brand.

Current hospitality trends within the hospitality industry. These current trends are bringing awareness to cloud base storage, application mobility, social media marketing, and integration of amenity software. Companies are now outsourcing its IT department to minimize operating expense.

@corrie242 these six trends discussed are very important to keep efficiencies and competitive advantage, and I can confirm that at the Hotel company I work for, most of these are all in use. The social media use and monitoring has been a big shift in how we have changed the way we capture our guests' sentiment from comment cards being left or mailed to the hotel, to being able to receive immediate feedback in a very public way such as through Tripadvisor, Open Table, Facebook, Twitter, etc. We employ a digital media manager who assists in monitoring all that is said about us through these different channels so we can respond and try to stay on top of what is being commented.

This article was a very interesting read and focuses on the savings and improvements that technology can deliver by outlining six trends. The main item that peaked my interest was the trend of Cloud / Software as a Service (SaaS) or cloud computing. I have been introduced to this concept over recent discussions with a close family member. Like the article noted, the argument that was given by my relative in support of this system was that this concept is the new way to go in information technology. This option is very cost efficient and like the article mentioned it has no initial hardware costs or associated expenses like full time, in-house IT staff to maintain the system. It can also allow management of your network system to be done offsite giving hospitality operators the time to service their guests more efficiently and effectively. With technology constantly changing it is very important for hospitality operators to be aware of the emerging trends in the industry. These trends can aid in considerable growth and improvements that can be beneficial to their businesses.

This press release article talks about how the Global Electronic Recycling Market is segmented on the lines of its type of processed material, type of equipment, source of equipment and regional. I find this interested because after watching the videos from this weeks module, my eyes have been opened to a world I once didn't know about. Computer recycling, electronic recycling or e-waste recycling aren't really recycling. This article is interesting to me because now I have knowledge of what really goes on behind the scenes.

There is a new trend of diners opting to pre-order food through their mobile app and go themselves to pick up the food. This allows them to lower the cost by not having to pay delivery fee, and service charge. It also allows for the food to be more consistent and give them the flexibility to eat wherever the customer prefers either in the restaurant or out. About 20% of diners are using the pre-order option (32% millennials), however only 26% of establishments have the mobile POS technology but 59% of restaurants surveyed plan to add in the next year. About 18% of restaurants have technology allowing customers to order at the table, however 52% said they will add this in the next 2 years. Restaurants are starting to react to the trend from consumers where 53% of millennials mention that the restaurant they choose will base on the digital technology they have including online menu, read reviews, look at Instagram pics, and post their own.

GDS systems are predominantly used by travel agencies to book both individual and corporate travel. By expanding their listings to Travelport and Amadeus, Southwest opens themselves up to increases in bookings but also potentially moving into better competition with larger airlines. Moving into these systems also allows them to offer further NDC enabled content, such as fare bundles and checked bags, helping to build even more bookings.

Southwest has always been on the outskirts when it comes to the top airlines. The "big three" are known as American, Delta and United. In order for Southwest to stay in the game, they are providing full content in Amadeus and Travelport systems. Amadeus is known for its European market and Travelport is known for its US market. Southwest already belongs to Sabre, which is also a US market. However, "those offerings will both complement and exceed Southwest's current limited-content availability on Sabre" (Silk). Henry Hartveldt states that "given Sabre's leading presence in the U.S. market, Southwest will elevate its participation in the Sabre GDS as well" (Silk). Of course, by only belonging to one GDS presence, Southwest was not able to compete with the big three, however, now Southwest is back in the game. In order to sell your tickets, you must be available in the channels that customers prefer to use. Southwest realized that "they had to go down that path or be left behind" (Silk). Vlitas believes that "Southwest's broader entry into the GDSs will result in the legacy carriers boosting the incentives they offer corporate and leisure agencies" (Silk). Other airlines may fear more GDS entries from other airlines, however, it is clear that GDS is here to stay.

AirBnb and City Relay discuss how they are implementing sustainability in the short term vacation rentals that host travellers in their business platforms. Sustainability has become a very important trend in tourism which travellers highly consider and these businesses see sustainability as a way of increasing operational efficiency.

Very interesting read! The article directly asks experts to compare different event management solutions today. The article also includes description of the top trends in event technology.

This is a great read exploring and comparing event management platforms. The author points out that "the key to success is creating meaningful gatherings that engage attendees and make a lasting impact." The author then looks at various event management software solutions and explains how they help event planners to create a good lasting experience. Such platforms include Monday.com, Wrike, Project Manager, among others.

I concur that this article was very informative and helpful.

Hotels rely on the information that is accessed through different intermediary systems that give each property information on their customers, as well as insight on their comp set. OTAs play a key role in assisting properties generate revenue, they have different processes in place such as pay per clicks or commissions involved when bookings are made through their websites. Marketing plays a key role in both OTAs and a properties direct website. Websites must be user friendly, easily accessible and have the ability to function on a mobile device. Majority of bookings are made online and and increasing amount are being made through a mobile device. Ensuring that each of these platforms creates a welcoming environment for each potential guest maximizes the chances of them booking.

An effective marketing strategy starts with knowing your customers and your goals. it is important to understand how to attract online shoppers, increase conversion rates, and have data mining tools to understand the customer's preferences and booking patterns to be able to develop a long-lasting relationship.OTAs and GDS remain an essential part of the industry, as they provide marketing exposure to a wider range of market segments.

This article is helpful in understanding property management systems (PMS), while providing beneficial features that they provide. A PMS should be "well-equipped to handle the entire guest journey." These systems enable hotels to provide a faultless guest experience throughout. A PMS offers features that facilitate processes for the hotel. For instance, this system provides a smart calendar giving hotels easier visibility to their reservations and availability. This system also provides reports and analytics for the hotel, such as sales reports, manager reports, and inventory availability reports. This system facilitates the jobs of the hotels employees, in turn creating a more consistent experience for the guests.

Are POS systems truly helpful in our industry? As we can see, they clearly add massive value to our industries. There is an investment in them, but as we spoke about in our last class, trying to see trends and never going "all in" on the newest systems is key. This article studies where the trend may go from 2018-2028. It is using massive data from all over globally to investigate trends to assist in businesses being profitable.

Unattended POS systems in fast food restaurants like McDonalds can significantly improve their efficiency and remove the pressure from their staff. Restaurants like these are often short staffed. They feel significant impact when they do not have enough staff to support the amount of business that comes through their doors. The cashier often will have to assist in making orders as well, causing a further delay in the line. Adding this and their new drive through initiative, McDonalds will be able to maximize profit, produce more orders in one day and keep their customers waiting minimal amounts of time.

This article focuses on the enhanced technology that fast food chains such as McDonald's are embracing to enhance their service and increase their productivity. An example of this is the self-service kiosks that many McDonald's have installed inside their restaurants. Consumers have adapted well to this technology because data shows that this has increased revenue over time, therefore proving how the unattended POS technology is helping companies be more cost efficient and increase sales.

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.

As we all know, GDS is an online system known as global distribution system, which delivers worldwide data, rates, inventory, offers, real-time availability of airlines, hotel rooms, car rental, bus tickets to bridge the gap between tour operators and travel bookers. The article has introduced the most popular GDS systems in the industry and their strong advantages. In addition, it also reveals the reasons why the industry still uses GDS and the importance of it. In one word, GDS is highly effective in alluring the international travelers with the development of information and technology. It enables the travel agents to make their travel services available to consumers globally where they might not be able to achieve efficient worldwide market penetration through direct marketing efforts.( The article has also given a future prediction about GDS. According to the statistics, GDS will rule the travel industry if it keeps continuing the ever changing needs of airlines and hotel industry.

GDS is very important in the tourism industry. Even if the company creates its own direct sales channels, the impact and benefits of GDS are considerable. Making good use of the advantages of GDS can create word of mouth and revenue for the company in the hospitality industry.

The first products distributed by GDS was hotel lodging reservation system, such as different types of rooms, description and price categories with the airline system. GDS has been increased on the travel market, such as number of flights. Travel Agencies (TA) also use GDS to offer complimentary products, such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation tickets, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne,That means, GDS has become more important distribution channel for nay product through TA. Also TA had more opportunity of more products their own system and GDS system from increase number of booking volume with lower operating costs. It was the first and major goals of GDS being used in the hospitality industry. Even though hopitality ingustry use GDS system, there are few problems, such as show only simple structure. For example, there are 4 different kinds od room and 3 categories od comfort, it means they have 12 different kinds of combination. Because of the GDS database structure, only there 12 combination could be displayed. It took a while to fit all the multiple types of comport rates, rooms and services in GDS standard database structure. Instead of choosing GDS system, they cans choose other alternative system with develop several computerized system to make a database structure closer to product specification. Nowadays, GDS using all of the hospitality industry from reservation hotel rooms to car rentals and Travel Agencies. Through GDS as globally, people are able to to book different kinds of hotel rooms in different destination all around the world, tours, airline seats, cruises and eeve limousines.

Looking at these numbers it becomes very clear how important GDS are to the hospitality industry, more rooms booked means increased revenues and more jobs for hospitality professionals. I am sure that this technology will evolve and transform so it is important to stay current and understand how to get the most out of it.

What's global distribution system? This question is kind of cliché in our group, but this article gives a very good introduction about GDS and it's quite easy to understand comparing to many other articles introducing GDS. This article tells us: How GDS develops from being used only in airline industry to being generally adopted in hospitality industry; What is the working idea behind the GDS; Four major GDS including Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and Worldspan; Advantages provided by GDS.

This article discusses the importance of accounting in the hospitality industry and how the data that is found is utilized in creating the budget that the property must follow. Companies hire managers and directors who are responsible in forecasting, and ensuring their respective departments meet the budgetary goals for the period / year.