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natashacastro

Fyre Festival, a Luxury Music Weekend, Crumbles in the Bahamas - The New York Times - 0 views

  • Promoted by Instagram influencers including Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski as a never-before-seen V.I.P. event, the gathering — with weekend ticket packages starting around $1,200 and topping six-figures with extras
  • On social media, where Fyre Festival had been sold as a selfie-taker’s paradise, accounts showed none of the aspirational A-lister excesses, with only sad sandwiches and free alcohol to placate the restless crowds. General disappointment soon turned to near-panic as the festival was canceled and attendees attempted to flee back to the mainland of Florida.
  • “Not one thing that was promised on the website was delivered,” said Shivi Kumar, 33, who works in technology sales in New York, and came with a handful of friends expecting the deluxe “lodge” package for which they had paid $3,500: four king size beds and a chic living room lounge. Instead Ms. Kumar and her crew were directed to a tent encampment. Some tents had beds, but some were still unfurnished. Directed by a festival employee to “grab a tent,” attendees started running, she said.
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  • By Friday morning, the festival, founded by the rapper Ja Rule and the tech entrepreneur Billy McFarland, was in damage-control mode. “Fyre Festival set out to provide a once-in-a-lifetime musical experience,” the organizers said in a statement. “Due to circumstances out of our control, the physical infrastructure was not in place on time and we are unable to fulfill on that vision safely and enjoyably for our guests.” (A second weekend, planned to start May 5, was also scrapped.)
  • internet programming, the ocean and rap music.
  • But the pair soon discovered logistical hurdles, including a lack of proper water systems and transportation. “There wasn’t the infrastructure we needed. We attempted to build a city out of nothing,” Mr. McFarland said. “Neither of us had developed an island or a festival before.”
  • Still, after a few months of planning — including adding sewage piping and buying an ambulance in New Jersey and shipping it to the island — the organizers thought they were ready for the crowds until the storm on Thursday morning washed away some of what they had built.“Our mistake was trying to own all of it in-house,” said Mr. McFarland, who is also the founder of Magnises, an exclusive members-only benefits card for upwardly mobile millennials. “We were in over our heads.”
  • The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism expressed its dismay in a statement on Friday, citing the festival’s “disorganization and chaos.” It continued: “ We offer a heartfelt apology to all who traveled to our country for this event.”
  •  
    This article is a perfect example of how event planning can go terribly wrong with social media usage. The Bahama music festival hosted by Ja-Rule and his company left hundreds stranded on the Island of Great Exuma. The event started off by being promoted through instagram, mainly by famous celebrities such as Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner. Tickets were sold at $1,200 for the utmost luxurious experience. Come the weekend of the festival, music go-ers arrived into full chaos. Everything that had been promised to the guests such as deluxe lodges, yoga tents and food courts were missing. People showed up to an empty island with no food, water or basic shelter. Clearly the festival was poorly executed and planned and it was canceled. There was a lack of infrastructure on the island to provide safety for the guests along with a lack of proper water systems and transportation. The event planners had not had a proper back up plan for storms that could potentially hit the island (which happened) which completely set back everything. Many viewed this Fryre Festival as a major scam and were extremely upset, but what it turned out to be was a poorly planned and executed music event.
Carl Miller

6 Ways to Avoid a Project Failure | Top Stories | | Hospitality Magazine (HT) - 1 views

  • the reasons that projects fail are the same today as they were ten years ago
  • One way to avoid the system implementation mistakes of the past is to adopt a modern view of project assurance methodology.
  • Many organizations will set overly optimistic go-live dates in spite of the realities and limitations of the actual project. For example, the design phase extends ... but the time line doesn’t.
  •  
    This article is a must read for any company looking at a new software implementation. At my last job I was part of the implementation team and we had to set up, test, and install our new software system. We had an implementation team in place but we didn't have a great plan in place before we started and it showed. We were all rarely on the same page and we each had our task list and did it without really communicating with one another. I ended up leaving the company before we were done but I know the actual "go live" date ended up being about four months later than the original target date.  If we had had more of a plan in place at the start I'm sure the implementation would have gone more smoothly. From personal experience, I can attest to the validity of this article. Researching and mapping out a plan is as important as researching and choosing the best software for your company.  
Marcos Oliveira

| Renaissance ClubSport Hotel Reduces HVAC Energy Costs by 35%Pelican Wireless Systems - 0 views

  • HVAC energy consumption drives over 60% of most hotel energy bills each month
  • Renaissance Hotel discovered that by implementing Pelican Wireless Systems wireless HVAC Energy Management solution, they could substantially reduce energy consumption, decrease their monthly energy bill, and at the same time increase their overall customer satisfaction.
  • previous room configuration had basic thermostats installed in the rooms which were left running even when the rooms had no checked in guests.  They also had no way to monitor the health of their existing HVAC units, and their facilities department was being called upon by the front desk regularly to resolve guest complaints about uncomfortable room temperatures
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  • Renaissance property is made up of six floors with 175 hotel rooms; it also includes a conference center totaling 4000sf, and an 85,000sf full service spa and workout facility
  • In order to successfully achieve the Renaissance goal of reducing energy costs without compromising guest satisfaction, Pelican needed to implement a cost effective energy management and data monitoring solution that provided accurate, real-time data that Renaissance could easily access themselves
  • Pelican’s wireless solution included exchanging their old thermostats with 226 of Pelican’s wireless intelligent Internet Programmable Thermostats, one Wireless Gateway for seamless communication between the Thermostats and the Cloud based servers, and one Pelican Property Management Interface to enable communication to Renaissance’s Property Management System
  • installation took only two installers three days to complete at an active hotel that is rarely under 100% occupancy.
  • Pelican’s solution takes advantage of two easily measured conditions found at hotels; Occupancy Rate and Average Nights Stay
  • Business hotels in the US typically see an average of 1.6 hotel nights per stay.  This means that as much as 50% of the time hotel rooms are vacant during the daytime.
  • Pelican’s simple, but intuitive technology interfaces to both your Hotel’s Property Management System and to the Internet to access the Pelican Site Manager
  • Initial setup is done via an easy to understand graphical user interface accessible on any Web Browser. Our Cloud Based servers allow you to access your resources and have control of your information from anywhere you have an Internet connection.
  • allows your authorized staff to have central control via a Web Browser from any Smartphone, iPad or Tablet with Internet connectivity.
  •  
    In an effort to cut expenses the Renaissance Club Sport Hotel installed the Pelican Wireless HVAC Thermostat. This saved them $41,160 a year on energy related costs giving them an ROI of 8.5 months. Through research presented by Pelican Wireless it was discovered that HVAC energy consumption drives over 60% of most hotel energy bills each month. The Renaissance Hotel discovered that by implementing the Pelican Wireless technology they could save substantially each month on energy costs. The previous room configuration had basic thermostats installed in the rooms which were left running even when the rooms had no checked in guests. They also had no way to monitor the health of their existing HVAC units and their facilities department was being called upon by the front desk to regularly check the AC. Installation took only 3 days with 2 installers in a sold out hotel consisting of 175 hotel rooms, conference center, spa and workout facility. Pelican's technology interfaces with the Hotel's PMS and to the internet to access the Pelican Site Manager. Initial setup is done via an easy to understand graphical user interface accessible on any Web Browser. Cloud based servers allow access to resources and have control of information from anywhere there is an internet connection.
Hui Chen

What's global distribution system? - 5 views

  • A global distribution system (GDS) represents a computerized system used for managing different transactions within the air travel and hospitality industry. At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.
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  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.
  • However, due to the fact that GDS’ were originally created to distribute plane tickets, their database structure was specifically designed to store information about this product.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and mor
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved.
  • However, due to the fact that GDS’ were originally created to distribute plane tickets, their database structure was specifically designed to store information about this product.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.
  • The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.
  • As mentioned before, one of the first products distributed by GDS was hotel accommodation. Hotels have loaded the information related to their different types of rooms, description and price categories within the airline reservation system database. When this information became available online, thousand of clients started making bookings all around the world. This fact was advantageous for each participant. Hotels benefited from distributing their products to a larger audience, travel agencies had the opportunity of booking more products through their computerized system and GDS benefited from a growth in booking volume, which helped them to lower operating costs.
  • The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.
  • The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.
  • The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.
  • The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.
  • The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.
  • Nowadays global distribution systems interconnect almost everything within the hospitality industry, from hotels to car rental companies and travel agencies. There are four major GDS available: Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and WorldSpan. Some of the advantages provided by GDS are their availability (99,9% of the time), their response times (up to a fraction of a second), their multiple booking capability, as well as their top of the line architecture. On any given day, a GDS will be capable of accessing over 50000 hotels and approximately 1000 airlines. Through GDS systems, people are able to book various hotel rooms, tours, airline seats, cruises and even limousines.
  • The working idea behind a GDS is this: any GDS provides services to an electronic shop for all information related to travel and reservation-related needs. In other words, the GDS has become a very important distribution channel for any product sold through travel agencies. Basically, if a vendor wants to be sold through travel agents, he must be listed on a GDS
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    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.
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    Global Distribution System were develop and meant only for the airline reservations. The impact of the GDS on the travel industry is that it increase competition, more flights were available and this reduce cost. With the increase and cost reduction travel agents start to see decrease in their earnings they received from airline sales, so with the GDS they were able to book other services such as hotels and car rentals with airline reservations. With GDS it is much easier and convenient to make a reservation from flight, hotel and car rental because everything is link together.
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    Summary of a global distribution system (GDS) A global distribution system (GDS) represents a computerized system used for managing different transactions within the air travel and hospitality industry. Historically, GDS' were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a result, GDS' are now implemented for hospitality industry as whole. The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights increased which led to increase competition among the players and this brought down the overall prices. The main purpose of a GDS is to provide services to an electronic shop for all information related to travel and reservation-related needs and one of the first products distributed by GDS was hotel accommodation. Hotels throughout the market uploaded the information related to their different types of rooms, description and price categories within the airline reservation system database. When this information became available online, thousands of clients started making bookings all around the world. This fact was advantageous for each participant. Hotels provided GDS with a challenge of fitting all the different sizes, styles, amenities, and etc. It took a while to fit all the multiple types of comfort rates, rooms and services in a GDS standardized database structure. A general strategy was therefore needed. Rather than loading hotel products inside the GDS, the accepted solution was to develop several computerized systems with a database structure closer to product specifications. Nowadays global distribution systems interconnect almost everything within the hospitality industry, from hotels to car rental companies and travel agencies. There are four major GDS available: Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and WorldSpan.
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    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.
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    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.
sdavi111

7 Steps to Securing Your Point-of-Sale System | PCMag - 0 views

  • Consider how the Target store hack in 2014 was one of the biggest point-of-sale (POS) system data breaches in United States history that exposed more than 70 million customer records to hackers, and cost the retailer's CEO and CIO their jobs. It was later revealed that the attack could have been avoided if Target had just implemented the auto-eradication feature within its FireEye anti-malware system.
  • the reality is that most POS attacks can be avoided.
  • be sure your company has a virtual private
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  • network (VPN) in place to safeguard data that's traveling back and forth on your company's
  • network.
  • Most of the aforementioned attacks have been the result of malware applications loaded into
  • the POS system's memory.
  • important point to note here is that a second app must be running (in addition to the POS app),
  • This is why iOS has traditionally facilitated fewer attacks. Because iOS is only able to fully run one app at a time, these types of attacks rarely occur on Apple-made devices.
  • otherwise the attack can't occur.
  • Companies such as Verifone offer software that's designed to guarantee your customer's data is
  • never exposed to hackers.
  • These tools encrypt credit card information the second it's received on the POS device and once again when it's sent to the software's server. This means that the data is never vulnerable, regardless of where hackers might be installing malware.
  • install endpoint protection software on your device.
  • Employees can steal devices with POS software installed on them, or accidentally leave the device at the office or in a store, or lose the device. If devices are lost or stolen, anyone who then accesses the device and the software (especially if you didn't follow rule #2 above) will be able to view and steal customer records.
  • Systems that connect
  • to external networks are more susceptible to attacks from hackers
  • Consider keeping things internal and secure, use a corporate network to handle critical tasks like payment processing.
  • you'll want to comply with the Payment Card
  • Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) across all card readers, networks, routers, servers, online shopping carts, and even paper files. The PCI Security Standards Council suggests companies actively monitor and take inventory of IT assets and business processes in order to
  • detect any vulnerability.
  •  
    Even though this article is from 2019 it is still extremely relevant today. POS systems are found in most hospitality outlets and the chances for a security breach are high. I have often thought when I had my credit card to a waiter and they are gone for 10 minutes are they copying the number, is it being added to a database that can then be hacked? The importance of having the proper securities in place, the proper malware and security software is really important. Having had a catering company for 20 years I had to do PCI compliance tests every 6 months and for years I just handed it over to my IT to do the test. He would suggest things to make us safer and since it usually cost money I would shake it off. It wasnt until the credit card processing company i was using had a security breach that I realized how important these PCI rules were. It is something going forward I will always pay attention to!
Manali Rabari

Revitalized E-mail Marketing Campaign Boosts Event Biz for Hotel | Case Studies | | Hos... - 0 views

  • The Hutton Hotel is a relatively new, boutique style hotel in the Nashville
  • In order to raise the awareness of The Hutton Hotel to event/meeting planners, quarterly email blasts with photos of thespace and info were deployed, but in order to attract new clientele and gain attention of current clients, something dramatically different was needed.
  • The campaign has helped to raise awareness for the hotel, and some current hotel guests have even stated that they had not been cognizant of the event space until seeing the video e-mail.
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  • Spectrio is an all-inclusive audio/video/digital marketing company that was able to work with The Hutton Hotel to create a video email that could go out to the blast list, with the hope that this unique promotional medium would show the hotel to clients without them ever having to visit the property.
  • Working with Spectrio, The Hutton Hotel utilized a mixture of this video content and still photos combined with music and narration and links to event pages on Hutton’s website for this new e-mail campaign, which would showcase the widest array of possibilities for events from corporate meetings to social gatherings that could be held at the hotel. The blast was sent out this past spring to more than 14,000 email addresses of meeting planners who have either been to the property or were with the hotel through other efforts,  and the results were that 16.88% unique visitors read the message, up from the normal 12% rate that was the norm for the hotel’s e-mail efforts.   The campaign has helped to raise awareness for the hotel, and some current hotel guests have even stated that they had not been cognizant of the event space until seeing the video e-mail. Ultimately the hotel’s management has learned that to use an effective e-mail for marking purposes, video doesn't have to be specially shot footage or even be full-motion video, it could be done with graphic, pre-existing footage. Due to the success of the campaign, The Hutton Hotel plans to create a new video and send another targeted email to its corporate guests
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    The Hutton Hotel that is a comparatively new and boutique style implemented new e-mail marketing in order to increase the clientele's awareness about their properties. The hotel developed this new e-mail marketing with the help of Spectrio that is an all-inclusive audio/video/digital marketing company. By using an existed short promotional film video of the hotel, Spectrio and the hotel created new video about hotel properties such as an event space to show the hotel and attract clientele without visiting in advance. This new e-mail campaign not only includes new video content but also still contain photos combined with music and narration and links to the Hutton Hotel's website like previous version of E-mail campaign. This new campaign increased the effectiveness of hotel's e-mail effort as well as enabled the hotel to raise the clientele's awareness .
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    By creating a video to showcase the hotel's major feature by the use of simple video they were able to create engagement with potential meeting planners that previously weren't aware that such a space existed. The video was not a significant cost since it was footage that already had been used for other purposes. But by using this footage for a new purpose has created a wider audience they previously had not been able to reach. This targeted strategy to meeting planners is much more effective than simply sending out traditional marketing materials. It reached the people the hotel was seeking to target to increase the awareness of the space, to create more potential business. The hotel also plans to send out a targeted email to corporate guests in the hopes of the same success rate.
olaya5

Process Improvements Without the Pain - 1 views

  • 11i for supply chain, financ
  • Marriott now uses Oracle E-Business Suite 11i's HR and payroll applications. The company depends on Hewitt's expertise to help run the processes and Oracle On Demand to host and manage the programs
  • 11i for supply chain, finance,
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  • new implementation of Oracle E-Business Suite
  • implementation of Oracle E-Business Suite 11i for supply chain, finance, HR, and payroll. Marriott's North American operations had a long history of
  • Marriott Hotels, Ltd., faced huge challenges in 2005 when the U.K.-based management company needed to separate its IT infrastructure from its parent company, Whitbread PLC, after hospitality company Whitbread sold its hotels business
  • the same week that Marriott's U.K. franchise completed a new implementation of Oracle E-Business Suite 11i for supply chain, finance, HR, and payroll. Marriott's North American operations had a long history of using Oracle's PeopleSoft applications, so Marriott UK and Hewitt faced
  • Ironically for Marriott, the Whitbread organization announced the hotel spin-offs in the same week that Marriott's U.K. franchise completed a new implementation of Oracle E-Business Suite 11i for supply chain, finance, HR, and payroll. Marriott's North American operations had a long history of using Oracle's PeopleSoft applications, so Marriott UK and Hewitt faced a decision: to stay with Oracle E-Business Suite or switch the U.K. operations to PeopleSoft or even another platform.
  • Ironically for Marriott, the Whitbread organization announced the hotel spin-offs in the same week that Marriott's U.K. franchise completed a new implementation of Oracle E-Business Suite 11i for supply chain, finance, HR, and payroll. Marriott's North American operations had a long history of using Oracle's PeopleSoft applications, so Marriott UK and Hewitt faced a decision: to stay with Oracle E-Business Suite or switch the U.K. operations to PeopleSoft or even another platform.
  •  
    This articles talks about the physical plant situation that Marriott had years ago. After Marriott faced challenges in 2005 with its management company that was in need of separating its IT infrastructure from its parent company, they now use Oracle E0Business Suite 22i's HR and Payroll applications. Marriott in North America had a long history of using Oracles application, Marriott U.K and Hewitt stayed with Oracles .
Ted Rood

FTC Sues Wyndham Hotels Over Data Security Failures - Security - Privacy - Informationweek - 0 views

  • The Federal Trade Commission Tuesday announced that it had filed a suit against global hospitality company Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, as well as three of its subsidiaries
  • failing to institute a robust information security program, even in the wake of a major exploit.
  • exposure of over 600,000 credit card accounts and $10.6 million in fraudulent credit card charges, the FTC alleged.
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  • More Security Insights Webcasts Malware from B to Z: Inside the threat from Blackhole to ZeroAccess Remove Administrator Rights Without Disrupting End User Productivity More >>White Papers
  • Valentino said the company overhauled its information security practices in the wake of the attacks, and also dismissed claims that anyone had been harmed by the breaches. "At the time of these incidents, we made prompt efforts to notify the hotel customers whose information may have been compromised, and offered them credit monitoring services," he said. "To date, we have not received any indication that any hotel customer experienced a financial loss as a result of these attacks."
  • "unfair and deceptive
  • The FTC accused Wyndham of failing to address the security vulnerabilities highlighted by the first breach, as well as failing to implement technology that could have detected unauthorized access to its networks. As a result, the agency said, in March 2009 attackers--"using similar techniques as in the first breach"--again
  • gained access to the Wyndham Hotels and Resorts network.
  •  
    This article describes one of the worst situations that could occur when operating a hotel. According to the text, Wyndham Hotel Group failed to implement a strong enough security system, resulting in hackers breaching the network and stealing over 600,000 credit card numbers and over 10 million dollars in fraudulent charges. The FTC is suing Wyndham Corporation for failing to take the proper security measures to guarantee the security of the most important customer information. The FTC also states that Wyndham used improper software configurations that presented credit card information in a manner that was clear and easy to read. Michael Valentino, spokesman for Wyndham Worldwide, the company made prompt efforts to notify those whose information had been compromised and according to Valentino, no hotel customer had experienced a financial loss as a result of the attacks.  Despite Valentino's claims, the FTC is suing Wyndham for unfair and deceptive practices in failing to protect the privacy and personally identifiable information about guests. The FTC claims that Wyndham failed to address the security failures that occurred after the first breach in 2008 and did not implement technology that could have detected unauthorized access to networks. In 2009, hackers used similar techniques to break into the network again as steal as much personal information as they could. 
Jenna Rashbaum

Biometrics Provide Undeniable Time & Attendance for Beachside Resorts | Case Studies | ... - 0 views

  •  
    The La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club in California has had many problems with time cards for their employees over the past several years. They used to use swipe cards with bar-codes to tell when people were coming in and out of work but there are a lot of problems with that technology. If people misplaced their cards or knew they were going to be late so gave it to a co-worker to punch them in is not a very smart thing to have in the hotel. After a lot of problems with this system management finally went in a new direction. They decided to move to newer technology and go with Biometrics. The hotel now has a hand reader system that makes every employee get there hand measured to clock in. This technology measured length, width, thickness, and surface area of the hand to store in the system so it knows each persons hand every time they go to clock in any time there after. When going to clock in the system asks for the employee number and then is ready for your hand on the little screen for your scan. The entire process of this takes under 1 minute. This technology of the HandPunch 3000 not only allows the employees to clock in but also allows management to collect data for pay codes, tips collected, and to allow the employees to go back and view their past times in and out. This system is a very green way to go in the hotel industry because there is no paper for records of clock in times, and there are no swipe cards that need to be made for clock in times. Ever since this hotel got the HandPunch 3000 they have not had issues of other employees clocking in other people. The system of course had some glitches to it in the beginning but they were fixed immediately while the staff was there installing it. My only question to this article that is not answered is : since it is a machine that has to be plugged in, what happens if the power goes out? Can employees still clock in to work because the hotel still is functioning?
Ligia Elizondo

The Durango Herald 02/09/2012 | Two hotels in Durango go green - 0 views

  • The Doubletree has been listed at the silver level by Green Seal,
  • Green hospitality means recycling, energy efficiency, elimination of chemicals and
  • volatile organic compounds, low-flow showers, toilets and sinks, and contracting with suppliers whose business practices are shades of green, Nielsen said.
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  • The next move was to take advantage of the heat that was vented into space from the air-conditioning system, Barker said. He installed a 5,000-gallon storage tank and, with a heat exchanger, produced hot water.
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    As most customers are supporting the green movement hoteliers had the need of applying green practices in their properties to attract potential clients. That is the case of Hilton Hotels such as the Strater and The Double Tree. "The Doubletree has been listed at the silver level by Green Seal, a nonprofit, third-party certifier in Washington, D.C. The Strater has been designated as meeting Energy Star standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency." Nielsen the Director of Marketing and Sales and green team leader at the Double Tree explains how the hotel had worked rigorously to become Green Seal certificated. Among the green practices that take place in the Double Tree as well as in The Strater are " recycling, energy efficiency, elimination of chemicals and the hotel had word volatile organic compounds, low-flow showers, toilets and sinks, and contracting with suppliers whose business practices are shades of green." The hotel also takes left over food and amenities to different organizations. With the implementation of the green practices the hotel has saved 26 percent on its energy costs by having lights with timers in low occupancy areas, low energy bulbs in offices and halls, and energy efficient lighting in guest rooms and restaurants.
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    As most customers are supporting the green movement hoteliers had the need of applying green practices in their properties to attract potential clients. That is the case of Hilton Hotels such as the Strater and The Double Tree. "The Doubletree has been listed at the silver level by Green Seal, a nonprofit, third-party certifier in Washington, D.C. The Strater has been designated as meeting Energy Star standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency." Nielsen the Director of Marketing and Sales and green team leader at the Double Tree explains how the hotel had worked rigorously to become Green Seal certificated. Among the green practices that take place in the Double Tree as well as in The Strater are " recycling, energy efficiency, elimination of chemicals and the hotel had word volatile organic compounds, low-flow showers, toilets and sinks, and contracting with suppliers whose business practices are shades of green." The hotel also takes left over food and amenities to different organizations. With the implementation of the green practices the hotel has saved 26 percent on its energy costs by having lights with timers in low occupancy areas, low energy bulbs in offices and halls, and energy efficient lighting in guest rooms and restaurants.
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    Good article about the Doubletree receiving the silver level. They don't use chemical on their pools anymore and they also collect the leftovers from the restaurant and take it to a local ranch. Indeed, this shows that investing a great amount of money at first to become more and more green will lead them to save a lot of money in the long run!
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    As good an example as you will ever find about the benefits of the implementation of green technologies from top to bottom. I think this will begin to become common practice in the industry as more states adopt green certified practices in the lodging and hospitality industry in general.
esuarezrijsdijk

The Messy Business Of Reinventing Happiness - 0 views

  • Iger planned to pump nearly $1 billion into this venture, called MyMagic+, a sweeping plan to overhaul the digital infrastructure of Disney’s theme parks, which would upend how they operated and connected with consumers. At the core of the project was the MagicBand, an electronic wristband that Iger envisioned guests would use to gain entry to Disney World and access attractions; make purchases at restaurants; and unlock their hotel room doors. It would push the boundaries of experience design and wearable computing, and impact everything from Disney’s retail operations and data-mining capabilities to its hospitality and transportation services.
  • Disney World, Parks’ crown jewel, seemed to be losing its luster. According to multiple sources, certain key metrics, including guests’ “intent to return,” were dropping; around half of first-time attendees signaled they likely would not come back because of long lines, high ticket costs, and other park pain points. Simultaneously, the stunningly fast adoption of social media and smartphones threatened the relevance of the parks. If Disney wanted these more tech-oriented generations to love it as much as their parents, who had grown up with fewer entertainment alternatives, had, it would have to embrace change now.
  • There were the endless lines for rides, food, and bathrooms; parents juggling maps, hotel keys, baby carriages, and bottles of SPF 75; and kids pulling families on long treks to try to visit every attraction. The park was filled with complications, such as a tiered ticketing system with wonky rules.
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  • The NGE team had big dreams for the MagicBand. It would need to interact with short- and long-range sensors that would be installed around the park. The short-range sensors would let guests scan their MagicBand at sales terminals in Disney park stores to pay for merchandise, for example, or to seamlessly check in at their hotel.
  • The long-range sensors would allow Disney to track guests as they navigated the park. The potential benefits were manifold. By monitoring where crowds were forming, the company could better optimize flow.
  • The MagicBand would also collect valuable consumer data.
  • The tussle over digital access points,
  • The tussle over digital access points
  • where customers would use their MagicBands to enter each ride, was typical of the dysfunction between Frog and Imagineering.
  • More than 28,000 hotel doors needed their locks replaced in order to connect wirelessly with the MagicBand, even as some 80% of the rooms at Disney’s resorts, on average, were occupied. Two dozen workers spent eight months upgrading 120 doors per day. The company rolled out 6,000 mobile devices to support MyMagic+ in the parks. More than 70,000 cast members got MyMagic+ awareness training, with 15,000 learning service-specific tasks for, say, FastPass+ kiosks or MagicBand merchandising
  • Disney World’s physical infrastructure, which was first built in the late 1960s, needed major capital improvements. Two hundred eighty-three park-entry touch points needed to be upgraded. Much of Disney World lacked a Wi-Fi connection, so in order for guests and cast members to take advantage of MyMagic+ and its mobile apps (which would offer a map service and real-time wait times for attractions), the company had to install more than 30 million square feet of Wi-Fi coverage.
  • There is no line at the main entrance to the park, where cast members and a row of polished, golden digital access points greet me, and it takes just seconds to stream through with my MagicBand. According to Disney, the MagicBand has cut turnstile transaction time by 30%. Park capacity has also increased.
  • “Honestly, it’s not so magical,” one cast member tells me about MyMagic+, echoing a common sentiment I hear from park employees during my visit. “It’s just for your hotel room [door] and paying for things.” When you look closely, there’s less to MyMagic+ than what some on the team had hoped for.
  • MyMagic+’s rocky rollout makes the Imagineers’ case for conservatism in the face of technological change seem sound. A slew of problems reared up after launch
  • The Imagineers and Frog certainly did disagree during the MyMagic+ development, as did many others, and that disagreement had repercussions and costs. But it ultimately led to a successful conclusion. What Staggs calls “constructive discomfort” is what sophisticated collaboration is all about.
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    This article offers a telling account of how Disney developed and implemented the MyMagic+ initiative, providing important insights into how major corporations approach massive tech-related capital investments. Among the most salient takeaways: 1) how Disney recognized that the parks' pain points could be addressed through the public's growing predilection for personal, always-connected; 2) how these massive internal projects can pit different departments against each other, and how sometimes that antagonism can lead to beneficial results; and 3) how a project like MyMagic+ can have a profound positive impact on the company and still be considered by many to have not fulfilled its potential.
Joe Cilli

IPads Change Economics, and Speed, of Hotel Wi-Fi-On the Road - NYTimes.com - 3 views

  • broad use of iPads and other mobile tablets, which are heavy users of video streaming, the guest room Wi-Fi networks that most hotels thought they had brought up to standard just a few years ago are now often groaning under user demands
  • Hotels, he said, now must choose “either to not increase the amount of bandwidth, so everybody will get much slower service to the point where you’ll think you’re on a dial-up connection,” or upgrade and essentially put in a metered fee-based system.
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    Ipads changing our life is absolute. In fact, if there is no ipad, something electronic products can also bring revolution in hotel Wi-Fi networks. To tell the truth, free hotel Wi-Fi is too slow.....last year, I had a internship in Holiday Inn Central Plaza Beijing. There had two kinds of Wi-Fi networks. Free network was cover the whole hotel but the speed was slow. The other that must be paid was faster. Some people had video session prefered the faster one. In addtion, hotels should upload their Wi-Fi networks. It can be an attraction of the hotels.
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    I've encountered this issue at numerous hotels in my travels. I would be up for paying an increased fee for better wi-fi if I had assurances that that was indeed what I was getting. I think that is the direction most properties will end up going as more people invest in data heavy machines such as tablet pc's, macbook air's and similar products. When I travel I need wi-fi access in my room as well as the conference or meeting rooms, and its hit or miss most times. You would think that they would have an idea of what level of bandwith is needed for 200+ internet marketing professionals but often times that is not the case. I am looking to invest in mobile hotspots such as mi-fi's or similar services provided by AT&T or Verizon, as the convenience of knowing there is a connection I can trust is well worth the investment.
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    All I want to say is that...every innovation or something new to use must go through so many tests! I post my bookmark about 5 hours ago,but it didn't work! Until now, after so many times I tried, it suddenly appears and I do not know why... besides, about the Ipad, nowadays is an information era, we obtain and use information during our daily life, some free wi-fi is really helpful for us. I used to connect the internet with lines. If more computers want to go to the internet, it must be use the route, it is so inconvenience..however wi-fi makes us to use the internet wherever we want.
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    For a hotel the WiFi system is really important because guests prefer the hotel with WiFi system. The guests even willing to pay a small premium to stay at a WiFi equipped lodgings. As the rise of smart phones and ultra-lightweight laptops case the bandwidth problems. I think the hotel can deal with this problems by create various account levels for guests, stuff and visitors. The hotel can allow the visitors to use free WiFi and provide high level account to overnight guests.
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    I personally prefer to use WIFI in my own room when I visit a hotel because I have more privacy. Some hotels they may offer free/complimentary WIFI in the public area, for example, the lobby, the lounge, etc. At the same time, to limit the overuse of public WIFI, the WIFI in the guests' room are charged by different time period and the length of using the WIFI. It seems to be not fair to those business people who require internet all day long. However, it lowers the expense of the WIFI service and improves the guests' satisfaction of the internet service.
Chris Cardoso

Hotel Telecommunications Strategies - 6 views

  • No matter what telecommunications strategy a property takes, one thing is for certain, it needs to be a different one from the past.
  • The guest now has a variety of choices for communicating including fax over the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, calling cards and now even Internet-based phones. 
  • Assuming that the wireless reception quality is acceptable, it is very difficult for the hotel to compete on a cost basis.
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  • Given the hotel’s advantage in quality over the guest’s portable devices, the proper packaging of services will lure even the most avid self-contained guest back to using the hotel’s telecom services.
  • Hotels are unable to compete on price with devices that the guest has brought with him.  What the hotel can do is offer a better experience at a reasonable price to entice guests to use the hotel’s telecom infrastructure.
  • Attracting the Guests to Use the Hotel’s Telecommunication Services
  • The guest now has a variety of choices for communicating including fax over the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, calling cards and now even Internet-based phones.   All these alternatives offer a less expensive means of communicating than using the traditional hotel guestroom phone and other services such as fax.
  • No matter what telecommunications strategy a property takes, one thing is for certain, it needs to be a different one from the past.
  • The guest now has a variety of choices for communicating including fax over the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, calling cards and now even Internet-based phones.   All these alternatives offer a less expensive means of communicating than using the traditional hotel guestroom phone and other services such as fax
  • No matter what telecommunications strategy a property takes, one thing is for certain, it needs to be a different one from the past.
  • Attracting the Guests to Use the Hotel’s Telecommunication Services   Hotels are unable to compete on price with devices that the guest has brought with him.   What the hotel can do is offer a better experience at a reasonable price to entice guests to use the hotel’s telecom infrastructure. No matter what cell phone the guest may carry or what service provider is used, no wireless connection is as good as a land-line connection
  • Guests had little choice back then but to use the guestroom phone and grumble about the cost.
  • Assuming that the wireless reception quality is acceptable, it is very difficult for the hotel to compete on a cost basis .
  • Assuming that the wireless reception quality is acceptable, it is very difficult for the hotel to compete on a cost basis
  • Another concern among hoteliers is what can be termed the self-contained guest
  • Another concern among hoteliers is what can be termed the self-contained guest
  • Theoretically, the self-contained guest needs no hotel telecommunications services .  
  • Theoretically, the self-contained guest needs no hotel telecommunications services
  • Guests had little choice back then but to use the guestroom phone and grumble about the cost.
  • Hotels are unable to compete on price with devices that the guest has brought with him.   What the hotel can do is offer a better experience at a reasonable price to entice guests to use the hotel’s telecom infrastructure. No matter what cell phone the guest may carry or what service provider is used, no wireless connection is as good as a land-line connection
  • The early 1980s marked the beginning of an era of profitable hotel telephone departments.  The advent of call accounting systems (thanks to deregulation) enabled hoteliers to easily mark up calls to a profitable (some say too profitable) level.  Guests had little choice back then but to use the guestroom phone and grumble about the cost. This era has come to an end.  With few exceptions, most hotels have seen between a 15 percent and 25 percent drop in telephone revenues over the last five years.  The main reason for this decrease is guest choice.  The guest now has a variety of choices for communicating including fax over the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, calling cards and now even Internet-based phones.   All these alternatives offer a less expensive means of communicating than using the traditional hotel guestroom phone and other services such as fax . A fax machine in the guestroom was considered a premium amenity for many years.  With the Internet explosion, however, the machines have seen less use.
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    No matter what telecommunications strategy a property takes, one thing is for certain, it needs to be a different one from the past. The early 1980s marked the beginning of an era of profitable hotel telephone departments. The advent of call accounting systems (thanks to deregulation) enabled hoteliers to easily mark up calls to a profitable (some say too profitable) level.
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    Nowadays, people have many choices for communicating including fax over the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, calling cards and now even Internet-based phones. Hotel guests are restricted by the largest telecommunications service providers from making long distance collect and credit card calls to countries other than their home country. The guest is not able to complete his desired call from the guest room telephone. In addition to frustrated guests, this generates absolutely zero revenue to hotels. What the hotel can do is offer a better experience at a reasonable price to entice guests to use the hotel's telecom infrastructure. The hotel can use some systems to reach this goal, such as the BBG Communications. It can increase revenue for every international operator assisted call. It assumes all responsibility for billing and collection of all calls. It has over 500 multilingual, live operators servicing customers. The most important thing is there is no cost and risk to the hotel, because the BBG assumes all associated cost and responsibility.
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    This article is talked about hotel telecommunications in the 21st Century. No matter what telecommunications strategy a property takes, one thing is for certain, it needs to be a different one from the past. The early 1980s marked the beginning of an area of profitable hotel telephone department. Few years later, this area has come to an end. The main reason for this decrease is guest choice. Later on, guests have a variety of choices for communicating including fax over the Internet, e-mail, cell-phones, calling cards and even Internet-based phones. All these alternatives offer a less expensive means of communicating than using the traditional hotel guestroom phone. With the time passed by, hotel telecommunications update and improve better and better. Nowadays, High-speed Internet access is fast becoming an expected amenity. This the revolution for hotel telecommunications in the 21st Century.
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    This article that is written by Geoff Grisworld. Talks about how telecommications has changing in the 21st century. One of them being hotel. Hotel takes a big advantage in telecommication because there is always a change in the communication system. That is why hotel have to upgrade their system often. This is why hotelier organizes packaging deal when it comes to communication system from using the phone to HSIA. This is a few system that is always need to be change constantly, so the hotel can offer a better experience at a reasonable price while they are enjoying their stay.
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    This article speaks about the growth and development of telecommunication within the hospitality industry in the 21st century. "No matter what telecommunications strategy a property takes, one thing is for certain, it needs to be a different one from the past," the article states. Since the 80s hotels utilized their telephone department to offer a service for a profit. Because there was little to no competition with communication, this was profitable as guest pretty much had no choice but to use the phone service provided at a set cost by the hotel. Today, however, we see a shift in technology now where everyone has communication at their disposal via smart phones, Internet and other communication tools. With this happening, "it is very difficult for the hotel to compete on a cost basis." (Griswold) It also explains how high-speed Internet access (HSIA) is almost seen as an amenity anticipated by the guest and has worked in the hotels' favor. The article goes on to describe the "self-contained guest" that carries a smart phone, small printer, notebook computer and technology of their own which allows them to virtually have no use in the hotel telecommunications services. So what does this article suggest for concerns as such? Hotels are to attract guests to use their telecommunication services. By offering packaged deals at affordable prices, Griswold believes hotels will be able to be the ideal option for telecommunications services. After viewing this article, I realize how hospitality industry workers think about those they serve all the time and should always display it. Even though the hotel is trying to make money by charging for Internet and phone services, they wish to market the service as the best option for the guest. The Internet connection would be faster provided by the hotel over a smart phone is one feature they wish to advertise. This type of mentality is smart yet should be withheld throughout the industry and always show that the
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    The early 1980s marked the beginning of an era of profitable hotel telephone departments, because guests had little choice back then but to use the guestroom phone and grumble about the cost. Nowadays, guest has a variety of choices for communicating including fax over the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, calling cards and now even Internet-based phones. All these alternatives offer a less expensive means of communicating than using the traditional hotel guestroom phone and other services such as fax. And high-speed Internet access (HSIA) is fast becoming an expected amenity in 21st century. Today hotels are unable to compete on price with devices that the guest has brought with him. What the hotel can do is offer a better experience at a reasonable price to entice guests to use the hotel's telecom infrastructure.
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    This article explains how much are creating incentives for hotel guest in an effort to get them to use the technology that the hotel provides.
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    In modern society hotel need more attrahent thing increase revenue. The traditional way may lose competitiveness, like telephone services. Because almost everybody using personal cell phone and more and more people prefer to use internet to communicate such as email and skype. In my opinion if hotel build some telecommunications use internet such as physical skype phone and provide cheap service that may be attract more people to use that.
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    With the emergence of "self-contained guest," hotel telecommunications departments must change its offerings because old strategies no longer apply. A self-contained guest is one that does not need the traditional amenities hotels would offer for telecommunications, such as fax machines and printers. Guests now look for a fast, free internet connection as an amenity. Some may not even need wifi, because they have a faster mobile service that they use. Even hotel telephones, guests no longer want to use the land line and pay hotel fees to make a call. Cell phones have eliminated that need (even for international calls). So hotels must not stay the same, and must change their strategies for producing revenue from their telecommunications department.
imontenegro

Fyre Festival Organier Seneneced to Six Years in Federal Prison - 0 views

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    The organizer, Billy McFarland, 26, was also sentenced for running a sham ticket-selling business - but that fraud was run-of-the-mill compared with the Fyre Festival, which had been promoted by A-list social media influencers but imploded just as publicly on Instagram and Twitter. Mr. McFarland had promised an event with luxury accommodations and performances by bands like Blink-182. But the festival never took place, leaving attendees wandering unfinished sites on the island of Great Exuma in the Bahamas.
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    Then in July, Mr. McFarland pleaded guilty to two more counts of fraud related to another company that he ran while out on bail that sold fake tickets to fashion, music and sports events and was said to have cost at least 30 victims a minimum of about $150,000.
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    Prosecutors said that the music festival, which was to have taken place in 2017, was the product of an elaborate scheme. The festival's website identified its location as Fyre Cay, a fictional place that was described as a private island that had once belonged to the drug lord Pablo Escobar.
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    In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors had asked for a prison term of at least 11 years. They called Mr. McFarland "the consummate con artist," adding: "He betrayed and deceived his investors, customers, and employees while he was living the high life at his luxury apartment, traveling to exclusive locales, staying at luxury hotels, being chauffeured in his Maserati, and entertaining himself and his friends at restaurants, bars, and casinos."
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    Summary: Billy McFarland utilized all of the tools available to hype up an event that had no validity or credibility by solely relying on social media influence to promote a lie.
cpaez007

Hotel sector faces 'cyber crime wave' - 0 views

  • Hilton Hotels, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Mandarin Oriental and the Trump Collection have all admitted that their payments systems were compromised this year as hackers hunting for credit card details switch their attention to the leisure industry. This week Hilton and Starwood said guests’ personal details had been taken after hackers gained access via payment systems.
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    Hotel industries have been under attack from excessive hacking, as seen with Hilton being targeted for private financial information from guests. In 2014, it was noticed that hackers had been targeting Hilton throughout the course of 17 weeks. They state that the industry itself has not really focused budgeting on cyber security. It seems that the process is done by integrating a virus into these hotels POS system. The virus was actively attacking the Micros program, which was being used in more than 300,000 hotels and resorts. An ultimate treasure chest for information, some of which was not even encrypted. In addition, the virus appears in the system as a legitimate software, and then it obtains over 90 percent of stored information. This hacking is being conducted by organized groups, who moved from the retail industry because it had indeed improved its cyber security. With hotels it seems that the concept has not been taken as seriously. There are many hotels susceptible to such an attack. As long as there is a sales software, then someone is looking to get into it. A person could be sitting inside of your location, and infiltrating a guests' wireless internet, and they would not even know. In order to engage this threat, locations must be proactive in attempting to stop what is occurring. The only question is, how much are they willing to invest in cyber security?
ysuarez123

New TripAdvisor feature aims to flag sexual assault concerns - Nov. 9, 2017 - 0 views

  • The badges are meant to flag all health, safety and discrimination issues, including theft, sexual assault and rape, TripAdvisor spokesman Brian Hoyt told CNNMoney.
  • Businesses will be "badged for a minimum period of three months, and we hope it will be a catalyst ... to change their ways,"
  • The new approach to warning guests about safety concerns comes after The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported last week that TripAdvisor had removed forum posts and reviews warning about rape and injuries at several resorts in Mexico.
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  • TripAdvisor's new badge appears as a warning in a red box at the top of the page that users see after they click to view a resort's details. It says: "TripAdvisor has been made aware of recent media reports or events concerning this property which may not be reflected in reviews found on this listing. Accordingly, you may wish to perform additional research for information about this property when making your travel plans."
  • hat language may change in the future, but for now the badge is meant to be a warning sign to customers to encourage them to do additional research, Hoyt said.
  • A TripAdvisor committee will be reviewing badges to determine if they need to be kept attached to a business beyond the initial three months.
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    I chose this article as I am an avid user of Trip Advisor! After watching the E-Commerce lecture, I actually started researching more on facial recognition used in the hospitality industry, both in marketing and to keep guests safe. Using facial recognition for safety actually came up quite a bit; specifically as Professor Cilli mentioned on cruise ships to help track and potentially stop a predator or threatening guest. This article is on Trip Advisor's new badge system, that intends to flag hotels if reports or media comes out including sexual assault, crime, and other potential threats to travelers. The idea started from a case filed against Trip Advisor for taking down comments claiming a security guard at a Mexican resort had sexually assaulted a guest who had stayed there. Trip Adivisor claims that at the time, the comment was removed due to explicit material. Not only has Trip Advisor promised to keep comments like this published on their pages, but if taken down they will tell users what exactly flagged their system to take it down. Users will easily be able to adjust their wording and repost. While the exact wording of the badge does not specifically detail why the hotel was flagged (see wording annotated above), as a traveler it would definitely make me think twice. From a management standpoint, getting flagged like this on one of the most used travel websites could completely halt business and create financial strain for months. The badge will last for at least three months and in that time could be seen by thousands of visitors. I hope this small step for Trip Advisors forces hotels to take big step in terms of safety and security with who they are hiring and tracking who is on property.
gabybilk

Florida Theatre Lifts Curtain on New Point-of-Sale System - : - 0 views

  • With up to ten separate bars, Florida Theatre is challenged to keep up with orders and payments during its nightly events. As host to some of the biggest names in entertainment, the historic venue offers 200 entertainment events each year, catering to all age groups and tastes
  • Florida Theatre’s ten bars were still using standard cash drawers and external credit card machines. Not only was this process slow, but it also posed challenges to the four mobile bars that had to be set up for larger events.
  • They also needed a streamlined solution that required less equipment and built-in inventory tracking. With multiple bars operating at varying intervals, Florida Theatre’s management needed to be able to manage everything from one place, rather than having to aggregate data from up to ten different POS systems.
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  • POS Prophet Systems installed a cloud-based POSExpress system at each stationary bar. Because the theater’s four mobile bars were packed up and stored after each major event, POS Prophet Systems also installed a smaller footprint of the hardware at each mobile bar. These mobile versions were built to safely withstand being moved throughout the theater as needed.
  • At the end of the evening, Florida Theatre’s management was excited to see that all of the drawers balanced perfectly and the evening was a huge success.The Florida Theatre now has a POS setup that seamlessly handles inventory management and accounting processes, while also providing information on sales and revenue for each bar. Reporting and inventory are centralized, allowing managers to oversee operations throughout the theater, even on the busiest nights.
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    The Florida Theatre had been using standard cash drawers and credit card machines to process their guest payments. They had been having multiple issues as far as cash drawer balancing or credit cards not being read correctly. It was affecting their financial statements. They implemented a new POS system to modernize themselves.The POS prophet systems involved the theatre to have to use less equipment and help keep track of their inventory. The POS system overall was a success for the theatre and showed results of having all the cash drawers be balanced . The POS system handles the theatre's inventory and accounting.
snesbeth

How The Internet Has Changed Investing - 0 views

  • most revolutionary and disruptive technologies in history, creating a major paradigm shift.
  • wide availability of information is perhaps the biggest benefit that the Internet has had on investing.
  • contact a company directly for the latest financial report, which could prove costly in terms of postage for large financial reports,
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  • With the Internet, an investor can find an online company report from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website immediately after it is posted.
  • These days, many free websites provide financial information while others charge nominal annual fees for more specialized data.
  • primary benefit that the Internet has had on investing is the affect it has on lowering fees for investors.
  • Internet has placed considerable power in the hands of individuals, and this has had a profound effect on how the investor obtains financial information.
  • lowered costs significantly for most financial market participants.
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    The article basically discusses the differences between investing before and investing now since the internet has been born. Previously, people had to try and gather as much information about the company they were interested in investing in by going to the library and reading as much as possible but now it is easier for investors to search a company up and gain all the information they need and more to invest in that company just by entering keywords. Therefore, the internet has changed the investing game completely and even lowered the amount in fees that brokers pay immensely.
jessielee214

The Truth About Cloud POS vs. Traditional POS | PointOfSale.com : - 0 views

  • The Truth About Cloud POS vs. Traditional POS
  • Point of Sale (POS) technology has made significant strides in the last decade
  • However, there still seems to be confusion as to what cloud POS does or does not mean.
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  • The Real Difference Between Cloud POS and Traditional POS
  • all of the data is stored on a local server at the business. That means the business owner or manager must be present at the physical location to view reports, make changes to the menu, or any other task involving the point of sale software.
  • DatabaseDatabase selections were limited. You had Visual Basic, C++, or Delphi to develop in. POS software companies had to pick a database structure and wrap their entire product around it.
  • Programming LanguageThe software company’s developers had to pick a programming language and standardize it across the entire application.
  • Operating SystemAn Operating System (OS) had to be chosen to execute the tasks and commands of the software. At the time, Windows was the only OS with meaningful market share and the reason why many legacy systems were built using Windows.
  • Cloud POS solutions have had a very different evolution. Most started as tech companies with zero customers, no legacy source code or database, and little knowledge of the industry they were trying to serve. That lack of knowledge regarding the mission-critical nature of a POS system is a big reason why some of the young cloud POS offerings haven’t gained traction in much more than a juice bar or niche boutique. Not to mention, their customer support often leaves a lot to be desired.
  • When it comes to cloud POS architecture, POS data is stored on a hosted server in a remote location (“the cloud”) and accessed via an internet connection.
  • Everything is web-based and app-driven these days, so using a web browser to run your back office from anywhere certainly makes more sense than physically going to the store and sitting down in front of the computer. Cloud POS systems also eliminated the in-store server configuration leveraged by legacy software and replaced it with a cheaper, easy-to-manage server in an offsite datacenter.
  • The Hybrid Approach With Future POS
  • Future POS has put their efforts into transitioning their database and creating a web-based (cloud) back office, so business owners and managers have the best of both worlds. The stability, reliability, and feature-rich software along with the real operational freedom that comes with cloud technology.
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    This article talks about what is different between cloud POS and traditional POS. And what innovation about future POS is. The future POS is the system combine traditional and cloud POS, which decreases the risk of both negative sides.
djohn304

Disruption Drives the Hospitality Industry to Innovation - 0 views

  • disruption has sparked massive innovation across every component of the industry from offerings to marketing tactics.
  • From robot concierges to new marketing strategies, hotel owners are changing the norm to address social distancing measures and lingering travel concerns.
  • branded apps are a one-stop portal for everything from reservations to room service.
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  • robot ambassador, ”Rosé,” who can bring guests pillows, towels and groceries.
  • Some hotels are incorporating fitness equipment into each room in place of a gym, sending personalized breakfast deliveries as an alternative to the traditional continental breakfast and others are completely redesigning rooms to have kitchenettes.
    • akopp008
       
      Example of how hotels have innovated and changed because of the situation.
  • forcing change and innovative new thinking to adapt and entice guests back as travel resumes. And based on the past few months, the industry is rising to the challenge.
    • akopp008
       
      the industry managed to adapt, it had to make it quickly but it was of benefit for everyone.
  •  
    Innovative ways on how the hospitality industry had to quickly adapt to technological changes because of the pandemic. They had to perform differently their operations from night to day in a matter of 24 hrs. The changes they have made have impacted their day to day operations until know and have changed the way consumers see hotels. From having housekeeping staff clean rooms to implementing robots to sanitize rooms and deliver amenities, to doing entirely online checkins without front desk staff. The hotels have adapted to disruption a lot the last two years and has helped the industry realized how operations can work in a different way.
  •  
    Reflecting on the term "disruption", there are likely fewer recent events that come to mind than the COVID 19 pandemic. It ceased life as we know it and forced industries across the globe to adapt, create, and innovate like we haven't seen before. This article discusses how the once taboo term "automation" has had to become the hospitality industries close ally as we progress into post-COVID life. The hospitality industry traditionally being "human-centric" has had to accept innovation in every way due to proximity being a cause for caution in recent times. However, the innovation born of necessity has amounted in fundamental changes in the industry that have disrupted hospitality and tourism as we know it. As disruption holds a negative connotation, in this instance it represents significant and lasting change in the industry that now ironically serves the consumer better than it may ever have. Travel demands are high, and the industry is indeed rising to the challenge.
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