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GDS, which has lasted for 3 decades, is a platform for the trading of suppliers and customers. In this article, Pathway GDS, a UK base GDS company, adds the concept of holiday rental to the GDS. Like hotels, car rentals and airlines, the application of GDS is thriving now. Nowadays, in order to fulfill the different needs of travelers, Pathway successfully broaden the platform. Like mentioned in the article, PAthway can offer one-stop solution. Pathway utilizes the platform, both suppliers and distributors gain access to multiple business partners through one connection.  

Airlines around the world are sadly continuing to battle the ever lasting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently domestic airfare prices are down 5% since September 2019 and international fares down 8%. These price drops are expected after summer month travel exhaustion, although these prices are at a lower price than 2 years before. The biggest question within the industry right now is whether or not prices will see a steady uptrend in the coming months as we approach the holiday season.

According to this article, Shearings Holidays has deployed SoftBrands Classic Starlight Property Management System(PMS) to standardize and streamline operations across its 48 properties. The ultimate goal of the implementation is to drive growth by enabling independent and third party bookings. Starlight will help open the market by integrating Shearings' systems with third party websites, as well as enhancing online, telephone and face to face bookings direct from holidaymakers. SoftBrands Classic Starlight will also provide a centralized view of occupancy rates, facilitating cross selling opportunities across the organization to maximize revenue.

In Amazon's last quarter, net income dropped by 57 percent from a year ago. Sales for the three months before December 31 came out to $17.4 billion, lower than Wall Street expected over the traditionally busy holidy season. It is predicted that for the next quarter outlook, there could be anywhere from a gain of $100 million to a loss of $200 million. While Amazon continues to profit in sales of its best selling Kindle devices, there were a variety of factors that contirbuted to its losses. The flooding in Thailand slowed down production for many tech companies. Third-party sellers (which give a 13% commission to Amazon as oppsoed to 100% commission when Amazon sells themselves) were used more than usual. Promotions such as the Amazon Prime program which allows the customer to pay a fixed rate and get umlimited two-day shipping hurt the retailer hard over the busy holiday season with shipping costs. Other reasons were lower demand for skimwords

Summary: The variety of gifting options has grown from a simple plastic gift card to virtual cards delivered by email, text, debit/credit cards and more. The prediction for 2013 will exceed a billion dollars of digital gifting for the holiday season and continue to grow. Digital gift cards have made giving easy due to the convenience of redemption. Paper coupons have proven to be successful to draw in consumer activity, but the digital revolution in virtual gifting is expected to explode as people are so connected to their mobile devices. Even with the convenience and growing popularity of digital gifting comes barriers and security issues. Such issues include personal banking security and privacy. Some small to midsize businesses may not be able to participate in digital gifting due to cost barriers or lack of technology. Due to electronic process, paper receipts will be obsolete. Computers aren't perfect so how does one resolve dollar discrepancies. One benefit of virtual giving is the bar codes/QR codes. Companies are able to collect and retain additional information of givers and receivers by scanning the bar code/QR Code. Often people are reluctant to provide contact information, but in this case they aren't being asked, they have no choice. This is a benefit to the companies because they can make other promotional offers to engage and possibly retain both parties, thereby increasing sales. There are a variety of methods of virtual gifting and redemption. One example is Giftly. Giftly adds the value of the gift to the recipient's credit or debit card which can be used anywhere. This is super convenient for many people and they are able to choose whatever they wish rather than receive a gift chosen for them. This is certainly the digital age version of sending a check via mail to a loved one. Other corporate examples that have impacted the transition from plastic gift cards to virtual gifting are Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Applebee's and Starbu

The company Experian Marketing Services recently performed a survey asking marketers their approach to holiday plans this season. Ninety-six percent of the marketers surveyed planned to invest this year in e-marketing services. Another survey showed that the amount of money President Obama spent on online marketing could have helped him in his re-election. E-marketing is in my opinion one of if not the most effective way to market products and services.

In order to meet the expectation of convenience Internet access for customers, Holiday Inn Resort in Goa has upgraded their WIFI system to be more consistant and turned to IDS-NEXT, which can imporve he existing WiFi facility and develop it as a revenue generating avenue. Several advantages of IDS-NEXT could be like reducing external dependencies, cost efficient and additional revenue channel.

This article is about technology of combining the room key with the iphones. Holiday Inn will test this technology next month. Though this is a creative idea, some people may feel skeptical to try the new room keys. As this technology is new, some guests may not accept that use the cell phone as their room keys and there are many questions come into being with this new technology. For hotels, they must think about the using guests' iphones as the room keys is optional or required. The article also illustrates how the iphone works and what will happen if the iphone is lost or stolen. Besides, more hotels will test this new technology and the technology will work with regular cell phones. In my opinion, combining the cell phones with the room keys is a good idea, because many customers today use iphones today, and almost everyone takes a cell phone when live in the hotel. It is convenient for the guests to use their cell phones as the room keys. This technology can give guests fast check-in because before the guests arrive, they will receive a text massage containing their room number and a unique and encrypted sound code that they'll use to unlock their hotel-room door. When they arrive at the hotel, they can directly go to their rooms. It also can reduce front desk's work. . However, security is still the main factor that the guests will concern and there are some risks if the cell phones lost or stolen. Besides, some guests may prefer to use traditional room key and may not accept the change. It relies on the Open Ways (the secured network) and can work with more brands of cell phones. I consider hotels can provide this technology for the guests as an option because some guests prefer the traditional room keys while some like the new technology.

This article is about the use of I-Phone of Blackberry as your room key. It explains that Holiday Inn will be trying this new technology and many guests are not sure about trying it out. Many guests are not sure about trying it and question how safe it can be. The article explains that this new technology is not required and is rather an opinion. The article explained how it works and is simply a code sent to the customer to their phone and this is used to open the door and the code is only used once and resets every time. The article goes on to explain that there is no issues if the phone is lost or stolen because the codes aren't saved to the phone but rather the server the app runs on. I feel that this is a new cool way to technology. However, I don't see where it is anymore secure than a room key and really it doesn't make the process any easier. I feel its new and innovative but its not the best idea.

this article is a perfect example of how Travel Agents will never retired, they just keep on reinventing themselves, growing and changing with their costumers needs. RadiusGo in conjunction with Tourico Holidays is a great idea, this partnership provides significant price advantages at the nearly 800 ExclusiveDeal properties worldwide at which Tourico Holidays has exclusive terms and prepaid room blocks.

The year 2018 has already entered into its last quarter. And, the feeling of a holiday rush is around the corner. All the hotels across the world are preparing for the holiday season. Guests have started to book for rooms in a… https://ift.tt/2ODvoSA

This article is based on the new trend of traveling & what the travel agents need to stay aware of. Climate change and global warming is on the rise and the majority of the people are starting to make a change. Yes, people are switching vehicles to fuel efficient but are starting to recycle a lot more but people are also changing their traveling motives. Instead of spending a week in the sun at a luxury resort, travelers are wanting more of a cultural experience and yearning to learn about other ways of life. There is a shift in activities which people are starting to take up. A more personal and low key tour of a family or small village is the ideal excursion now. Travelers are also taking into account the carbon emissions they are producing while traveling to their destination. Traveling by train or boat is making a come back instead of flying or driving.

When it comes to holidays, you're now able to research online, but before the process of arranging a holiday involves a long ptocess of reading holiday brochure, phoning hotels and deciding where to book

As people continue to move towards a lifestyle that is sustainable and eco-friendly so to are their choices re travel. Llaria Bertini in her ariticle "TripAdvisor launches green initiative for sustainable travel" highlights how the popular travel site TripAdvisor has launched an initiative to assist European travelers in making hotel choices that suit their lifestyle. The initiative called "TripAdvisor Green Leaders" came about as a result of travelers need to stay at more eco-friendly accomodation. Despite that need they had difficulty in obtaining information about hotel practices. Jenny Rushmore, director of responsible travel at TripAdvisor said "We know a lot of travellers in Europe want to be savvy about eco-friendly choices they make on holiday but they don't alwyas know where to go to find that information, " thus the initiative was born. Trip Advisor came on board to provide information for travelers re hotel Green practices , to compare offerings of various hotels as well as to provide reviews not only based on what the hoteliers would provide but from the perspective of persons who would have had a first hand experience at the property. As going green becomes a more acceptable approach for many things in various areas of our lives the hospitality and tourism industry is no exception. As John Alker,director of policy and communication at UK Green Building Council said " For the hotel and leisure sector, going green is not only the right thing to do, its just good business. " TripAdvisor initiative allows us to know which properties are taking the steps towards sustatainability in one place.

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.

Mobile booking channel is a huge opportunity for travel business. Businesses need to pay a lot for this potential development opportunities. However, due to the different considerations of business and consumers, this kind of payment may can not get the return they expect, but they seem to have no choice because of the whole big trend.

The article discusses 5 potential use cases of artificial intelligence with a focus on travel and hospitality. The first example is of driverless vehicles and airplanes and the second speaks of AI receptionists and robot concierges. Other examples include AI-powered travel agents that use deep learning and create customized holiday packages for guests in the future. Biometric recognition as a replacement for passports has also been discussed along with using AI for green tourism. In general, the article highlights the role of AI technologies in improving travel efficiency and sustainability while acknowledging that there are pitfalls and that these technologies still require years of development.

This article is to emphasize the importance of point of sales system, including the advantages that help restaurant operating business every. For instance, counting is the simplest approach to checking your inventory on the shelves in a small business and this is called stocktaking, especially, for small businesses, like a small toyshop, stocktaking is a thoroughly practical approach. However, most of the time stock management is not that simple, and sometimes the practical option is not the best option. There can be discrepancies between the physical and the stock records, especially when it concerns annual stock management. This is why it is advisable for every business owner to use computerized POS systems in stock management. The best thing about having a computerized POS System in the retail business is: as new stocks arrives and as it is sold, it keeps the stock levels current and updated, hence making it is easier to identify which items are selling and which items are not. A POS System is also good in checking for any obsolete or out of date stock that needs to be disposed. For the managers, if they are still counting the inventory manually on the shelves or in the warehouse, something should be thought twice about the lacking of efficiency method, for there are many advantages in using a POS System mentioned in this article. One advantage of a POS System is its ability to help the business achieve detailed real-time stock level information. In addition, a POS System can also give some information such as weather forecasts, public holidays and major sporting events, which can be of great help in determining the stock level of seasonal products. Managers can now efficiently and effectively handle their stock management accurately.

The article highlights new advances in technology trends that has captured the attention of numerous businesses in the UK due to the significant reduction cost and savings that can be achieved. The trends include cloud computing which businesses view as a low initial cost or capital investment to undertake. Eliminating the need for hard drives storage, maintenance, and giving way to quick upgrades and updates of an It system. A company's main goal is to provide the best products and services at the lowest cost, and if cloud computing creates this ease of burden without compromising the quality of products and services offered to guests then transitioning to this new technology remains one of the best and newest innovation as the savings will undoubtedly add to the company's bottom line. Smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices has definitely revolutionize the way people communicate and hotels in the United States, China the UK and other parts of the world are capitalizing on this mobile trend as a way to improve customer service. Whether it may be making reservations, or checking in and out of hotels from any location without having to wait in long lines at the front desk. Mobile computing is definitely a way to save cost, and time. It's important to note that this trend does not only benefit huge companies but it's a viable option for small businesses who definitely wants to position itself as a company offering the best and most unique service. Social media is extremely paramount for business exposure and that's why hospitality companies continued to capitalize on this growing phenomena. From Trip Advisor which informs potential guests about the facilities, products, and services to Facebook or Twitter which not only help to market or promote the company's products and services but these are great resources and tools for companies to capture and address comments or concerns that can potentially put the business in a negative light.

This article discusses hardware and software trends in the hospitality industry. Article discusses six points that are having a major effect on the hospitality industry. The first area is the definite shift from software held in-house to software used in the cloud. The article estimates that around 85% of all inquiries are from companies that are looking to use the cloud for software needs. The second item article discusses his mobility. The use of devices such as tablets and smart phones are revolutionizing the way people interact with technology this is also revolutionizing the hospitality industry. The third area that the article discusses the social media and the profound impact it has had has had on the hospitality industry. Article points to trip advisor who has become one of the major sources of information for people researching holidays travel, hotels and leisure facilities. The fourth area in which hardware and software is changing hospitality industry is the feeling of a personalized experience. People are expecting that their experience within the hotel to be personalized and technology is helping the industry personalized their experience. The fifth area is the integration of the hardware and software from the many specialized facilities within a property. Traditionally golf spas have operated their own individual software system now that software system is integrated into the overall properties software system. The last area of hardware and software trends that is changing industry is an area of globalization. Properties will need to adapt their two different management approaches to survive in high levels of economic uncertainty. Consequently, brands with large chains must look at their business from a global perspective.