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Manali Jaggi in his article "The future is here for the Hospitality Industry," highlights the importance and the benefits of Hospitality companies investing in Information Technology. He stressed that from the first point of contact; reservation to the guest's departure the role technology plays and the fact that it "expands revenue options and maintains operational efficiencies for the industry." He reported that Sukesh Jain, VP Enterprise Business, Samsung highlighted that "Technology comes in handy when we talk about personalization," which is the type of experience one aims to provide to the guest. This provides the guest with an increased customer service experience which in turn leads to customer loyalty which can only lead to financial rewards for the company. He concluded by stressing the point that the Hospitality industry must take a "proactive stance in implementing technological advances."

This is a three year old survey on Green Intiatives by American Hotel & Lodging Association. It talks about : (a) Challenges or barriers faced by hoteliers. (b) The biggest motivation for implementing green lodging practices. (C) The top ten things hotels are doing well relating to green initiative. (d) Top ten green things hotels can improve on.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association's Green Assessment Survey results reveal the top 10 green initiatives hotels are enacting, the top 10 motivations for implementing green lodging practices, the top 10 green things hotels are doing well and top 10 green things hotels can improve on. In the challenges and barriers part, the biggest one facing in implementing green lodging practices is having enough capital to invest; in addition the whole world is in financial crisis now. Money is a big problem. As we know, before implement green practices, hotels need large amount money to buy equipment and need a lot of time to train employees to use it. In high season, they are busy to serve guests, to earn money. In low season, they may have time but no money. In the motivation part, environmental benefits and building guest loyalty rates to first place. But I think most hotels deciding to implement green practices are because financial savings. In addition, implement green practices can preempt government regulations and improve hotel reputation. It is also a good way to advertise. To do and not to do lists, hotels should keep and improve their recycling and reuse program and pay more attention to the power save program.

This is a great article that collected all top 10 related to GREEN. It makes me realize what we are doing well and what we need to improve in the future. And also it lists the top 10 challenge that we are facing. I agree with you that implement green practices can preempt government regulations and improve hotel reputation.

This article is focussed on the risk involved if the proper impact study is not undertaken prior to implementation of extensive IT projects. Several multinational companies were referenced in the article, highlighting failures with smooth implementation resulting in the loss of millions and sometimes billions. Below is a summary of some companies referenced in article and the impact of IT implementation gone wrong: 1. Levi Strauss: In 2003 Levi Strauss examined its technological capabilities and concluded that its systems were inadequate for its multi-national corporation operation within 110 countries. A budget of US$5 million was created for a system upgrade. Many challenges along the way resulted in the inability to sufficiently report financials resulted in three distribution canters in the USA closing for a week. As a result of this, the company lost US$200 million and the termination of the chief information officer in 2008. 2. Hong Kong Airport: IT problems resulting in glitches in flight information system and database for tracking cargo shipment resulted in a US$600 million loss between 1998 and 1999. 3. Hershey: About 10 years ago Hershey wanted to implement a new order taking system. Problems with implementation resulted in the inability of the company shipping US$100 million worth of candy in time for Halloween thus impacting the company's bottom-line of an 18.6% loss in earnings during the quarter. 4. Kmart: in 2000 Kmart embarked on aUS$1.4 billon IT modernization project. In the midst of the project Kmart discovered that the project had too many customized application which would result in an exorbitant maintenance costs. An additional US$600m was spent on integrating a supply chain management system. Failure of this project led to bankruptcy filing by Kmart in 2002. This resulted in the closure of 600 stores and the loss of over 60,000 jobs in the USA. 5. Auto windshield (UK): Auto windshield was considered to be the second largest auto glass c

This article is a research paper did by Amir and Beer-Sheva. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of technology on the human resources function in organizations, in general, and in hospitality firms, in particular. At the beginning, it introduced the role of human resources department in organizations for decades. And the trend or changes in contemporary human resources. Then it came out that we cannot skipped the effect of technology on the HR function, especially in tourism and hospitality industry. So, next it gave the definitions of HRIS by introducing technology. And list some advantages and challenges of using HRIS. In the end, it listed how technology put infusion across HR function, including recruitment, selection, training, performance evaluation and compensation, payroll, benefits and pension administration, labor relations and outplacement.

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.  

FIFA has paid noticeable attention to the environmental impact of the World Cup since the 2006 World Cup and green management has increased with every World Cup since with the biggest plans already staged for years 2018 and 2022. The Green Goal environmental program has been in effect since 2005 when FIFA partnered with Local Organizing Committees (LOCs) in order to champion green initiatives. This program has been adapted for every World Cup since. The program combines the resources of host cities, governmental departments, local environmentalists and international partners. Now, FIFA is implementing green initiatives into the bidding process for 2018 and 2022 by requesting information pertaining to the reduction and control of negative environmental impacts from bidders prior to making a decision on where to host the World Cup. In my opinion, FIFA has adequately worked towards environmental sustainability over the past ten years and has powerful plans to continue and improve green initiatives going forward. Previously, the indoctrination of the Green Goal program in 2005 laid the foundation for green goals and growth. Each subsequent World Cup has relied on a Green Goal program to set and measure environmental initiatives. Also, FIFA has already begun working on the Green Goal for 2018 and 2022 by requiring potential host destinations to incorporate environmental sustainability into the management structure of the mega-event. Management is required to set measurable objectives in six key areas: water, waste, energy, transportation, procurement and climate change. In addition, potential host destinations are required to plan and explain how they will incorporate stakeholders and the community via an Environmental Advisory Board. All of these aspects must be outlined in the bid submitted for consideration by FIFA and will be weighed heavily during the host location decision process.

FIFA's decision to use involved green standards as part of the bidding process for World Cups 2018 and 2022 is ingenious. The rigorous standards and expectations eliminate cities that are unwilling or unable to do the research and prep work required for the environmental concerns associated with such a large and prestigious event. However, these same circumstances caused increased competition between the remaining cities and come with some sort of financial cost. The increased competition between potential host cities and the associated higher costs pertaining to the implementation of green strategies may be seen as negatives to involved commercial/government entities and community conservatives. The following comparison explains how this may be so. Companies often design buildings with minimal closets despite having a large need for storage space. The philosophy behind this is "closets don't make money." On the contrary, entertainments space (i.e. Casinos), larger sales floors (i.e. Car Dealerships) and management offices are all spaces in which money is generate and therefore income is maximized by maximizing the "money-generating space" and minimizing spaces (i.e. closets) that do not do so. Similarly, green initiatives guarantee extra expenses and do not generate a significantly increased income. Some entities may view green initiatives as "closets." In conclusion, FIFA is a powerful force in the green initiative campaign. The organization has worked tirelessly the last 15 years to implement and improve environmental initiatives related to the World Cup. Despite the outside chance that a significant portion of the population will view green initiatives as costly non-necessities, I believe that FIFA's Green Goal program will be a success. It provides an expanding platform for each subsequent Word Cup by requiring environmental initiatives to be implemented at the management level and begin at the earliest point possible: bidding.

GDS companies continue to evolve and implement new technology to stay in line with current consumer demands. After initial resistance, they are implementing the NDC program into their system. NDC (New Distribution Capability) is a travel-industry supported program launched by IATA for the development and market adoption of a new XML-based data transmission standard (source: https://www.iata.org/whatwedo/airline-distribution/ndc/Pages/default.aspx) This article discusses the need of the airlines to upload useful content and for the travel agents to be more actively involved in order to make it useful for them. However, with major airlines' bookings split between 50% direct booking and 50% agents, and the airlines' efforts to drive more direct booking traffic, I wonder what is the sentiment of the companies to provide with more content and information on a platform that competes directly with their efforts to increase direct sales from their websites. Selling air tickets directly from their sites not only allow the companies to decrease booking fees and commissions but also allow them to collect much needed date from the consumers who use their services.

This article refers to the Residence Inn Panama City implementing VingCard RFID locks in their suites and staff only areas. This technology helps improve the hotel and makes it easier to implement future technologies like apps that can be used as the room key. With Classic RFID, the property's staff-only locations can likewise benefit from the latest in encryption protocols to ensure that only those with authorization can gain access. This form of IT helps make this property more accessibly and up to date with technology.

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

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

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

This article covers a study performed on various 5-star hotels in Jakarta on the effectiveness and feasibility of IT investments. The study is performed via a questionnaire distributed to hotels in the area with associated data values for analysis. The study finds that IT investment in 5-star hotels in Jakarta is economically feasible and could provide these businesses with competitive advantage and profit.

In the United States, hotels represent more than 5 billion square feet of space, nealry 5 million guest rooms and approxiamtely $4 billion in annual energy use. As of January 2010, there were only 40 hotels that were LEED certified. The acronym LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED is a voluntary, third party green building certification program that awards points to buildings depending on their sustainable practice being implemented which includes building improvements, environemntal footprint and water and energy use. LEED was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit organization. Its main purpose is to provide building owners and operators with a basic framework for developing and implementing sustainable practices. The first hotel to ever be certified according to LEED criteria was the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, NC. This hote received Platnium status for being able to recycle 87% of its construction debris, purchasing 40% of the building materials and 90% of its furniture locally. Installation of 100 solar panels, use of geothermal energy for the restaurant's refrigeration equipment and instllation of a Regenerative Drive model for its elevators made the Proximity Hotel a benchmark hotel. There are several practices that can make a hotel conserve energy and make it sustainable such as using flourescent lightbulbs, offering linen and towel reuse programs, paving parkig lots with highly reflective materials or open grid pavers, installing high-efficiency plumbing fixtures, landscaping with native plants and using local materials and goods. These will not necessarily lead to LEED certification but will definitely earn points towards obtaining that accredidation. The use of sustainable practices not only helps conserve the environment but also saves money in the long run. Through water conservation techniques, recycling and linen and towel reuse programs, the hospitality industry wins two-fold,

This article looked at the views on IT investments of Hospitality Technology's Editorial Advisory Board. The Board represents a variety of hospitality industries. The article focused on areas of improvement, emerging technologies, IT priorities for 2012, "wish list" IT investments, and more. Among the areas for improvement, guest Wi-Fi and mobile apps, loss prevention technologies, and social media targeting older clientele topped the list. Older guests connecting to and understanding social media are a worry among many of the Board members as well as lack of standardized, secure payment methods. Many also mention that their current systems (POS in particular) tend to hold them back from implementing new IT technologies because they would not be compatible.  Most Board members listed having mobile devices that could be used for a variety of purposes on the guest end as well as on the business end would be top on their "wish list" for IT implementations. With almost everyone owning smartphones today, I think this would be the smartest and most effective IT implementation to invest in. Many customers and guests are looking for easy and accessible ways of navigating through the hotel and restaurant environments without extensive help from others. Since many people, especially the generation coming up, are more and more attached to their phones and tablets, mobile apps for nearly everything seems like the smart way to go.  Cloud-based servers were a close second in terms of what they wanted in invest in. Many of the Board members pinpointed technologies that have been around but are still new, especially in their respective areas, when speaking of useful emerging technologies. Mobile apps, tablet and 73456

this article gives a great overview of the steps leaders in the Hospitality industry are taking towards new technology. In this article members of the industry were interview regarding weaknesses in the current hospitality market as well as emerging trends that each believe is in rapid increase. Some of the answers give very interesting approach towards technology. Although, overall it seems that the number one emerging technology is the use of cloud-based/mobile-based services.

According to the results of "2012 Energy Efficiency IT report", based on 760 IT professionals' view, on cutting energy costs, buy greener gear than to get high-ROI green initiatives. Implementing Energy-star-qualifying equipment got more potential ROI. Server consolidation and virtualization also ranked high among already deployed green-tech projects. And the 8 popular green-technology projects are: server/storage virtualization, consolidating servers, implementing hardware with more efficient processors, implementing energy star-qualifying equipment, deploying more energy-efficient networking equipment, employing energy-efficient ups, employing new cooling approaches,  increased use of hosted services.

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

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

This article discusses the integration of an HRIS system and its potential challenges. When getting the system, employees and management should really dedicate themselves in training with the new system. It is not something that can be learned so easily. In addition, there should be someone familiar assisting with the process, and this process includes the reason for the change. You will need to give the employees the reason why this is being implemented, and all of the new possibilities that can be accomplished. Some possibilities involve the maximization of the ROI. Another challenge includes the formulas within the system, it might be very difficult for users to understand or manage. The last few challenges include legal obligations, and the fact that legal rights are not impeded. The line must be clearly defined. Moreover, you want to ensure that all of the data placed on this system is secure. As long as these challenges are monitored, then the user will be fine.

This article describes trends in technology in the hotel industry and the applications of them in the Russian economy. The article discusses what the trends in IT are and how they may apply to the hotel sector of the hospitality industry, providing real-world examples and hypothetical scenarios. The information in this article is insightful to the relationship between hospitality and information technology and provides a perspective on this relationship from the viewpoint of the Russian hotel economy specifically.

This study was about adoption and automation of AI in hospitality. It gives great insight on the process as well as what people think of AI and their opinions. In addition to that, this study goes into different techniques that were used to understand how and why AI should be implemented. Human interaction cannot be beat, along with personal touch and humans can't remember everything a computer can, but if you have robots and humans working together you can get the best of both worlds. Smart technologies are now and the future.

With the trend of green hotels and technology growing rapidly in not only our industry but all industries in general, it is important for companies to stay up to date with new innovative green technologies. This article touches upon on hotel in Seattle named Hotel 1000. The hotel has begun implementing new technologies such as memory lights that shut down when guests are out of the room and then turn on to the same levels set when the guest returns. Also being implemented is a system that can switch air on when a guest arrives to the hotel. This controls the amount of time the air is in use as well as prepares the room pre-arrival.  Finally this article discusses the imminent idea of alternative energy solutions for hotels. Many hotels hope to receive government subsidies in order to begin implementing solar panels on their roofs providing more energy while cutting current electricity costs. Installation costs are high but will be offset over time.