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This article discusses four cyclical sales revenue cycles. First, the daily sales revenue that depends on meal periods in restaurants, second, weekly cycle where business travelers mostly uses hotels during the week, third, seasonal cycle, during vacation months and fourth, generalized business cycle. There is direct costs which refers to all materials and labor costs that are traced to the product and then there is indirect cost which refers to utilities, overhead,salaries etc. Managers review operating results to ensure that all departments provide sufficient income to cover total indirect costs for the overall hospitality operation and provide excess funds to meet the desired level of profit.

In this article we discuss the issues that airlines are having with the GDS system. They give an example of someone attempting to purchase a ticket through an airline website, and then through a travel agency. The direct airline method was only cheaper, if the guest provided information to a direct bank account. The cost for airlines to sell is a bit less than 10%, and they are sold mostly through indirect channels, like travel agencies. The main reason this can happen, is the integrated GDS system. A GDS system is a data facility that shares inventory information for various airlines to different 3rd party channels. The issue with this, is that the total in fees for the use of the GDS system was around $7billion, which is twice the amount of net profit they are receiving. People state that the airline system cannot survive without the GDS, but is that statement really true? Airlines like Air Asia or Ryanair have really attempted to focus on selling tickets directly, and really expand on their profit. How can this be achieved? Well, airlines are making the booking process easier for guests to manage, which gives them more of a reason to book through there. Also, they are offering greater loyalty rewards for directly booking through the site. Different incentives need to be created to attract guests to book directly. Lastly, they would like to create another distribution system, to put GDS out of business. This new system will work to allow guests to handle meal and baggage fees. Concepts that the GDS cannot handle. With that said, will this new system reduce costs for airlines? I guess they will have to wait and see.

Delta Air Lines and Sabre will be working together on a multiyear deal to improve indirect distribution channels. As Jeff Lobl said, the intention is to unlock innovation and reward investment as well as enhance the customer experience. Traditionally airlines pay a flat fee to GDSs but this model will be based more on what is being sold.

Many organizations in the hospitality industry underestimate the risk and consequences of business identity theft and they should be more concerned with the risk of personal identity theft. A study by the Ponemon Institute demonstrates that a data breach could cost organizations an average of $7.2 million. This does not even include indirect costs such as lost customers or damaged reputations. To prevent identity theft, companies need to be aware that fraud can occur in many unexpected ways. This article gives a few examples that can help firms to reduce the risk of personal identity theft below.  Instituting a shred-all policy to ensure unneeded files are regularly and safely destroyed Restaurants employee should give their receipts directly to staff rather than leave anything on the table or counter Hotels employee should be instructed to store all sensitive documents in a safe place until they can be securely shredded On the cloud, Businesses should conduct a full security audit of any cloud computing company before storing documents on the cloud Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the hospitality industry. Just being careful isn't enough to protect customers' identity. If the data is spilled, customers will have a less favorable view of your company or may be angered to the point of never allowing you to serve them again. Any amount of loss of trust and loyalty is harmful to your business.

Property Management System functions are commonly used in the hotel and hospitality management software. These functions are responsible for conserving room inventory, maintaining housekeeping status of rooms, checking out guests, and maintaining guest portfolios. PMS has not only started its new software but has also been establishing great doubt and confusion in the minds of IT managers and the decision makers. In evaluating hotel hospitality software they focus on ROI and Total Cost of Ownership. The ROI provides the cost and motivation for investing into the software and also carries intangible assets associated with such decision. The Total Cost of Ownership is basically used to help businesses assess the direct and indirect costs associated with information technology purchases. Consequently, having a lower TCO and a higher ROI are the true defining criteria for the right software choice, which emphasizes not only the benefits but also the intangible need to be considered before making big IT decisions. With this rapidly changing industry, hoteliers should always look for property management tools that will assist in the operations, automate procedures, reduce the risk of human errors and give hoteliers ample time to attend guests.

This article was about all of the steps hospitality companies have to go through in order to pick the best PMS. Due to the high capacity of Property Management Systems coming from Canada and Europe, decision makers are having a hard time filtering out which ones will be beneficial to the company. Project managers should calculate the ROI and the TCO in order to see how profitable the system will make them.

This article emphasizes the importance of SaaS (Software as a Service) to the hospitality industry. This model allows companies to deliver services via the internet, thus decreasing the costs and the failure rate in the software services and the product distribution. This application is creating a new model of customer interaction and relationship building as the mobile usability is constantly increasing into the hotel and travel industry. The SaaS solution distributed via the internet eliminates the physical need for indirect distribution because it is not physically distributed and can be delivered almost instantaneously. This article talks about the impact that this system causes to the hotel's operation. This system can anticipate problems and proactively addresses and fixes the issues via the support and monitoring team that is immediately available investigating and rectifying the issues promptly. Among the many benefits that SaaS brings to the hotel's operations, one very important benefit is that the executive team can keep an eye on the operations and even make changes when they are off-property through cloud-based access. The SaaS implementations would give hoteliers more control on the relationship with their technology provider and SaaS gives this to them. I feel this program is really valuable for people in the hotel industry.

Covid has put a large strain on the global travel industry and a large portion of the hospitality industry are relying on technological means to recover. Hotel chains such as Japan's Ressorttrust inc. has made an agreement with Sabre Corporation to utilize Sabre's SynXis booking engine. The platform expands Ressorttrust's points of access by exposing them to over 600 online global platforms and over 900,000 travel agents. The software's ability to provide an easier, quicker, and convenient style of booking has already resulted in growth of Japanese tourism. This decision also posed well for brand image. The success of Sabre SynXis highlighted the company's dedication to helping bring back Japan's tourism.

This article discusses how Google Flights has become a threat to global distribution systems, such as Sabre. Google Flights allows airlines to market directly to travelers and keep more of the fare. Sabre, on the other hand, has been charging airlines fees for their services. This contrast has changed how airlines utilize global distribution systems, and Google Flights could ultimately replace GDS's like Sabre.

The relationship with OTAs should be about finding the right balance (or mix of business) for your specific hotel. A commonly held point of view is that OTA commissions are exorbitant (in dollars, or as a % of revenue), but shouldn't we be glad if they sold a room we were not going to sell otherwise?

Geo-targeting is a step above geo-fencing and like that of Proximity marketing is a digital marketing technique meant to geographically target consumers within a set of parameters. The purpose of this is that while digital marketing has been around, is being used and the future of it is quite relevant it requires companies to adapt using various methods of marketing to reach the consumer. And geography is an area that is highly required. And unlike geo-fencing, geo-targeting is more generalized in the locale. It is asserted that companies need to have a better understanding of their guests at a basic level than before. "Hotels can no longer take a blanketed approach---understanding where a guest is coming from and the impact of a hotel's digital footprint" is just as important. A reason hotels might want to use geo-targeting is that direct business captures "95% more revenue than that of indirect channels". Interested enough many guests book last minute and that accounts for 72% off mobile bookings. Geo-targeting relies on revenue to determine its success. One issue noted is the use of VPNs can create miss-targeting when users are receiving messages from a location they are not in. Several things to note are prioritizing a focus on existing and prior guests because they cost less than advertising to new guests. Secondly, using CRM can create personalization through guest profiles and add an extra special factor to their experience. One example shown was Denny's and it showed an increase in visits. Geo-targeting is a marketing strategy that can help companies stay relevant.

This take on proximity marketing is interesting in that it requires a little more thought in implementation because you aren't just narrowing it down to a specific locale, you are creating a wider net to catch people in. That means you have to have a broader understanding of who you are catching which would be multiple targets that may not be alike, but have similar needs. They used the pandemic as an example of how it benefited them to use geo-location, While not marketing to a whole section of the US they targeted a more localized net ( a state away) but not too narrow as to leave out a specific target. It showed some success in that they were able to save money and help bring brand awareness to a different type of consumer. They not only target those locally but "neighbors" and I know that I as a new guest appreciate seeing local people utilizing a product or service and come back for more because it gives me an idea that the product or service or both is appealing to guests. This also helps hinge on the word of mouth of the customer. That is an additional positive aspect of this type of marketing. Seeking local rather than national or global customer-created brand devotion.

This article is about some of the positive effects the FIFA World Cup in 2014 is going to have on Brazil and it's Economy. One sector that is also going to be effected greatly is, obviously, the tourism and travel industry.

CAER includes a wide range of electronics recyclers and affiliate organizations that support passage of the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act (RERA), legislation that will promote fair and responsible e-waste trade. The bill, which will be reintroduced in the current session of Congress, bans the export of certain types of unprocessed and non-working electronics and e-waste from the U.S. to developing countries. Fair trade in tested, working electronics and processed e-scrap commodities would not be restricted. Processing this e-waste in the U.S. would create 21,000 full-time equivalent recycling jobs with a corresponding payroll of $772 million and the potential for 21,000 additional indirect jobs, according to the study. The study notes that jobs will further increase as e-waste volumes rise in the years ahead. Since its founding in November 2011, CAER has grown to include 82 U.S. companies operating about 158 electronics recycling and disposition facilities operations in 34 states and the District of Columbia.

With an increase in global travel comes corporate responsibility for mitigating our business impact on the natural environment. Both in our hotels and beyond, we seek to understand and act on the direct and indirect environmental impacts of our business operations.

"Going Green" is no longer the standard, it is now how to greener than your last innovated green project. Why is the guest/ consumer not made more aware of these green accomplishment? They may notice the ones that directly effect their stay, however the indirect ones i.e, cloud computing to monitor solar power panels, removal of big box TV's and computer monitors are having a greener impact on technology in the hospitality. The energy savings are impressive, the continued effort made by these companies has a huge on the environment. "It is the collective consciousness of the whole human race that has to make people aware that this is important."

I am all about going green...hotels are adding sensors for when guests leave slidding door open to shot down A/C units as well as when the room is not occupied, the A/C with a sensor will rise the temperature. The technology is so amazing, that engineering staff can simply reset temperatures with a handle from outside the room. Beside A/C temperature control, hotels continue improve electricity savings by utilizing new light bulb and re-designing lighting around the hotel. At the company that I work at, we have light sensors in the offices, if you are not in your office after a certain amount of time the light goes off.

Meetings are significant in that they are major events which generate dollars on a local and national scale. Those associated with tourism and hospitality, transportation and convention venues (among other industries) benefit significantly. Tax revenues increase as well. In addition to the economic impact, many jobs are created. Simply put, meetings are a lucrative income stream.

This article discusses how OTA's are stealing and breaking the control of communication with hotel guests. OTA's are an incredibly important channel t attract many guests to hotels as bookings through them are increasing at a steady rate. Last year, was the first year in which OTA hotel bookings exceeded direct bookings in the US compared to 2011 when 4.3 were booked for every indirect booking. Guests often book through the same channel they have booked on before; which are tying them to OTA's. In an attempt to maintain control of all communication between guests, most OTA's do not provide hotels with any guest information. To combat, this increasing problem it is increasingly important for hotels operators to retrieve and store as much guest information as possible. Hotels can then use this the contact information to send guests personalized message and tracking their stay personalization. Hotels that are successful at this can potential break the habit of most guests who book through OTA's.

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.

American Airlines embarked upon direct booking to cut costs to GDS and was found itself facing legal consequences. This reflected the continuous fierce competition in the travel industry and the lucrativeness of the GDS.

The article talks deeply in NDC from the past to now and is very clear about how it works. NDC can help airlines to know the need for customs and without the commission. I think one day, NDC can instead of GDS, but it still needs to take such a long time.

GDS systems have been helping customers book hotel rooms, flights, and vacation packages for nearly two decades. This increases the convenience factor for the customer. Companies may be paying more to maintain a direct connection and may want to start reconsidering utilizing a GDS system. GDS systems do have limiting qualities such as character limitations within text fields, which can lead to unforeseen issues for companies looking to personalize filed values. Even though this issue may provide limitations for companies, the cost of maintaining connectivity, increased shopping volumes, and personalization issues are driving companies to ditch direct.