Group items tagged

Aside from the traditional check-in experience, technology has made it easier for guests to check in, inquire about their rooms or upgrades as well as obtain RFID keys.

With free companion apps in the market, it is now possible to control your room remotely through your phone or tablet to turn on the TV, browse and order for food, and so on.

Apps available for both Android and iOS can now allow guests to access a range of services including booking appointments for spas, set wake up calls, ordering a taxi, etc.

Workflow management tools are a great example of such incremental innovation.

Workflow management tools have become important because they help to reduce instances of dropped guests.

From phone activated keys to being able to use your tablet to control the temperature, the future of the hospitality industry looks brighter than ever.

Wearable tech such as keycards, both for employees and guests, can collect data such as the most frequented locations by your guest so that service can be tailored.

Such sites allow guests to filter hotels by location, price, and proximity to the airport

This innovation has now been commoditised and most of the hotel now provides Wi-Fi for free. It’s not even a few years when hotels used to charge a hefty price for Wi-Fi usage.

The peer to peer networks has changed the hospitality industry as it has placed more pressure on hotels and guesthouses.

Network computing has enormous implications for marketing to customers on a global basis, as well as hotel operations. Consider the potential for the industry to connect with vendors worldwide for electronic purchasing, potentially achieving economies of scale and leveraging not yet possible. World purchasing functions will allow companies to customize their own catalogs. Virtual channels of distribution using computer networking capabilities will also allow hotel companies to market products and services - some traditional to our industry, others not - to customers whether they are in the hotel, at work, or at home. This will require a migration from today's central reservation systems to tomorrow's customer information systems using network-centric solutions. Development of customer profiles and guest recognition will make it possible for hotel organizations to interact in entirely new ways with customers, regardless of their physical location. Clearly, the large hotel companies will need to be the first to address questions raised by global networking capabilities and what this will mean in terms of technology investment. But for many hospitality companies presently struggling with the high cost of technology and the confusing state of our industry's technology affairs, this will not be an easy task. And the decisions will ultimately become further complicated by the opportunity to outsource certain functions into subscription-based networks. It is unlikely that the hospitality industry will be forced to bear the entire burden for networking infrastructure. Strategic alliances with major technology companies will be the catalysts in building this capability as they become strategic providers of networking capabilities to hospitality and other industries. And as network-centric computing comes of age and a company's proprietary information is stored in cyberspace, security will become an ever-more important issue requiring solutions. Whether it is an e-mail gateway through an internal network or customer access via the Internet, network fire walls and encryption systems will be required to mitigate the concern many will have with system security.

Network computing has enormous implications for marketing to customers on a global basis, as well as hotel operations. Consider the potential for the industry to connect with vendors worldwide for electronic purchasing, potentially achieving economies of scale and leveraging not yet possible. World purchasing functions will allow companies to customize their own catalogs. Virtual channels of distribution using computer networking capabilities will also allow hotel companies to market products and services - some traditional to our industry, others not - to customers whether they are in the hotel, at work, or at home. This will require a migration from today's central reservation systems to tomorrow's customer information systems using network-centric solutions. Development of customer profiles and guest recognition will make it possible for hotel organizations to interact in entirely new ways with customers, regardless of their physical location. Clearly, the large hotel companies will need to be the first to address questions raised by global networking capabilities and what this will mean in terms of technology investment. But for many hospitality companies presently struggling with the high cost of technology and the confusing state of our industry's technology affairs, this will not be an easy task. And the decisions will ultimately become further complicated by the opportunity to outsource certain functions into subscription-based networks. It is unlikely that the hospitality industry will be forced to bear the entire burden for networking infrastructure. Strategic alliances with major technology companies will be the catalysts in building this capability as they become strategic providers of networking capabilities to hospitality and other industries. And as network-centric computing comes of age and a company's proprietary information is stored in cyberspace, security will become an ever-more important issue requiring solutions. Whether it is an e-mail gateway through an internal network or customer access via the Internet, network fire walls and encryption systems will be required to mitigate the concern many will have with system security. In the final analysis, networking solutions will drive down the cost of technology investment "on-property" where hotel real estate and business interests merge. The solutions that hotel organizations will be able to choose from in terms of networking should also be less expensive than the current profile of technology spending. And we can expect that change to occur sooner rather than later, given the present rate of investment in Internet-based technologies.

Mobile writes a similar story for restaurants. People who are seeking a restaurant at the last moment tend to be your younger customers, and they simply expect the technology to be there.

A study by the National Restaurant Association confirms that these mobile guests are checking out customer review sites as they make their choices.

Customer reviews are also important to the hotel industry, but the jury is still out on exactly how hotels should interact with people who post reviews.

The hospitality industry and its allied businesses will continue to expand their interaction with mobile devices and social media. Things are moving fast, but we also can be sure that there are curves ahead.

1. Younger Demographic

2. Frequent Sharing

Ease of Use

little or no technical knowledge required.

4. Short Form Conten

5. Time Spent on Site

. Focus on Content Consumption

. Customized Design and Domain

8. Free to Use

. Popular Platform

10. Good Fit for Retail

Throughout the three-day program, a common theme within each discussion and panel surrounded the growth of the millennial generation within the luxury travel industry.

The art of personalized customer service and authentic experiences, play an increasingly integral role within the luxury market.

to tell us about the state of the industry's telecommunications revenue stream - a stream that includes Internet fees.

And in April, Hawaiian Airlines began a collaboration with Raw Elements, which makes sunscreen specially formulated to not damage coral reefs. The chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate, which show up in most of the world’s leading sun protection products, are toxic to many corals. Hawaii has banned those ingredients starting in 2021, and Hawaiian Airlines is showing in-flight educational videos meant to highlight this issue with would-be snorkelers, swimmers and scuba divers.

GDS by SiteMinder provides hotels a single point of entry to the world's major global distribution system providers – Sabre, Amadeus and Travelport – and travel agent network. In addition to sales and marketing representation, hotel users of the GDS connection receive free consortia advice, account management and local customer support.

More leisure travellers are also getting caught in the GDS web. The use of global distribution systems across corporate and leisure travel is on the rise, with the total number of travel agents using a GDS increasing by 14 per cent from 2011, according to market research by Phoenix Marketing International.

Live rates and availability are sent from a hotel’s property management system (PMS) directly to the GDS and online booking websites through SiteMinder’s Channel Manager. As soon as a reservation is made on the GDS or an online booking website, the Channel Manager instantly reduces inventory across all channels, including the hotel’s own website, and automatically delivers the reservation details back into the PMS or central reservation system (CRS).

The GRA also will serve as a resource for PepsiCo Foodservice customers interested in environmental site assessments, cost-benefit analyses and opportunities to incorporate sustainability into their operations.

Minimizing water usage beyond the hotel room

Eliminating plastic

Conserving energy

Creating a paperless hotel

Integrating sustainability into the hotel architecture

Eco-friendliness is evolving from a nice-to-have, on-trend hotel commodity to a must-have priority for a growing number of environmentally and socially conscious travelers.

In fact, 66% of global respondents (up 11% from the previous year) would “pay more for products and services from companies committed to positive social and environmental impact” (Nielsen, 2015).

a TUI global survey found that two-thirds of holidaymakers are willing “to make lifestyle trade-offs to benefit the environment” (TUI, 2017).