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The power of partnerships The tourism industry is partnering with other organizations to solve problems on how to bring a more sustainable tourism. Global impact is an international multi-stakeholders consensus to bring together companies, UN agencies, government and communities to support environment. The project need not only for NGOs to facilitate contracts but also for governments to have the right legislations dealing with sustainable tourism. Tourism can affect three key areas: * Communities: Tourism creates economic opportunity but should not affect negatively traditions and local cultures. * Individuals: Tourism should be creating the right safe working environment. * Environment: Tourism should not damage the environment. Any waste should be disposed of properly. Tourism can achieve positive impacts on the region such as funding wild life conservations. There are se several partnerships that develop to better control the tourism industry and its impacts on the region. To be successful a partnership must have appropriate stakeholders, mutually agreed goal and process, and sensitivity to the power members among other characteristics.

InterContinental Hotels Group find a solution which is provide professional services by ATG.

With the occurrence of new technologies, hotel and resort are constantly looking into running their operations more efficiently, reducing labor costs and enhancing guests' experience. According to the article Housekeeping communication gets more efficient, high-tech The Umstead Hotel and Spa has implemented tray detection technology from Axxess Industries that allows the staff at the hotel to track trays from room service that are passed by the entrance door of rooms giving a signal to the room service staff that they are located outside of the room now and needs to be picked up. Staff also is alerted when a room is available for cleaning. Guests click a button, which sets off another sensor, to indicate they are gone and the room can be cleaned. Another very beneficial technology is the REX system by M-Tech that works in conjunction with a property's PMS system using iPod touch technology. he iPod will show each house-keeper his or her list of rooms for that day, and once a guest checks out-or even leaves the room unoccupied-the housekeeper is notified a room is ready to be refreshed or turned over. Using the REX system allows hotels for more efficient communication between staff and helps tracking all the assigned rooms for the day that need to be serviced. There are many opportunities for hotels to cut enhance guest experience using technologies that allow for better tracking and communications between department resulting in the end of enhancing guest experience and even though hotels might be reluctant to the initial cost of implementation, I am strongly convinced that these solutions are the solutions for the future and will provide hotels with competitive advantage.

This article discusses a couple of ways in which hotels are extending themselves to go green. Specifically the article lists three ways in which these hotels are initiating themselves into going green, which are through low water consumption Power saving, and solid waste disposal. The article also discusses energy efficient lighting.  Along with discussing these processes, the article explains that its not easy to be green in this sector, but the hotel industry now has a new environmental conscience. This being great for hotels. its one step in opening a new way to help get our environment back to where it needs to be and with there being such a large scale of hotels why not get them in the best order that we can get them. 

As the article states"The hotel industry has long been associated with excessive waste: using powerful chemicals for cleaning and wasting energy for maintenance rather than being environmentally friendly. Moreover and as result of tourism industry growth, the demand for resources from the hospitality sector has exponentially increased. However, the new popularity of Eco Tourism has encouraged hotels to adopt new green practices that allow them to reduce their negative impact on the environment" The hospitality industry can help improve the environmental problems we are going through at the moment by simply adding: low water consumption, power saving, energy-efficient lighting and solid waste disposal. Furthermore, the guest are starting to become more aware and loyal to brands that are making changes to become green and there is where eco tourism starts and its getting bigger. In the future, all hotels will have to follow the LEED requirements which makes them follow certain rules to help reduce energy and go green. This will help the hotel managers and industry save money and at the same time help the environment.

the choiceadvantage system is the same as the WebRezPro. they are both doing the guest reservation, financial management, data collection and remote access. the choiceadvantage is cheap as the WebRezPro. many countries' hotels has installed this system. also the choiceadvantage has a cooperation wiith Microsoft software. this behavior makes the choiceadvantage more professional. it is also a web-based solution so it is cheaper than the traditional PMS. low maintenance fee and easily operation are the advantages of this kind of system. thereby the choiceadvantage and the WebRezPro are the competitors.

This article shows the importance of tourism networking. Through networking, people can conveniently share tourism resources and this will also help tourism industry attract more tourists.

Mobile users are not just playing Angry Birds or checking the local weather, 38% have used their mobile devices to plan a trip and 60% of respondents said they have downloaded travel apps on their mobile devices, according to a TripAdvisor survey. While travelling, 62% of travelers said they use their mobile devices to research restaurants. 51% check their flight status and 46% research attraction, 28% have checked in to a restaurant, hotel or attraction using their mobile device while on a trip, according to TripAdvisor. (travelmole, May 2011). A research conducted by PhoCusWright shows that 75% of frequent business travelers (those making at least five trips a year) are smartphone owners. About half of frequent leisure travelers have smartphones. There's more than enough evidence for the hospitality industry to use mobile apps, and some hotels have already started and are successfully doing it.

this article goes over the on going change of the types of telecommunication technologies Hotel guests are using. The article mentions the shift from the use of in-room phones and faxes, to the now popular use of internet connectivity. Mentioning how nowadays it actually costs hotels more money to offer phone services to guests than what they actually make from these services. lastly, it also talks about how more and more hotels are charging internet access fees in order to balance out the loss of revenue from telecommunication services.

This article shows a new way to make green hospitality. Compare the tradition way, the new technology will save the energy cost and provide the comfortable environment at the same time.

Twenty years ago marked the beginning of a new period in Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited (RCCL) and helping the environment. They proposed a Save the Waves program, which allows guests to choose when towels and linens are ready to be washed saving numerous amounts of water and energy as well as reducing, reusing, and recycling. Today, their green initiative goes even further, and as the arictle discusses RCCL is implementing a plan to improve their waste, power, and most importantly, their future. Protecting and conserving the environment is a priority this company is willing to stand for. They constantly plan their efforts to maintain environmental protection and to continue to be environmentally responsible.

According to in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Green Lodging Program, Rosen Hotels & Resorts are the first hotels in Central Florida to achieve the Two Palm status certifies. The state provides technical assistance, with which hotels can reduce waste, conserve natural resources and improve the bottom line. Harris Rosen said they will do everyday effort to continue the green standard, to increase sales, and it is right to do this for every company. Some green practices of Rosen hotels & resorts are various, simple and effective, such as, the water conservation measures, energy efficiency measures. They provide the more chances to recycle, purchase items in bulk, recycled materials and recycle ink and toner cartridges to reduce waste. The three Rosen hotels' special measure is to introduce several other eco-friendly programs. And also, they use a programmable energy management system to control temperatures in meeting rooms, after the using of meeting rooms, the lights would be turned off. They also emphasize the green materials. The hotels and Harris Rosen play a role in conservation of the area's natural resources. He made the Expedition Headwaters, An Everglades Journey to Remember, which aims to increase awareness of the ecological connection of the Orlando metropolitan area with the Everglades ecosystem. The team also invited students from elementary and middle, taught them about watersheds, wetlands and aquatic ecosystems.

This article introduce hotel systemspro system. This is a new idear for PMs to apply in hospitality industry, it is include every traditional function from existing PMs system and also provide mobile device access. That means the hotel manager will not only use the computer to control the software but also the mobile device like IPad or other Android tablet.

New technology brings new capability. Within the retail POS hardware industry, new technology is driving change in retail hardware platforms. Cloud-based software, coupled with the emergence of powerful and feature-rich mobile devices, offers new possibilities for retailers to better serve and engage their shoppers at the Point of Purchase. Typical construction of a Point of Sale cash register is centered on a PC workstation. These cash register systems are often positioned in one or more fixed locations in the retail store. They might be served by an array of peripheral devices: a touch display, a customer pole display, a handheld scanner, a receipt printer, and a cash drawer. These peripheral devices are typically configured with serial or USB interfaces and connect to a port on the PC workstation dedicated to each device. Software developers engage each device through OPOS or native DLLs drivers created by the hardware manufacturer. In this setting, a shopper is compelled to queue up at the cash register and stage their goods for itemized sale. By contrast, software functionality and mobile device technology allow a retailer to bring the Point of Sale transaction to the shopper at their Point of Purchase. In this way, a retailer can increase shopper loyalty by providing a more convenient, more personalized, and more interactive transaction experience. A purpose-built Point of Sale solution can be developed from the ground up for the mobile transaction faster than ever. Hardware manufacturers are creating new solutions to support this trend. By selecting hardware that maximizes the benefits of a mobile transaction, a retailer can significantly improve system performance and significantly reduce the total cost of the system. However, the current PC-centric workstation architecture presents several technical challenges as a retailer chooses to deploy a mobile POS solution. Consider this example: A mobile credit transaction performed on a smart phone

The article highlighted states that every business should have a cash management system either POS or cash register. The traditional cash registers will be adopted by smaller business; however, more developed systems should use a POS. The cost could be high but the life expectancy of the system is very long. To make a decision about which POS system to choose, the decision maker needs to do his/her homework to determine the business' needs including how much it will grow in the future. The system will benefit the business to generate detailed reports, track inventory, easy menu updates and others.

With the development of technology, there are many softwares and machines help business imporved. The POS is a good system, which chould be used in the hospitality and retail industries. It has the ability to save money, quickly process a customer's transaction and accurately keep records. However, it charged more than installing a cash register. When considering about whcih one need to adopt, it's better for the business do a self analysis first. No matter what kind of technology we use, we need focus on provide personalized and customer focused service.

if the owner use the cash register, he can get the money directly. he does not need to take out the money out of the bank when he faces to the emergency situation. also the cash register is more reliable and more real. it does not have high risks of fraud and cheat except the fake money. compare to the POS system, the Pos system is convenient and easy operation. customers only need to swipe the credit/debit card that they can pay for the goods. so the customers do not need to bring much money when they are out of home. it is safe for the customers. nowadays, everywhere can receive the master card and almost everyone has one or more debit/credit card. this behavior promotes the development of POS system. easy to carry and consume make people use this way to buy the goods instead of using the money.

Pineapple Hospitality has chosen Zmail from the company ZDirect, as the platform they will use for their email marketing campaign. Because Pineapple Management is a growing company, the want to improve the way they communicate with their customers. Siting that it is important to have a platform that works both ways. Allowing the hotel to contact the customers and allowing the customers to contact the hotel. Zmail operates by using their content engine to capture guest behavior, purchase history and preferences. It then send individual transaction emails, emails that cater to the customer individually as opposed to mass emails to all customer. ZDirect offers this service with Zmail that is directly focused on communicating with the "right customers", those who are most likely to be loyal customers to the hotel and spend more money with the hotel. Because Pineapple Hospitality wishes to expand beyond their current market, Zmail is an ideal tool to use to identify potential customers. Since the company has been using Zmail, they have seen a ten percent increase in click-through rates.

In this article, the author pays attention to the balance between security technology and customers' privacy. Even though we all know that security becomes a big issue nowadays and technology is updating so fast, does it mean too much of them will also be  a good thing for hotels. In today's hotel, you can find monitors everywhere, which makes me feel bad because I feel like being in a jail. Obviously, with the growing treats and terrorism, it is necessary to put those monitors in hotels or even any other public places in order to make people safe. However, compared to being 100% safe, guests in hotels today much prefer privacy. They don't want to be monitored and feel inconvenient. 

Now, many security devices and technologies are widely used in the hospitality industry. Perimeter security is a set of physical security and programmatic security policies that provide levels of protection against remote malicious activity. It can be both noticeable and seemingly invisible and is utilized to keep employees and guests safe. Larger properties like casino, have security system and command center that monitor guests' actions in every corner. However, in the situation of economic depression, hotels have to consider the cost of security measures.

In today's world, larger properties have command centers where all video and audio is often under constant watch and review. In an instant, video can be pulled, reviewed and sent to the appropriate authorities. All of this might bring back memories of your most recent visit to a casino, where the "eye in the sky" is watching your every move. While initially you may be conscious of your every move being monitored, eventually you forget there is a camera right above you. With terrorism seemingly a real and growing threat, hotels must find a balance between allowing guests their privacy and having the ability to monitor who is on the property and what actions they may be taking. Today,