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Radio frequency identification (RFID) is an advanced technology. It is the use of a wireless non-contact radio system to transfer data from a tag attached to an object, for the purposes of automatic identification and tracking. Tags do not need battery and they used radio waves to read them. The tag has electronically stored information, so it can use far distance. Unlike a bar code, the tag is not as same as bar code. Line of sight of the reader is not necessary. Radio frequency identification is used in different area. A lot of entertainment use tags as tickets. Some theme parks used tags for gaming, eating and lodging. I think in the future the hospitality industry really needs this technology. More and more new program join in hotel such as rock climbing, spa, casino and so on. These different programs need convenient tickets for guests. Because of this technology used in hotel, the ID card will not just for opening the door. It will include many functions. And the guests do not need any other card or cash in hotel.

This is an informative article on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. I found an article talks about RFID in cruise ship last week and got impressed with the advancement of technology in hospitality industry. Hopefully, we will see many hospitality properties equipped with RFID soon. This technology just reminds me of Korean style sauna called "Jjimjil bang" and many of the saunas in Korea are equipped with RFID. A wristband with a sensor inside is given to people when they chenk in and people just need to wear the wristband to pay in the sauna.

Amadeus, has announced that it will partner with HRS a leading hotel portal for corporate travelers. The decision to create a strategic alliance will mark a first for hotel portals to become available through a global distribution system. This connection will allow over 250,000 hotels, to include 50,000 independent properties to join in a major distribution system around the world. Through this integration, it will ensure the customer experience is less laborious and provide a even playing field for independent hotels to the advertise to business travelers around the world. This is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2012. I believe this strategic move will allow Amadeus, to position it's self to remain as a GDS leader, which will allow them to obtain a larger market share. Additionally this integration will set the scene for future collaborations across the hospitality industry.

This partnership between Amadus and HRS will bring a lot of business to both of them and good proftis by letting independent hotels advertise their products and services. As you mentioned before this partnership will position Amadeus as the leader among GDS.

The nation's largest Army Reserve training post is "going green" . A new

This article is all about hotels going green and trying to get LEED certified. The one Boston hotel is doing things like having dual flush toilets, low flow showers, shampoo and conditioner in bulk dispensers, and a roofing material that reflects the sun to save energy costs. Another thing involved with getting LEED certified is getting energy from abouther source, this particular hotel is using the wind. It is expensive to do and doesnt appeal to everyone, hotel managers must figure out whats in the best interest for them and getting people in and out of their hotel.

To add onto Marilyns comment, not only are hotels doing the basics to go green, but a lot of hotels in california are taking the extra step, such as The Kimpton Hotels, and The orchard. They have changed the carpets and wallpaper for lower emission. They added recycle bins in every room in all 40 of their hotels across the country. Lastly, and one of the the additions I find most beneficial is their implementation of key card energy control, where a room key will be needed to activate the electricity in each room, and also shutting all electricity off when they leave.

This article is about how starwood hotels are trying to become fullscale eco-friendly but some are hotels are only greenwashing. This article is stating that it is not enough to use one green practice and call yourself an eco-friendly hotel.

This article talks of 10 simple steps to go green in both a comercial and home cercumstances. Every business can do these steps to make a green company that can be used as a deferenciation point. I have never heard a company say that they make their own cleaning products.

The Basel Convention is a great step forward in controlling e-waste, the US still needs to get on board and deal with electronic waste within its own territory and not send it abroad to be dealt with. Once this happens then the reality of how much waste is produced will be evident and actions will be taken to reduce, reuse and recycle.

It is important for companies to get involved in protecting the environment. The need to ensure that we are recycling e-waste properly to protect our lands is vital. The government needs to mandate that technological companies protect the environment and force them to ensure that e-waste is being performed correctly. It is great to know that both Dell and Microsoft are working together to make this happen (http://venturebeat.com/2010/04/22/microsoft-joins-with-dell-to-tackle-e-waste-on-earth-day/).

This article discusses the importance of technology in convention space.  The Benton Convention Center which helped bring over 95,000 visitors and $69 million to the Winston-Salem area, is realizing that their outdated technology could cost them all of this economic boost.  This article clearly explains the importance of technology in the modern world of convention and meeting management.

The reason for this post is that i am currently using Linkedin part of my networking tool and i am sure many are using this as well. With this tool, you can really use it to its maximum capacity including, having discussions on certain topics, posting job vacanies, getting to know people of your own field of work, creating a group and inviting people to join the group.... the functions are endless. I really use this effectively on a daily basis trying to find candidates, posting jobs and i do get a lot of responses as well.

Do agree! Linkedin provides an effective way to network professionally and beyond. I also use the tool daily to keep abreast on trends, analysis, and personal network of professional affiliates. Ernest Bailey | LinkedIn profile http://linkd.in/19filwl

Lodging's Leading Environmental News Source

The American Hotel & Lodging Association and TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel site, have joined forces on their sustainability initiatives to encourage the hospitality industry to adopt more eco-friendly practices. this partnership will effectively educate consumers about green practices incorporated by the lodging industry in their operations, and it aligns these two important industry programs.

The main focus of my article is about the financial connection between India and the U.S. The article discusses a few key issues about India and their tech support in relation to the U.S. It tells us that "India's burgeoning tech sector is responsible for creating more than 400,000 American jobs, according to a report released Monday that prompted calls from leaders in both nations to reform business practices so the industry remains a bright spot in an often unreliable global economy". The article goes on to list some more interesting statistics. For example, "The new study from the National Association of Software and Service Companies, a trade group representing Indian technology firms, said business deals between firms in the two countries have generated $22.5 billion in tax revenue for the U.S. since 2011". I feel that these two statistics are important because in too many cases, Americans feel that "foreigners" are coming to the U.S. and "stealing" all of our jobs. That is clearly not the case with every situation, as the article points out. The article further explains that India is seeking to ease the process of coming into the U.S. to work. They feel that if they are providing their highly skilled techs to come work here and/or gain their American education here than the process of getting the visa should be much more lax than it is for other countries. I don't know if I agree with that one, but I understand their point.

The Hotel Industry and its vendors are acknowledging and taking a keen revenue advantage, because their customers are supporting a green environment focus. This green economic revolution has impacted the $90 billion dollar Hotel industry. The article describes a hotel in Austin Texas profoundly in regards to their property having the "largest solar system in the continental U.S.". The hotel goes as far as creating their motto, which gear guest towards a green environment focus; their motto states "Environmental consciousness in action." The hotel grows its own food and vegetables, in which they serve the guest with, and they also give some of their produce to local food banks. The hotel guest often brag about how well they slept in the night, this might be caused by the toxic free chemical environment they are in. The lodging have refrained from using chemical pesticides 20 years ago, which may have added to the result of guest sleeping well; stated the general manager. The Ritz-Carlton program "Jean-Michel Cousteau's Ambassadors of the Environment program" was originally for the children that were staying on the Kapalua in Hawaii. The children enjoyed it so much, and their parents became very inquisitive; that the program emerged into the entire property focus. This program gives guest the opportunity to have involvement with the native forest; native nature walk and the hotel also harvest a native garden. This is almost the same idea as the hotel located in Austin Texas. There are many valid reasons for the reason why the Hotel Industry should be green conscious. The Green Hotels Association states that "Companies with proactive environmental strategies will make 4 percent higher investment, 9 higher sales growth and 17 percent higher operating income growth than companies with poor environmental practices.". If I was a general manager, this would be one of my main concerns and focus. Going green is cost effective, but the ending

nowadays, more and more hotels attending to join the green army. one of the most important reason is this kind of hotel will have a better market. because of the education level of the guests, their invironmental awareness become stongly. so the guests want to do more to make a contribution the the environment protection. on the other hand, the customers all knows that even the price of the green hotel is higher, but it is more health and safe. it will make them feel better and have a good experience in the hotel. as we know, a good experience is the final goal of hotel. so, the green hotel must have a bright future.

The green economic revolution is impacting the $90 billion U.S. hotel industry. There is an opportunity to increase revenue and market share by "going green". Habitat Suites in Austin, Texas is a leader in this area. The hotel's motto is "Environmental consciousness in action." Habitat Suites has an environment that is free of chemicals, has the largest hotel solar system, and uses their own organic fruit and vegetable garden for food in the hotel. Due to this environmental consciousness, the customers are reacting positively. Commenting on how great they slept, due to the ecologically fresh rooms. Many hotel chains are jumping on the green revolution bandwagon. At the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua in Hawaii, they started an environment program that was originally designed to provide fun for kids. But after positive feedback from the children, this has grown from just learning about local marine life to educational nature walks. These walks go through Maui's native forests and a garden that grows native foods and has community engagement in order to preserve their island's culture and environment. The food that is grown in the native garden is used in the hotel to provide guests with a healthy dining experience. Because of this, it has increased guests' reason to eat at the hotel and is 15 percent of the hotel guests' revenue stream. This environmentally friendly program increases the possibility of repeat business and attract new travelers who search for these types of experiences. A report published by the Green Hotels Association states, "Companies with proactive environmental strategies have a 4 percent higher return on investment, 9 percent higher sales growth and 17 percent higher operating income growth than companies with poor environmental track records." Even non-hotel-industry entrepreneurs are realizing business opportunities in the green vacation industry. Patricia Griffin, president of the Green Hotel Association, started the associatio

Sabre has a proven track record of success in terms of helping businesses to increase their profits and reach higher levels professionally. Their customers span every area of the hospitality and travel industry. Last year, Sabre acquired Ganares, in an effort to expand the company's brand and promote growth.

The article focuses on various past decade information technologies which significantly changed the way the hotel industry controls and manages operation. Information technology security is controlling access to sensitive electronic information so only those with a legitimate need to access it is allow. There are three main objectives for information technology security these are confidentiality, integrity and availability of data.While many technologies have been utilized, some newer technologies have emerged in the literature , practice and many of them impact the hotel's security. Australia joins security crackdown on tech in the Middle East airport. Airline passengers flying from the Middle East to Australia faced an increased scrutiny and potential delay with the introduction of new electronics screening processes in three major transit airports. In addition, Instagram added two factor authentication to the photo and video sharing social network, which increase there security measures for their 600 millions users.

This article talks about important features that a property Management System need to have. The most important features are the following: A drag and drop calendar which will help managers to visualize reservation and availability. Rate plan management will help to create a rate plan and have them easily applied to reservation. Integrated channel manager since it is important for hotels to be able to join as many available channels a possible to make more sales. Reporting is also very important to be able to track performance real time and keep control of the health of the company. Another key important feature is shared inventory and direct booking support since if customers can book directly from the properties website the hotel will avoid paying commissions. The customer data base is great for marketing and to create loyal customers. The last features that a property management system should have are pricing intelligence, point of sale and the ability to track other revenues services from other services that are offered in the property. A PMS system that has all these features will help a company run the property very well. I would add a good customer support because if this system goes down basically the hotel cannot do anything so I think it is very important that if it is not working for any reason that it has be fixed very fast so that it does not affect customer relations.

As this article mentioned, MeetingMatris will be added to the hospitality curriculum in Kendall College. MeetingMatrix provides State-of-the Art meeting planning technology solutions. In my opinion, it is very necessary to provide the students with useful technology solutions and it provides a lot of assistance for their future job seeking. In the rapid development society, accurate and instant information decides if a business success or fail in a meeting plan. Therefore, more and more people begin to pay attention on this issue.

This article provides 8 tips on how to email marketing. Email marketing which is a part of e-marketing is a great way to reach customers, the service is also cost effective and time efficient. The main ways to optimize emails are to get a an organic list of contacts to make sure they do not end up in the junk bin. Next the emails should be functional they should be mobile friendly and the links should work. In regards to the content it should contain more than just rate specials they can contain events or insider city tips and they should be targeted at the correct audience. Finally the sender should test it out by receiving one first.

Fourteen IP Director Neil Tolley joined a distinguished group of experts in commenting on The Future of Hotel Telecommunications for hotel technology consultant Dan Philips, in an article for Hospitality Upgrade magazine.

A distinguished group of experts talk about the future of Hotel Communications. They talk about why many hotel are moving toward using the cloud and that many hotels should be flexible and adjust to the needs of new tech savvy customers but updating the guest experience with applications.

In this article, the writer informs us on how two system solution based companies are joining forces to give hotels the most accurate and up-to-date data on their companies transactions. These transactions includes the control of inventories, pricing of inventory, and forecasting in order to increase hotel revenue. This allows for hotel managers to better strategize their brand's revenue in order to create more informed decisions. The article highlights what both IDeaS Revenue Solutions and Springer Miller Systems do to support hotels. Many resorts already use both systems. The companies working together allows their solutions to become more streamlined for hotel establishments. Hoteliers largely focus on the guest experience, but are restricted in how they manage inventory and forecast. These tools will allow them to do both at the same time with less manual labor. It sounds like an expensive investment. It's important for managers to decide whether it's worth the investment and predict whether they will see a return on this investment. Thoughts?