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I think the above points are for hotels that do not have a brand awareness... For example, the St Regis brand we did not need all this as it was a well established brand and the business just practically walks in...

This article discuss Sabre which is one of the biggest GDS systems in use ad their decision to integrate with Bedsonline, TravelBound and the Expedia® Affiliate Network (EAN). The reason they decided to do this was to increase their inventory and in turn better serve the customer. What I found interesting is that Bedsonline and Travelbound are both travel agent exclusive companies, this shows that despite availability that OTA's have travel agents still play a crucial role. I would also like to use the side by side comparison tool.

This article highlights the benefits of the STS Cloud Hotel Sales and Catering software. STS Cloud is a comprehensive Sales and Catering system with account management and contact profiles that support sales team in selling and managing events. This software is said to be fully functioning, web based, fast, and affordable.

Expedia has announced new technology and software for hotel partners that will help hotel partners drive knowledge and efficiencies. "Expedia Powered Technology was born from rethinking how we work with our hotel partners - through listening to their needs, and leveraging our technology as a driver for industry solutions," said Cyril Ranque, president, Lodging Partner Services. It is vital for Expedia, the world's largest online travel company to listen to their hotel partners and to follow the growing technology advancements. Omni Hotels & Resorts has been the latest partner to join the Expedia's package solution.

This article is a perfect example of how event planning can go terribly wrong with social media usage. The Bahama music festival hosted by Ja-Rule and his company left hundreds stranded on the Island of Great Exuma. The event started off by being promoted through instagram, mainly by famous celebrities such as Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner. Tickets were sold at $1,200 for the utmost luxurious experience. Come the weekend of the festival, music go-ers arrived into full chaos. Everything that had been promised to the guests such as deluxe lodges, yoga tents and food courts were missing. People showed up to an empty island with no food, water or basic shelter. Clearly the festival was poorly executed and planned and it was canceled. There was a lack of infrastructure on the island to provide safety for the guests along with a lack of proper water systems and transportation. The event planners had not had a proper back up plan for storms that could potentially hit the island (which happened) which completely set back everything. Many viewed this Fryre Festival as a major scam and were extremely upset, but what it turned out to be was a poorly planned and executed music event.

In this article you will find a analysis released by The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) which states the crisis of the hotel industry during this past 6 months and how sales have been declining and the results of this in the Amercian economy.

This article introduces the application of tablets in hotels, including Lodging Management, Restaurant management, Beverage Management, Club management, etc. This article also introduces the important role of tablets and T-Commerce as a PMS medium in hotels.

In the article, "Green and Eco-Friendly Hotel Amenities" it talks about how many different hotels are doing their part and keeping the planet green. The first place that the article talks about is the Mayakoba, Riviera Maya, it uses no motorized vehicles instead the guests can use electric golf carts or electric boats to ride around on the nine miles of canal. "Each resort also has an onsite biologist to lead educational boat tours through the lagoons." At the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago they built a rooftop garden to provide fresh vegetables and herbs for the hotel's restaurant, they are also considering making space to put several beehives, this will lead to a natural approach of producing honey. One of the most interesting and easy ways to stay green was at the Calistoga Ranch in Napa Valley; they have sheep that eat the grass replacing all lawnmowers and on top on that, their manure helps fertilize the soil. It's a win, win solution! In New York they have a restaurant called Habana Outpost and you really have to work for your food, literally. At this restaurant you have ride a bike that powers the eatery blender and if they generate up to 100 watts of energy, they will earn a free meal, such an amazing and creative idea! This "is part of the hotel's larger commitment to eco-friendliness, which includes a CO2-neutral building, solar panels, and groundwater-based heating and cooling systems." At Jicaro Island lodge in Nicaragua, they used all of they wood from trees that were knocked down in Hurricane Felix and they also use a good majority of their wastewater that is recycled to irrigate the trees and plants. Before reading this article, I never knew that so many hotels were doing their part at staying green and I'm surprised by all the new and unique ways that they have come up with, it gives me hope for the future!

 The hospitality industry encompasses a wide range of sections from lodging, restaurants, special event planning, conventions, and many more.  The hospitality is unique in the fact that scheduling employees often times varies from week to week depending on the occasion. One week you may have a wedding that requires 50 employees while the next week you may only need 10 employees. ZoomShift provides the flexibility for managers to schedule around the demands of their clients with employee availability in mind.

Following a robbery at a Houston hotel in which thieves exploited security flaws in Onity locks first revealed at the Black Hat conference in July, Hotel Management spoke with Todd Seiders, director of risk management at Petra Risk Solutions and former director of loss prevention at Marriott, for tips on how hoteliers can keep their rooms secure. An NFC-compatible lock, such as this Signature RFID by VingCard lock, can streamline the check-in process.

Some of the major concern hotel such as Houston hotel are facing is robbery. A lot of the older locks in the hotel are so old that it may be easy to rob precious items from the guest rooms. NFC has a new lock where the newer lock does not have an encryption code, instead the guest will get a new code from the front desk. The new lock ensure that hackers can not easily hack into a guest rooms. In addition, the new NFC-compatible locks help guests skip the check in process at the front desk and instead use their mobile phone to open their guest room doors and check themselves into the hotel.

As mobile devices become more advanced, particularly cell phones and tablet devices, more pressure to keep up with mobile and social trends is placed on the hospitality industry. People are using their mobile devices more now than they have in the past. So much so, that "two thirds of Americans sleep with their mobile device in range, something we cannot say about desktops". A world of information is at your fingertips because of the capability of mobile devices. Information that can help us make decisions about anything. Even last-minute decisions about hotels and food. More people are using their mobile devices to book rooms and many of the people that do this, are booking a hotel for the same night. The fact most of the people who do this are under 30 means that it is very likely that this trend will increase. People are expecting the technology to be there so that they can pick a hotel and a restaurant to go to if they are unfamiliar with a city. They are expecting a hotel chain to have a mobile site or better yet an "app" that will not only allow them to book a room, but, one that will give them directions from where they are to the hotel. The same can be said for restaurants. Potential customers want to be able to look over the menu and determine if they want to come to the restaurant, all from their mobile device. Mobile guests are also using customer review sites to determine where they will lodge or dine. They are using sites like TripAdvisor which allows you to post comments about your stay. The sight even allows the guests to post pictures. "Customer reviews are also important to the hotel industry, but the jury is still out on exactly how hotels should react with people who post reviews." It is always great when a guest posts a positive review of the hotel, but imagine how one bad stay could tarnish a hotels reputation. And what if there are cleanliness issues that the guest can photograph and upload to the site? Exactly what to do in this type of e

TripAdvisor just launched the new TripAdvisor GreenLeaders program, which ranks hotels across the U.S. according to their engagement in environmentally-friendly practices like linen and towel re-use, recycling and composting, solar panel and electric car charging station implementation, and green roofing.

With TripAdvisor's launch of the new GreenLeaders program, it will help hoteliers as well as restaurants and other businesses increase their Green initiative commitment. I know for the Florida Green Lodging Certification, it is a simple, yet tedious, form to complete, covering many aspects that can help reduce waste of products, energy, and gasses. Thanks to a bill that was passed in the not-so-distant past, certain aspects of the government travel requires their selection of lodging and/or meeting facilities to be green. This is in an effort to encourage those changes in order to secure government business, as well as to encourage personal & leisure travel, government or not, to choose green facilities. The more we increase the demand for green properties, the more properties will seek to make the necessary changes and commitment. In addition, the application process changes periodically, increasing the information and steps necessary to become green. Through all of that, we will begin to notice bigger steps to be made to save our resources and our environment. TripAdvisor launching this program will only help in these efforts. Along with increasing efforts, the feedback will be a great tool for use when selecting how to make those changes. Sure, nothing is perfect and you will still have those that prefer the convenience instead of the overall "Save the Earth" way of life, but we will be able to see what is working and what may need to be adjusted a bit.

"The way travelers communicate on the road has changed dramatically over the years, and these changes become evident when analyzing the revenue earned by U.S. hotels from their guests for use of telecommunication devices and services. In lodging industry parlance, "telecommunications revenue" includes monies received from the guest use of hotel room phones, fax machines, and internet connections."

This year, travelers are on track to pay U.S. hotels an estimated $1.95 billion in fees and surcharges - an amount that includes unpopular Internet charges. With this in mind, Hotel Check-In asked Robert Mandelbaum, the Atlanta-based director of information services for PKF Hospitality Research, to tell us about the state of the industry's telecommunications revenue stream - a stream that includes Internet fees.

Over the years, with technological and telecommunication advances the way we communication while on the road or on vacation has changed. I remember going on vacation as a child and being able to call my grandma from our hotel room once a day because we didn't want to spend too much money on calling back home or getting a voicemail from family members calling while we weren't in the hotel room. Over the years, this has changed dramatically. Now I can go on vacation and call, text, send emails, pictures, and videos to all my contacts with the use of my cell phone or with the use of my laptop in a WiFi area. This article gives insight on the revenue provided by telecommunications as told by Robert Mandelbaum a director of information services. He tells us that internet fees help with the growth of telecom revenue, as use of in room phones has decreased. This is just one way that the changes in technology have affected the industry. In this case, telecommunication advances have had a negative effect on the revenue in telecommunications but its only a matter of time until something new comes around and attempts to restore profit production. 

Travelers today expect hotels to provide dependability and security. Quality technical support is just as important for operators. Kaba's ILCO 790 RFID locking system is cost-effective and reliable. It uses the latest access control technology to provide hotel guests with a smooth, contactless room access experience. ILCO's RFID technology not only provides a first-class guest experience; it also significantly reduces operational overhead. RFID keycards cannot be de-magnetized so hotels do not suffer the cost and inconvenience of issuing replacements. The 790 Series locks are the perfect choice for hotels that want to take their operation and security systems to the next level.

This article highlights some of the many advantages to switching your Hotel PMS system to a cloud-based system, including saving time and money, increasing your flexibility and security, and appealing to today's technologically savvy guests.

This article makes some excellent points. I must admit that I am still "old fashioned" when it comes to PMS systems, but it's hard to argue with dollars and sense! The cost of an onsite IT team to manage the PMS system is probably the biggest advantage, save for the CAPEX equipment investment. The fact that the system can be managed from a hand held devise, makes it even more attractive. No more downloading of nightly reports, the information is at one's fingertips. My only concern is the security. While any company can be hacked (Home Depot, Target, etc.), there is a lot of trust placed on the cloud host.

This article talks about the recent hack of HEI Hotel & Resorts that occurred in June of this year, where 20 HEI-operated hotels were breached via their POS system. The malware had been discovered in June but the company reported that it could have been active since March 1st, 2015 in some systems. The article also talks about how POS systems are common targets for hacking and goes on to mention some of the other recent cybersecurity risks that have occurred in the industry, where their POS systems were the targets of hacking. The American Hotel & Lodging Association met with a group of other associations to discuss the issues of cybersecurity and look for possible solutions. However, the industry has not taken measures to amplify their security, probably due to the history with certain IT standards, the cost of starting over, and potential privacy issues. The article claims that, overall, the industry has not done much to change the inherent security risks with regards to technology.

The current trend hotels executives and owners are adopting is green and sustainable practices. First, because of the marketing and positive public relations it brings to the image of the hotel and second, because of the energy and cost savings to the bottom line. The implementation of these practices with new technologies and software's designed to streamline processes and keep routine calendar of projects make easier for management to keep track and follow through.

This new Google Venice Update enable customers to receive more relevant and precise hotel information than before when they searching. The information including the nearest hotel around them, price, up-coming events, restaurant hours and so on. While many hoteliers already have a geo-targeted SEO strategy targeting long-tail keywords addressing the location, nearby attractions, etc., it is important to cover all your other SEO bases to ensure the best results. Further, developing an APP applied on iPhone or iPad which will increase convenience for customers and improve productivity for lodging industry.