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I found this article very interesting as it covers some of the next technological changes the hotel industry would see. Hotel companies and property owners are spending lots of money to ensure they are able to satisfy modern day traveler's needs. As technology advances and more and more studies show travelers prefer to use their own mobile devices, companies have to constantly improve their mobile platform. Sooner or later hotels will have mobile keys that work via a phone on the customers phone or tabloid. Features like mobile keys, check-in, and communications via a mobile app will all require significant amount of investments by major hotel chains. All of these new types of feature also require more advanced security to protect hotel stayers while using the hotels' mobile apps. Over the long run the investment will pay off for large hotel companies as they will gain tons of data and data is very powerful and useful. I am interested to see how this affects small-scale motels as the investment in mobile platforms may not be feasible for an independent motel.

This article discusses six of the new upcoming trends in the hospitality industry in regards to technology. The first is mobile ubiquity - meaning the amount of usability of guests using mobile devices to check in, make a reservation, or purchase. The second is integrating mobile data and the integration of such valuable data. Third would be the Enabling of guest room technology, such as on-demand content and room features. Fourth would be Future-proofing networks and ensuring safety from hackers or malwares. Fifth would be beefing up security. Sixth would be energy conservation to save money on wastes and energy consumption.

Future proofing or building a more robust network infrastructure is the backbone and the most important part of any network model. It seems that newer buildings will have an advantage as they will have fiber optic installed as they are constructed which would be cheaper than replacing an entire existing copper network. This trend, will enable companies that have newer hotels to offer more services and meet the technological demand that their customers now expect.

The article states that the Global Distribution System (GDS) as a link for the buyers and sellers of tourism services. The buyers are travel agents and members of the public while sellers are hotels, airlines and car rentals. The history of GDS as describes in the article is that GDS was created in the 1960's by the airline industry for use in keeping track of flight schedules, availability and prices. The article describes GDS as "a network operated by a company that enables automated transactions between third parties and booking agents in order to provide travel-related services to the end consumers." GDS is also "a global distribution model refers back to the reservation instrument journey sellers use when making an air, lodge, auto or other journey service booking." The article describes some of the GDS companies that include Galileo, Apollo, Worldspan, Amadeus, and Sabre. These companies are owned and operated as joint ventures with the aid of essential airways and inn groups. The advantages of GDS for hotels are giving publicity for the organization, B2B and B2C distribution, and constant online access to a company's inventory.

I think what is stated in this article is very important to travel/tourism and hotel industries and also flight workers because it is good to know this for pricing, availability and flight schedules.

This article discusses the various ways that hotels are increasingly going green and the certification process hotels can go to in order to get this green recognition. It is clear that going green nowadays is not a matter of choice, but of business necessity due to the various demands from guests and other consumers. Sustainability for hotels isn't just about recycling and choosing more energy efficient lights, its looking at sustainability holistically. This means looking at conversation from the start of a hotel project all the way through to the time the hotel first opens and continues to operate. While the upfront costs to be green may be costly, what may end up being more costly is the companies who choose not to go green at all.

This article goes into details about the new technology emerging in the hospitality industry and how it is that hotels are able to stay ahead of the cutting edge trends of today.

I found this article interesting as it is closely related to the discussion board topic for this week. It touches on the point that guests expect the same level of convenience that they can experience at home when they are travelling. Voice recognition devises are on the rise and this new technology is affordable enough to be a regular house-hold item. It's difficult for hotels to have a competitive edge while trying to stay one step ahead of the game. Maintaining excellent customer experiences while avoiding unnecessary touch points for the guests is the goal for many businesses. The article mentions that Hilton as a technology "test" property, where all new technology is transparently tested on staff and guests and valuable feedback in derived. I think this is an excellent idea that more hotel brands should incorporate.

This article talks about how there is a serious concern in the hotel industry when it comes to credit card and identity theft. They talk about how all the major brands in the hotel industry were all victims of highly publicized, major breaches in the last year alone. Also, including airline and banks, hotels maintain a wealthy amount of database of personal and financial data. For example, with new technology systems being created, POS systems are a weak security point for many networks because they are constantly in use and are not always updated or even protected from vulnerabilities. The article talks about personal details for hotel guests are frequently stored in a variety of locations including restaurants, facilities, and government buildings, so hackers have a greater possibility to access your personal information. The bigger hotels are in more danger because of the volume of guests that come in and out of the location. Smaller hotels should be concerned not just about their security but also by ransomware, an increasingly favorable tactic to extort hoteliers by hackers who encrypt the hotels data making it inaccessible until ransom is paid for. I believe hotels need a toolbelt of various securtiy technologies that can be used to prevent future malicious attacks. I think by managing and implementing a firewall is essential which helps get rid of dangerous traffic from coming onto the network and preventing sensitive data from being hacked.

MOD 10: This article discusses the main tactics of cyber hackers that target hotels. Point of sale (POS) systems are easy targets for hackers due to their constant use during operation hours and because of that their security measures aren't always up to date. Hotels have large data banks since they're storing consumer profile information such as home addresses, phone numbers and credit card numbers. There's a large risk when it comes to security breaches within franchises because they have access to their parent company's regional, national and global systems. If their systems are hacked and breached, then that puts the whole system of the brand at risk. Security breaches within a system can also damage a brands reputation with the public. According to the article, "Recent major breaches at Fortune 500 companies and household names across the retail, restaurant and hotel sectors demonstrate that anti-virus, anti-malware and firewalls alone are not enough to secure businesses from the ever-evolving threat landscape." Smaller properties are even at a greater risk because not only do they have to monitor their compliance with PCI but also monitoring their security systems for their database and PMS system. Some of the recommended software's that should be used by hotels looking to be proactive with their company's cyber security is File Integrity Monitoring(FIM), Unified Threat Management(UTM), and Security Information and Event Management(SIEM).

This article explores the different tactics hotels should use after a cyber attack. The article mentions several different type of attacks such as Phishing when hackers trick customers into giving up their login credentials. Ransomware, when hackers encrypt data making it unusable and inaccessible for the hotel. Not one solution but rather companies should be equipped with a series of technologies from firewalls to file monitoring programs. Some of these technologies, like SIEM requires an intelligent IT team to have the capabilities of analyzing and monitoring the reports produced. This may be more difficult for smaller businesses to implement and maintain.

The following article does a great job outlining different aspects of cyber security within the hospitality industry. Security is one of the main departments that need attention and an additional budget in order meet todays security requirements. After doing some research, it is clear to see that all employees must have the same focus in order to provide the best security for their guest. Hotel security can provide things like: facility protection and control, guest and visitor monitoring and assistance, security command center monitoring (cameras, alarms systems and surveillances), maintain emergency response plan, etc. "Security has a difficult job of enforcing the rules and regulations of the establishment while making the guest feel welcome." The article goes over different security systems and what differentiates them, I thought that it gave a lot of insightful information into various cyber security systems.

Judging by its title, this may not seem like a breakthrough article. However, there are some important points worth discussing. The article indicates that some GDS companies, traditionally serving the airline industry, are now venturing into hotel property management systems. Since SABRE and Amadeus no longer want to depend exclusively on airline service, they are investing heavily in PMS technology. Furthermore, since the new trend is the implementation of cloud based PMS's, they are focusing their resources exclusively on cloud technology because it gives hotels more flexibility on services and integrations. The article suggests that while Oracle might still be a leader in this field, way ahead of its competitors, industry dynamics change so fast that SABRE and Amadeus will eventually become fierce competitors. Oracle is still the most used tool in this market and most hotel employees have received Oracle training at some point. Nevertheless, although that's an advantage for Oracle when it comes to savings in training cost, innovations on cloud based technology can provide more opportunities not available on conventional system servers.Therefore, this move by major GDS providers can prove a wise investment. Finally, another significant development in this article is the fact that SABRE will eventually add alternative lodging to its inventory such as Airbnb or corporate serviced apartments. This, in my opinion, will be an absolute game changer.

During the 1980s and 1990s, many hospitality companies invested billions of dollars in information technology. According to many authors hoteliers will continue to invest in IT to enhance service quality, reduce costs, improve productivity, gain competitive advantage, and increase bottom line profitability. The key findings of the research are that evaluation activities for hospitality IT investments have not been performed widely and consistently.In this study, significant differences were found in how IT investments are evaluated in hotels with centrally managed IT as compared to hotels with locally managed IT. The research findings highlight the importance of the use of IT investment evaluation techniques in hotels and the major differences between hotels with centrally and locally managed IT.

This incident implies how important safety and security in hospitality industry. This was so devastating that every must invest and modify the security in the hospitality industry.

The latest chain of events that we are all are aware of is shaping the security system all over the world. It have been happening in airports, clubs and now with the Vegas incident the hospitality industry have been expose as a vulnerable. Obviously the security system will change in the lodging industry now, which not only going to be a "must do" expense but as "vmorr026" may have an impact on the hotel rates as well.

trends that hotels are using to make sure their guest are safe

This article is about new security technologies that are being added to hotels. This technology is a keyless entry which allows guest to check-in to their rooms without stopping by the front desk. With this system, a guest is able to lock and unlock their doors, and it also tells the guest if someone enters the room without them being there. The article also goes into other technological advancement hotels are taking to ensure guest safety.

This article speaks about the security concerns that have been increasing in the hospitality industry and what trends have been emerging to combat the security concerns of the hotel in regards to their guests; specifically, mobile keys - instead of key cards.

As the Internet has created value-added advantages in terms of PMS, the debate whether a company should migrate from a traditional PMS to a cloud based one continues to arise. This article, titled "5 Reasons to Move your Hotel PMS to the Cloud" explains that the advantages encompass saving time and effort, saving money, increased flexibility, increased security and becoming appealing to today's guests. With regards to saving time, migrating into a cloud based PMS avoids system crashes and failures, which relieves the burdens in these types of emergencies. Hotels can also save money with a cloud based PMS and lower costs with regards to running this enterprise software. The flexibility also has an appealing factor; rather than simply accessing the PMS on a desktop, hoteliers can view it on smartphones and tablets. There is also the factor of security, where the information can be stored confidentially within the cloud. This article further explains that, "According to the 2015 Lodging Technology Study, 22% of hotels surveyed said that migrating their on-premises technology to the cloud this year is a top priority". This shows how a cloud based PMS is a valued trend that is not only advantageous, but can offer long term benefits.

Summary of sustainability trends in the Hotel Industry

This article is introduce a successful female --Anna McFarland. She was selected as the 2018 HFTP Paragon Award recipient. She is a global financial services veteran with 30 years of finance and performance management

The article describes about the importance of telecommunication in the hotel industry. It also mentions the importance of choosing the right equipment, so the guest is connected to their friends and family. It also provide us an information that it is necessary to have an appropriate vendor so there is no problem once the equipment is installed in the properties. The equipment should also provide a wide range of network which would support all of its guest staying in the hotel.

Telecommunication has become the forefront in the hospitality industry, and it is a increasingly a vital priority for customers. Whether guests travel for business or pleasure, they always want to stay connected to their family and friends. In order for the hotel industry to choose the right telecom equipment that will fit the customers needs but also the hotels needs, they need to the following; effective and user-friendly telecom equipment, reliable and secure messaging software, and ample but dependable internet access. Hotel guests want the ability to feel right at home or right and their workplace when they are staying on hotel property, so having the best equipment available to a guest not only in their hotel room but also in other areas, such as library, conference room, pool area, restaurant, or even a bar. The guest wants to feel like they are handling their work business with no software or network interruptions, no matter what area in the hotel they decide to work from. With technology being such a top priority in the hospitality industry or any industry for that matter, ensuring customer satisfaction and repeated business, will anticipate a clients needs.Most importantly, before purchasing your in-room telecommunications equipment, it's best to have a good idea of your current and future telecommunication needs. Telecom equipment for the hospitality industry includes a variety of options. The most cost-effective approach is to acquire equipment with only the options you need or foresee a forthcoming need for.

Telecommunication is becoming more important in hotels in general. Choosing all the right equipment and stuff is great but if you dont have a great network to run all this equipment to allow your guess to telecommute. This will allow meeting planner to coordinate events for those not able to travel to meeting and still get the necessary information from the conference there colleagues are attending. It be very interesting to see where this will go.

This article talks about how property management systems have changed over the years. Previously the main purpose of the PMS system was focused on back-of-the-house functions like guest registration and housekeeping. Now some PMS systems are equipped with everything from the ability to automate transactions with travel agents to in-room entertainment. These systems are enabling hotels to better serve their guests. Typically full-service hotels and resorts would require more complex PMS systems, but smaller select-service could manage with simpler systems. The overall goal of a PMS system is to increase profitability and RevPar. These new systems are more streamlined across all operations, which enables hotels to meet their goals.

"Today's systems now generally include channel management capabilities, including a web booking engine and global distribution system connectivity to automate transactions with booking agents. Many systems now integrate with third-party technologies like point-of-sale (POS) software, accounting software, keycard and access control systems, self-service kiosks, internet and telephone systems and in-room refreshment (minibar) and entertainment applications. Some systems now come with marketing and sales tools for creating targeted promotions and campaigns based on individual guest profiles, behaviors and preferences. Some systems also include robust data analysis capabilities for generating business intelligence, including insights into emerging trends. Built-in customer relationship management features can help engender higher levels of guest satisfaction, which invariably leads to not only more repeat stays but also a larger volume of positive brand advocacy - e.g., favorable reviews on TripAdvisor and other popular sites - ultimately translating into increased hotel occupancy rates and revenue per available room (RevPAR)." This article explains the advancement of PMS systems in contrast to the traditional POS software and its limitations. Todays PMS systems offer not only booking capabilities but operational room features as well. Market capabilities are now also available directly from these new PMS system which were previously handled elsewhere.

My article was very interesting and it was about the evolution of hotel PMS over the past 10 years. Early generations of hotel property management system only had the necessary features and functions like room inventory maintenance and housekeeping assignment. But now some PMS have been developed to meet the end-to-end needs of modern day lodging properties in ways that could be difficult to imagine a decade ago. Some systems now even come with marketing and sales tools for creating targeted promotions and campaigns based on individual guest profiles, behaviors and preferences. With the help of technology, property management systems for hotels have great opportunities to be improved because the goal of every software should be to provide the best service for the guests based on their information.

It is said the the central reservation system is essentially the core of reservations since the internet plays a huge part in making those reservations. It goes from property management systems, to the CRS which is then distributed to GDS's, wholesalers, or other viewing options. This allows the hotel to have profiles that can be viewed online by consumers and agents to get a feel for the services. Additionally, it is said that is allows for great visibility to attract more customers which allows for groups and blocks. It also allows the consumer to check around for competitors to ensure they are finding the best rates and deals. All in all, it connects the entire globe to reach a wider audience to maximize profit.