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Summary of the article Contactless payment is a new technology being used in the UK. Compare to the previous quarter, in the last month of 2011, cardholders using this system to pay for food has been increased. The contactless system allow customers to make a payment over 15 Europe dollar by scanning their credit card over the machine, it can reduce waiting time, especially in some popular branches. Although this machine has been available in the UK for 2 years, Visa card still limits its acceptance level to prevent those who may become a every-day habit. However, according to Mark Austin, he believes, especially in London, the Olympics could bring more people in using contactless payment as long as they get a chance to use it once, they will know how the convenience is. Based on the Visa card research, experts believe that contactless payment technology will become wildly used in the coming year than cash. For example, more and more retailers such as Subway, Burger King offer this system currently and Starbucks will offer the service soon.

This article is about the hospitality software provider that developed interactive device for hospitality customers. This cutting edge software programs makes it really easy for customers to communicate hotel staffs. Via this software system, customers control room temperature, change a channel, choose the wine, and pay the bill with a fingertip. iRis systems have been used in number of brand hotels in U.S. and now presents a new application regarding integrated phone system which allow guests to make internal and external phone calls from within the app. That will accelerate more direct communication for the guests. This integrated software system will surely improve guests experience.

This article talks about how Airbnb has become more appealing to travelers than hotels. Airbnb has become one of the largest hospitality networks offering cheaper stays and more authentic experiences than hotels. However, hotels are not liking this as people are more likely to turn to Airbnb's. There have been many regulations that hotels are forced to face while Airbnb's have close to no regulations, making it easier to earn an income without any specific regulations. Airbnb's have caused hotels to turn to different methods of gaining more customers while competing against such a strong competition.

Its interesting that hotels and hotel chains have spent so much time effort and money on implementing standards and standardization over the past decade. AirBNB has limited standards other than the provision of accommodation. Standards were introduced as a tactical approach to consumer market by providing standardized and recognizable brand standards so that a traveler will know they staying in a Marriott for example. AirBNB success has turn that assumption on its head as travelers embrace differentiated product more related to finding a personalized choice that suits their personal tastes based on a more varied product offering. Hotel have been discussing personalization as a high level topic for many years now, more related to services and experience. Could it be that the success of AirBNB is actually an oversight of the hotel industry (perhaps explaining the significant increase in "Brands" by the largest hotel companies.) on the desire for travelers for personal spaces that are closer to the desires of the consumer.

AirBnb and City Relay discuss how they are implementing sustainability in the short term vacation rentals that host travellers in their business platforms. Sustainability has become a very important trend in tourism which travellers highly consider and these businesses see sustainability as a way of increasing operational efficiency.

Air India is a struggling airline that is starting a battle among GDS company. since the travel market is so lucrative in India all of them are fighting to get a piece of the pie. since Air India is struggling they are taking all comers. Travelport holds the reigns when it comes domestic flights and Amadeus Holds the reigns on the international flights. This fight for control of Air India has put travel agents in India in a bind. In November of 2018 travel agents could no longer book Air India's domestic flight on Amadeus or Sabre but only Travelport. But domestic flights is where most of the traffic is. this puts the travel agents in a bingd because they train with just one GDS. Sabre is trying to get Air India's bussiness again by offering cost savings over the other two GDS giants.

Relatively speaking, GDS's have been around for a while now, with iterations stretching back a few decades now. SiteMinder has worked to integrate cloud technology into traditional GDS models to streamline distribution. They have had strong success, powering over 200,000 reservations in the past year, generating over $60 million in hotel revenue. Over 900 hotels are now poised to receive SiteMinder services, making them the industry leading GDS cloud platform. To date, SiteMinder is represented in the globe's most influential cities, including New York, Los Angeles, London, Honk Kong, Paris, Munich, and Sydney. GDS technology has come a long way from the early models that airlines used solely for in-house purposes. New GDS's such as SiteMinder are both a testament to adaptation and the appeal of cloud technology.

This article offers insight into extreme tracking and using patterns and data to customize the guest service experiences. It also provides data on ho to best keep a guest engaged whether it be through virtual or even physical means that can be activated by a certain data set collection. A good example of this is how Disney can monitor wait times at the park and then dispatch live entertainers to the area as a means of distraction and simultaneous product placement and marketing.

I found this article fascinating. It shows that no matter how much security we think we have, there will always be someone who is smart enough to hack you. We bring Smart devices into our homes and businesses to make our lives easier, yet these devices make us vulnerable to cyberattacks. In this article it details how a hacker(s) used a Smart thermostat located inside a fish tank to access and pull sensitive data out of a casino. I'll never look at the fancy aquariums in resorts/restaurants the same.

Every year hotels come out with newer more advanced ways to make your stay more comfortable. In some hotels gone are the days of getting up and turning off the light or calling and trying to get services via the telephone. Remembering to put out the Do Not Disturb sign is now a thing of the past combined with remote systems and keyless entry already out and being used it makes one wonder what they could possible think of next.

Informative article on the role of Biometrics in the travel industry during Covid-19.The article explains the concept of immunity passports and what you have to do now, and what you will have to do in the future, regarding air travel. The article also briefly explains how biometrics are affecting and changing the hotel industry.

the article gives examples of retail stores and how they use proximity marketing to promote their products

This article looks at 5 ways that hospitality has changed to survive. It looks at 5 examples of how businesses have pivoted their services to provide safe ways for people to connect, eat, and be entertained by taking conferences online, forging digital connections, taking takeaway seriously, leveraging live-streaming, and self-isolation stations.

Super important and relevant article about how big brother is watching us

Although very popular among other industries, augmented reality is still not widely used in the hotel industry. It is accesible and can become a great marketing tool for hotels and get guests to see virtual maps of the hotels, and see additional information such as prices and amenities. A few hotel chains have brought augmented reality into their hotels to help promote Olympic games and have guests share photos about their AR experience.

This article mainly describes the current main trends of artificial intelligence in revenue management, guest experience, and daily operations. AI's concierge service, chat robot translator, ultra-dynamic pricing, forecasting utility, team booking software review data collection, intelligent function charts, and intelligent recruitment are the main manifestations of future technological development. Through these artificial intelligence, the hotel can simplify some service procedures, provide more personalized and improve the guest's staying experience. But at the same time, we must also realize that intelligent technology cannot completely replace employees.

"AI is already changing the guest experience across the travel lifecycle, including the on-property experience."