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Proximity Marketing is the trend of the marketing sector of the hospitality industry. Based on the statistics, there is a great increase in using proximity marketing recent years. And there are some reasons why hotels choose to use this technology. First, it enables the hotel to reach potential customers and providing electronic forms of advertising. By notifying guests of exclusive promotions hotels have to offer through their mobile phones, hotels and advertisers have a greater chance of customers responding to their advertisements, and therefore a greater ROI on their marketing spend. Second, from the perspective of the hotel, it decrease the advertising cost in terms of decreasing labor cost. It is said that proximity marketing has a tremendous revenue-production potential, and more hotels are engaging in using proximity marketing.

Proximity marketing is the localized wireless distribution of advertising content associated with a particular place. It is now becoming one of the most popular marketing tools in any industry especially in hospitality. Marketing people from hotel industry were looking for new marketing tools past few years. Instead of sending out promotion mails or emails, they need to have better ideas. What they realized is that wish an increase in the use of mobile devices, hotels can communicate and provide better service with guest cell phone. They also realized guests usually watch TV, while they are waiting to be C/I. So hotel is now providing offers while guests are in line. It is a Win-Win situation. The way to find communication is now the key of marketing. Proximity Marketing is a type of eMarketing that will help to communicate with guests with low cost.

According to this article, it said that by the end of 2011, 91% of Americans  owned mobile phones, and Smartphone penetration have been doubled. Obviously, it becomes a trend in hospitality industry nowadays that more and more people use smart phones and tablets. Based on wireless such as bluetooth, it allows hoteliers to interact with customers much easier and more convenient. Proximity marketing is one kind of eMarketing which is very popular in daily life. It is well known that better marketing brings better sales which of course increases revenues of companies. By sending guests nearby informations about promotions and discounts, hotels attract more guests than before. However, too much informations sent to guests will make them sucks and they have no choice to select what they really want. So in my opinion, I think it should be improved.

Customers' comments and reviews on the website have a huge influence on business in hospitality industry. This article outlines five key trends that hotel marketers should be aware of as they approach online reputation management. First, customers would like to trust other customers' comments rather than companies' advertisements. Remarkable experiences and consistently extraordinary service can make customers satisfied, which encourage guests to share experience. Second, overwhelming volume of data and information can make customers paralyzed and confused. Hotel marketers should create position-specific reporting and make insights simple. Third, consumers may change their decisions in the last-minute because of online reviews. Listening to guest feedback, making changes, and improving service can keep customers' reviews positive. Forth, companies' revenue can be influenced directly by negative reviews. Firth, real-time web may have a ineffective result du to delayed responses.

This article talks about five ways to invest in travel and tourism. It specifically mentions the Online Travel Providers. In many industries, including traveling industry, internet continues to generate revenue to the business. Priceline in particular has been increasing profit growth in the last five years offering lower price and online bookings, last minute travel deals and bids.

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

Point of sales systems have been increasing popular in all retail and service industries. POS systems help companies integrate their accounting systems, track inventory, cut operating costs and more, while keeping all their company information in one place. Having a dated system in place could potentially cause frustration with the stores customers. Having an older system or cash register in place could cause long lines and inaccurate register transactions like it did for Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt. Before using a POS system it would take even the most experienced worker 2 minutes or more to process a credit card, now it take 20 seconds. This keeps the lines shorter and the customers happy. There are issues that still arise from POS systems, for example security. One retail store based out of New York City had issues with people hacking into their DSL routers and accessing 3 months of credit card information. This company didn't seem to have any real security in place as far as accessing the system, as all employees used the same password to log in. The company used password policies and tougher procedures with credit cards to beef up security. Another company, also based out of NYC, has seen a faster and easier way to control inventory through the use to POS systems. This system can tell the managers what needs to be repurchased if an item is popular, or what's still sitting on the shelves and not being sold. This helps controls losses at the end of the season with less merchandise needed to be sold at discounted prices. Whether it's a hotel, retail store, or restaurant, POS systems help organize a company's most important and valuable information.

The article highlights the dramatic change that Disney will effect to increase customer service at the theme park using the Near- Field Communication technology (NFC). This technology which is presently been use by hospitality firms and other industries will allow Disney to eliminate the need for room keys, credit cards, and paper tickets. Customers will be given a wrist band which will be tied to the Disney websites and all accounts numbers and IDs created on the website will be embedded in a chip that is also embedded in that wrist band. All you will need to do is just give it a tap and boom! You are given access to rides, movies, restaurants, kiosks and other attractions within the park. According to the report this saves customers and Disney tremendous amount of time but the real deal behind this is to gather more personal data about customers, and track all the activities you engaged in plus the things you bought. Personal information could be encoded in the wrist band so that an employee or even mickey mouse could greet you by name. All this technology sounds very good but what if I lost my wrist band and it gets in the hands of someone else. The article states that the wrist band can be remotely deactivated if lost or stolen. You and I know that when you having fun at Disney no one will be looking at their wrist every five minutes to see if a wrist band is still in place. If someone found my lost wristband and I notice two or three hours later who will be responsible for all these charges racked up by someone else? I really like this technology because I hate having to wait in long lines; anything that would make my life easier I will pay for it. Having said that I do believe that there are facets of this amazing technology that still needs to be tweaked.

This article talks about one of the negative impacts of the current state of e-commerce: the detrimental impact on the environment. The article discusses how consumers have a need for their goods to be delivered quickly and conveniently. E-commerce ventures such as Amazon, Google Express, and Postmates provide customers with goods and services at the click of a button that can be delivered in as little as 10 minutes. However, these businesses have a heavy environmental cost, with an increasing use of cardboard being used in shipments and an increase in personalized freight services, which can lead to more greenhouse gas emissions. While some argue that these e-commerce services might lead to less consumers going out and shopping in physical stores, research shows that this is not the case, with consumers still going out and shopping even if they also shop online through these e-commerce businesses. Although much of the cardboard that is being used in these services is recyclable, recycling comes with its own downsides, as the process of taking things to the recycling centers uses a lot of water and energy. Overall, the new wave of e-commerce has spurred questions about its environmental impact.

This article talks about technology can significantly reduce the amount of time and sweat you invest in delivering a seamless, successful event. Definitely . the planners will always be perfectionists and no matter what tools they have at their disposal, they will always suffer from a last minute panic attack about the seating plan. There are many benefits from effectively using technology to events By using software to help you manage your event, you can ensure that it runs smoothly and that nothing is forgotten.Taking advantage of event planning technology will save you both time and money in the long run. Staying below budget is an important concept to keep in mind when planning any event. You can save a lot of money by managing your budget with software programs that allow you to keep track of all your expenses in one central location. By using technology to manage attendee registration, you can track variables such as fees, food orders and send marketing emails to your list of attendees.Staying organized is probably the single most important aspect of planning a successful event, and the use of technology can alleviate a lot of stress from an organizational standpoint. The events your company puts on are a direct reflection its value, so you will want it to be the best that it can be

I totally agree with you that with the assistance of technology, event planning has become easier than ever before. It can help people stay organized, keep track of details, and make sure no stone is left unturned. Technology can also help people plan, analyze and budget for an event accurately and effectively.

This article illustrated that a creative way to produce electricity and at the same time to encourage guests to do sports. The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Copenhagen provides the guests with the equipments just like the bicycles. Guests will have to produce at least 10 watt hours of electricity - roughly 15 minutes of cycling for someone of average fitness. This is a new idea for the hotel to propagandize the green hotel concept and benefits of doing sports. The most important, the hotel uses the free meal to encourage guests to join this interesting activity. Actually, the hotel has already applied the solar panels to produce renewable energy. I think this is a fantastic idea. Firstly, in this environment friendly way, the hotel gets electricity. Secondly, it encourages the guests to do more sports and it is good for their health. As people nowadays do not pay enough attention to sports and this way can encourage them do some sports. Thirdly, it also put the "green hotel" concept into practice and in this way to encourage more and more hotels to generate new ideas to promote the environmentally friendly hotel development. Moreover, this new idea can help the hotel build a good image, as people pay more and more intention to the environment. The practice of the new idea is good opportunity for the hotel to advertise itself.

The communication tools you use for any given message depends on the preference of your intended market. Small business I believe the communication depend on the way it appeals to your audience. Communication on emails is inexpensive and efficient and their results can be measured accurately, websites are effective tool to establish credibility, but can be expensive, and social media such as Twitter and LinkedIn, it allows you to extend the reach of your message for your business and add value to your client relationship. Technology on communication as it advances by the minute the more resource people will have to be able to grow.

This article talk about the Best Western International Hotel Corporation takes the Hansen Software Corporation for call accounting for CASH + Best Western properties. CASH+ is also compatible with all makes and models of telephone systems with particularly special relationships with Mitel, Avaya and Nortel. Our product has been approved, tested, or endorsed by these manufacturers. CASH+ is a software based solution that does not require a dedicated computer and can often be installed on the same computer as your property management system. CASH+ will affix the per minute rate of choice to the correct room and post this information to the guest folio on the property management system that you have.

The La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club in California has had many problems with time cards for their employees over the past several years. They used to use swipe cards with bar-codes to tell when people were coming in and out of work but there are a lot of problems with that technology. If people misplaced their cards or knew they were going to be late so gave it to a co-worker to punch them in is not a very smart thing to have in the hotel. After a lot of problems with this system management finally went in a new direction. They decided to move to newer technology and go with Biometrics. The hotel now has a hand reader system that makes every employee get there hand measured to clock in. This technology measured length, width, thickness, and surface area of the hand to store in the system so it knows each persons hand every time they go to clock in any time there after. When going to clock in the system asks for the employee number and then is ready for your hand on the little screen for your scan. The entire process of this takes under 1 minute. This technology of the HandPunch 3000 not only allows the employees to clock in but also allows management to collect data for pay codes, tips collected, and to allow the employees to go back and view their past times in and out. This system is a very green way to go in the hotel industry because there is no paper for records of clock in times, and there are no swipe cards that need to be made for clock in times. Ever since this hotel got the HandPunch 3000 they have not had issues of other employees clocking in other people. The system of course had some glitches to it in the beginning but they were fixed immediately while the staff was there installing it. My only question to this article that is not answered is : since it is a machine that has to be plugged in, what happens if the power goes out? Can employees still clock in to work because the hotel still is functioning?

The article, Urbanspoon Unveils Rezbook "Right Now", highlights a new chapter in online reservation resources available to customers on their home computers or their smart phones. Urbanspoon's new application rivals Open Table. The "Right Now" feature allows guests to view what restaurants in their area have open tables, make reservations 'right now', view current wait times, and amount of guests in front of them. This allows restaurants to reach a market they might not have before and can provide them with new business. The goal of restaurants is to turn first-time guests into regulars, and Rezbooks is a great way to introduce new guests to your establishment. Not only can they reserve or find a table online, guests can also directly rate the restaurant and post details on their dining experience. This enables restaurants to get immediate feedback (positive or negative), especially since the application is readily available from smart phones. The new Urbanspoon application can work to provide new business while streamlining the seating process. For instance, even if a restaurant offers a 15-minute grace period for seating, to the diner they have conveniently jumped ahead of the wait in an otherwise busy setting. In our world of instant gratification, Urbanspoon's "Right Now" seems to fit in just right.

This article talks about how more and more people in the hospitality industry are using a POS based-cloud instead of hardwire systems. According to some experts in some years most of the hospitality industry would have change into using the cloud. For now most of the users of the cloud are single unit restaurants as it is an easy system to adopt and cost efficient. On the other side for chain restaurants to make this change can be costly; therefore it is believed that it will take some time for them to change. Still some people believe that this can be an unreliable and unsecured system. Some of the reasons for this are: -The lack of privacy; as the data will be in the hands of somebody else. -This system relies on the internet so when a connection problem occurs a downtime would take place creating complications for the restaurant operator. According to experts and users both of these ideas can be debated. Leaving the data handling in the hand of experts can bring advantages and lower the costs. On the other hand when the internet fails if the correct backup measures are taken it has no difference with the hardware system.

This article talks about the benefits of POS in cloud, and eliminates some misunderstanding about its downtime and security concerns. The author start selling POS in cloud by pointing out the trend that it is becoming more accepted. CEO and president of the Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA) says it will be mainstream in the next two to five years. Though POS in cloud would be a easy set up and cost saving solution for a starting up single-unit,"Large chains are more likely to turn to cloud applications for business intelligence solutions first because there is not as much investment or change in infrastructure compared to the POS" says Dave Matthews. But since multi-unit chains have already invested lots of money in the old POS, they are going to wait for those POS pay back before they switch to POS in cloud. Then author switched to what concern people most about cloud computing, downtime and security. A cloud based POS can have as reliable backup plan as a hardwired system. Although POS in cloud does not have backup servers in the location which should be provided by vendor, it can have several connection backups, like wireless, 3G or 4G, phone line. And about the security concern, just ask yourself is you have the security system than a technology vendor.

Google Transit, which uses data from over 500 global markets' transportation systems, is partnering up with Google Hotel Finder to make tourists' stays more time efficient. Google Hotel Finder added a new filter that shows consumers the maximum travel time from any point of interest to their hotel. It has placed a 20 minute default distance from point to point. Tourists can type a specific attraction, like Buckingham Palace, and it will show you hotels within 20 minutes of it. Google also allows you to choose the transit time; the smaller the time the smaller number of hotels within the range. Moreover, Google Hotel Finder can also search for hotels in selected areas for popular city locations. Prior to this, Google had Google Calendar, which allowed business consumers to choose hotels based on travel distance to their business meetings. Overall, Google's Hotel Finder targets both the leisure and business consumers. As a consumer searching for hotels in unfamiliar areas, this feature would be really beneficial because it allows me to plan my stay more accordingly. Usually, consumers choose a hotel based on travel time from the main points of interests, whether they are attractions or business meetings. Google Hotel Finder will now share this information with consumers before they actually even choose a hotel. I have a strong inclination that this type of consumer technology will drive hotels to use travel times as advertising tools when they use Google as an advertising medium.

The  first part of the article talks about how the cloud is being used in restaurants to monitor all transactions. Aloha POS systems has a add on that takes all the transactions to the cloud in 10 minutes intervals, after that they analyse the date to see if a employee has been doing to many voids or gets to much tips, they do this via algorithms in the cloud. Just another way that the cloud makes the life of a restaurant owner that much simpler. 

This article describes how a new company, HotelTonight, is attacking the market of spontaneous travelers. The company made an app for iPhone an Android users that sends "Impulse Rates" to users who have the app. Impulse Rates are heavily discounted rates on hotel rooms offered by hotels through HotelTonight for rooms that have been unsold that day. If users like the offer, they can book the room through the app in eight seconds with only three clicks.  There is also a little interview with HotelTonight CEO, Sam Shank in which he answers questions about how the company runs.  I think this is a great idea for company. It helps everyone involved - hotels increase revenue by selling rooms that otherwise would have been empty, consumers get great deals on rooms, and HotelTonight profits off of a nominal fee for processing the transactions. This is similar to the Ding! app from Southwest airlines but designed solely for mobile devices. 

Here is a link to the company's website. I don't have the app but it looks like it would be pretty easy to use. http://www.hoteltonight.com/

A great idea. Truly a win-win for all. I'm glad that they are finding the impulse rates are not affecting the amount of regular booking guests. I would like to try this myself and live life to the fullest.

Immediacy vs Accuracy, which would you go with? The media is rushing everyday to deal with the two and make up a news report that consists of the two. Whoever has it broadcasting first is the winner. This article speaks on how twitter has changed the way we find about information now and days. Although Twitter will have a news shooting around the world in less than a minute. How accurate is the information? Stars have been killed by twitters power to spread the news of the stars death faster than the news station can get it on the tv screens. Is the information accurate? unfortunately not. This is where twitter as well as other media sites should manage what gets put out there before it gets publish. Just like what tv stations do. They verify and then they broadcast. As well as wikipedia. Someone should verify the information on each page and should not allow users to change or input information into that webpage.

Conrad hotels have provided a new function into their Concierge mobile app, The Conrad Meeting. This app provides detail information about any of the twenty-three Conrad properties. The app can assist in adjusting meeting room amenities and provide any updates or changes to events. The Conrad Meeting allows excellent communication between hotel workers, event managers, and guests. Technology has provided convenience ways to make jobs easier and more efficient. Conrad had just made planners job a lot much smoother in their operational process when things or last minute things need to get done.