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Hui Chen

What's global distribution system? - 5 views

  • A global distribution system (GDS) represents a computerized system used for managing different transactions within the air travel and hospitality industry. At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.
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  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.
  • However, due to the fact that GDS’ were originally created to distribute plane tickets, their database structure was specifically designed to store information about this product.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and mor
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved.
  • However, due to the fact that GDS’ were originally created to distribute plane tickets, their database structure was specifically designed to store information about this product.
  • At first, GDS’ were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a direct consequence to this fact, GDS’ were also implemented for hospitality industry use.
  • The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.
  • As mentioned before, one of the first products distributed by GDS was hotel accommodation. Hotels have loaded the information related to their different types of rooms, description and price categories within the airline reservation system database. When this information became available online, thousand of clients started making bookings all around the world. This fact was advantageous for each participant. Hotels benefited from distributing their products to a larger audience, travel agencies had the opportunity of booking more products through their computerized system and GDS benefited from a growth in booking volume, which helped them to lower operating costs.
  • The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.
  • The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.
  • The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.
  • The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.
  • The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights was increased. This led to an increase of competition and therefore travel industry prices fell. Travel agencies were accustomed with receiving a fixed fee (usually 10%) from everything they managed to sell, so once the prices started to fall, they felt threatened with the loss of their earnings. In order to counter this, travel agencies began to offer complimentary products such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation packages, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne. This was the first major step towards GDS’ being used within the hospitality industry.
  • Nowadays global distribution systems interconnect almost everything within the hospitality industry, from hotels to car rental companies and travel agencies. There are four major GDS available: Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and WorldSpan. Some of the advantages provided by GDS are their availability (99,9% of the time), their response times (up to a fraction of a second), their multiple booking capability, as well as their top of the line architecture. On any given day, a GDS will be capable of accessing over 50000 hotels and approximately 1000 airlines. Through GDS systems, people are able to book various hotel rooms, tours, airline seats, cruises and even limousines.
  • The working idea behind a GDS is this: any GDS provides services to an electronic shop for all information related to travel and reservation-related needs. In other words, the GDS has become a very important distribution channel for any product sold through travel agencies. Basically, if a vendor wants to be sold through travel agents, he must be listed on a GDS
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    The first products distributed by GDS was hotel lodging reservation system, such as different types of rooms, description and price categories with the airline system. GDS has been increased on the travel market, such as number of flights. Travel Agencies (TA) also use GDS to offer complimentary products, such as car rental, hotel and other related forms of accommodation, bus tickets, vacation tickets, yacht rides and even flowers and champagne,That means, GDS has become more important distribution channel for nay product through TA. Also TA had more opportunity of more products their own system and GDS system from increase number of booking volume with lower operating costs. It was the first and major goals of GDS being used in the hospitality industry. Even though hopitality ingustry use GDS system, there are few problems, such as show only simple structure. For example, there are 4 different kinds od room and 3 categories od comfort, it means they have 12 different kinds of combination. Because of the GDS database structure, only there 12 combination could be displayed. It took a while to fit all the multiple types of comport rates, rooms and services in GDS standard database structure. Instead of choosing GDS system, they cans choose other alternative system with develop several computerized system to make a database structure closer to product specification. Nowadays, GDS using all of the hospitality industry from reservation hotel rooms to car rentals and Travel Agencies. Through GDS as globally, people are able to to book different kinds of hotel rooms in different destination all around the world, tours, airline seats, cruises and eeve limousines.
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    Global Distribution System were develop and meant only for the airline reservations. The impact of the GDS on the travel industry is that it increase competition, more flights were available and this reduce cost. With the increase and cost reduction travel agents start to see decrease in their earnings they received from airline sales, so with the GDS they were able to book other services such as hotels and car rentals with airline reservations. With GDS it is much easier and convenient to make a reservation from flight, hotel and car rental because everything is link together.
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    Summary of a global distribution system (GDS) A global distribution system (GDS) represents a computerized system used for managing different transactions within the air travel and hospitality industry. Historically, GDS' were only meant for the air travel reservations but as years have passed, GDS systems became more and more evolved. As a result, GDS' are now implemented for hospitality industry as whole. The first major impact that GDS had on the travel market was that the number of flights increased which led to increase competition among the players and this brought down the overall prices. The main purpose of a GDS is to provide services to an electronic shop for all information related to travel and reservation-related needs and one of the first products distributed by GDS was hotel accommodation. Hotels throughout the market uploaded the information related to their different types of rooms, description and price categories within the airline reservation system database. When this information became available online, thousands of clients started making bookings all around the world. This fact was advantageous for each participant. Hotels provided GDS with a challenge of fitting all the different sizes, styles, amenities, and etc. It took a while to fit all the multiple types of comfort rates, rooms and services in a GDS standardized database structure. A general strategy was therefore needed. Rather than loading hotel products inside the GDS, the accepted solution was to develop several computerized systems with a database structure closer to product specifications. Nowadays global distribution systems interconnect almost everything within the hospitality industry, from hotels to car rental companies and travel agencies. There are four major GDS available: Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and WorldSpan.
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    Looking at these numbers it becomes very clear how important GDS are to the hospitality industry, more rooms booked means increased revenues and more jobs for hospitality professionals. I am sure that this technology will evolve and transform so it is important to stay current and understand how to get the most out of it.
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    What's global distribution system? This question is kind of cliché in our group, but this article gives a very good introduction about GDS and it's quite easy to understand comparing to many other articles introducing GDS. This article tells us: How GDS develops from being used only in airline industry to being generally adopted in hospitality industry; What is the working idea behind the GDS; Four major GDS including Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and Worldspan; Advantages provided by GDS.
anonymous

Our E-Waste Problem Is Ridiculous, and Gadget Makers Aren't Helping | WIRED - 1 views

  • Oh sure, many companies have green initiatives. Apple in particular has made notable, documented efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, powering a majority of its retail stores and data centers with renewable energy, developing more efficient packaging design, and designing products that use less power than their predecessors. But if your products are going to be tossed out in a year, none of that is particularly brag-worthy. That’s a tremendous amount of wasted resources.
  • In the past, computers were designed to be relatively easy to disassemble, like HP’s towers and older versions of the Mac Mini. You could swap out dead parts and batteries, add more memory if it got sluggish, even replace a motherboard. But in the mid-2000s, things started to change. Apple introduced the ultra-thin, ultra-light MacBook Air and the industry enthusiastically followed with heaping helpings of devices that, while slim, were very difficult to repair due to the construction compromises required to achieve that svelte profile. Smartphones and tablets followed with an even faster purchasing and chucking cycle.
  • Therefore, the easier it is to disassemble something, the more likely it is to be worth someone’s time to recycle it. And that’s where issues arise
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  • “The big problem the electronics industry is facing as a whole is products are getting lighter and lighter,” iFixit’s Kyle Wiens said. “This is great for consumers but a nightmare for recyclers.” Smaller, lighter products can be tricky to take apart, and yield a lower volume of raw materials.
  • Glue and adhesives are a common hurdle. Products like the iPad and Microsoft Surface achieve a slim form factor by using “a metric duckload of adhesive,” as Wiens once put it, particularly to keep the battery in place. All that glue must be removed before any recyclable material can be melted down. And battery recycling is risky endeavorin the best of circumstances—under the right conditions, a damaged battery can cause a fiery explosion. Tack onto that the need to painstakingly pry a battery from its glue-smeared lodging and you’ve got a delicate task indeed. For items with a lot of glue, like a tablet display, Sims Recycling Solutions heats the glue, then uses suction cups to apply pressure across the glass so it can be removed without cracking. Other things that can make a product more challenging to recycle include the number of screws (particularly non-standard screws), the inclusion of hazardous materials like mercury (which is declining, due to the rising popularity of LEDs instead of bulbs), large amounts of glass, and plastics. Waterproof and tightly sealed products also are more arduous to deal with.
  • As we rush headlong into a world in which we’re disposing of more and more gadgets each year, making them easily recyclable should be a growing priority of device makers. Just as display size, processor speed and energy efficiency are marketing points, so too should recyclability.
  • David Thompson, Panasonic’s head of environmental affairs, says the standardization of screws and plastic resin materials, not thermally setting screws in plastic, and minimizing the use of glue will boost recycling efforts, as will designing products for easier disassembly. Would consumers really decry, or even notice, these changes? Probably not. But such changes could require concessions to slim dimensions and light weight. And for manufacturers, increased standardization may mean fewer distinctions between competing products. Take a plastic smartphone housing: Currently there are hundreds of variations (soft touch, textures, and metallic colors, to name a few). Standardization could limit that very marketable variety. Even so, some products are embracing such ideals. Dell won The Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries 2014 Design for Recycling award for the Latitude 10 and XPS 10 tablets and Latitude E7240 notebook. Aside making its products cheap and easy to recycle, Dell has used nearly 8 million pounds of recycled plastic in its desktop and display production. And it is not alone.
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    I found an interesting article about how the big computer companies can recycle the computers. This can solve some of the main problem about the recycling. The article is referring to idea that computers may become bigger size but easier to recycle. In other words we might wanna make a step back in the past, when we was able to just replace one detail from the computer instead of throwing it away.
Paulette Grant

Sabre and United Airlines sign new distribution and merchandising agreement «... - 1 views

  • Sabre and United will co-develop solutions using next-generation technology that will permit United to offer more relevant personalized offers to their loyal customers.  These advancements will also better promote and disclose the unique value of the airline’s different fare and ancillary products and services to travel agents with additional descriptive text and graphics for enhanced on-screen merchandising within the Sabre Red Workspace and through Sabre Web Services.
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    Sabre, one of the three largest Global Distribution System signs a long-term agreement with United Airlines. This agreement would allow customers to provide ancillary products and services to customers through the Sabre market place. With United airlines and Sabre joining forces they will use the latest technology allowing both companies to provide more personalize products and services to customers. Sabre will market United Airline ancillary products including air fares and economy plus seats to passengers that buy products and services from Sabre in a way that would differentiate United Airlines products from that of its competitors. Other Global Distribution systems such as Amadeus and Travelport are presently making it a standard policy, mandating airlines to provide ancillary products and services to GDS. American airline one of the major airline who for a long time was reluctant to market its ancillary products through GDS is now one of the many airlines that are presently jumping aboard the GDS wagon. The airlines are beginning to see the benefit of expanding their brand globally through GDS and reaping substantial revenue beyond the sale of air fares.
JIACHEN LI

HRIS | HR Software for Hotels | Hospitality IT | Software for Hospitality| Immerauf - 1 views

  • HRIS has emerged as among the most crucial aspects of hospitality IT. No hos
  • . No hospitality management system can be considered complete without an effective HRIS system.
  • Greytip Software is a focused HR & Payroll software solutions company.
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  • An efficient HRIS system manages the recruitment, staff-shifts, time & attendance, and many other aspects of your hospitality HR requirements. It should be able to drill down to history files and provide e-leave application & training management.
  • Developing a product that caters to small and big customers, across industry verticals, needs a lot more experience, mature processes, and superior engineering.
  • Folklore HCM
  • Folklore Payroll
  • Folklore Attendance Software
  • Folklore Training
  • Benefits
  • Benefits
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        This website is a homepage of the company called Immerauf. This company is to provide network service and sell the technology products that are related to the hotels. Human Resources Information System is also a product of theirs.     As everybody know, without an effective HRIS, the hospitality management system could not be considered completely. The functions of the HRIS are managing the recruitment, shift, attendance, requirement and so on. They highly recommend their HRIS technology product. And they mentioned their partner Greytip Software. The partner is a focused HR & Payroll software solutions company.     They introduced a few basic own and partner's history and stated they had groups of customers, more experience, and superior engineering.     They list some products overview, such as Folklore HCM, Payroll, Attendance Software and Training. All of the products could help hotels to reduce the transaction costs, improve employee morale, communicate better, eliminate the fussy processing, increase productivity, save time and effort.
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    HRIS has emerged as among the most crucial aspects of hospitality IT. No hospitality management system can be considered complete without an effective HRIS system.An efficient HRIS system manages the recruitment, staff-shifts, time & attendance, and many other aspects of your hospitality HR requirements. It should be able to drill down to history files and provide e-leave application & training management. And this article introduce us a HRIS product that is a software solutions for HR and Payroll departments that that span the entire spectrum of HR & payroll functions covering employee information management, training management, compensation, benefits, attendance management, etc.
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    The Hospitality industry is known to have very high attrition rates. This makes it all the more critical to have a robust HR information system (HRIS) in place. HRIS has emerged as among the most crucial aspects of hospitality IT. No hospitality management system can be considered complete without an effective HRIS system. The products are backed up with high quality customer support and service. Our support is timely and relevant, ensuring a high degree of usability for our products. It can track record which is caters to small and big customers, across industry verticals, needs a lot more experience, mature processes, and superior engineering. The benefit are: * Lets you focus on strategic HR instead of routine admin tasks * Reduce transaction costs * Improve employee morale * Communicate better * Get business intelligence with MIS reports * Modular design that lets you pick and choose
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    As hospitality industry has a high attrition rates, a HRIS software is important for hospitality management system. A good HRIS system usually has the functions of recruitment, staff-shifts, time & attendance, etc. Folklore HCM is a web-based software with the employee self service. It is usually used with other products such as Folklore Payroll, Folklore Training, and Folklore Attendance. Folklore HCM lets the HR manager pay attention to strategic issue instead of routine tasks. It also decrease costs and increase employee morale. Folklore Payroll software makes the payroll accurate, increases the productivity and reduce transaction costs. It can also motivates employees and examines different aspects of income tax. Besides, Folklore Attendance Software Folklore Training are all web based software and have many benefits.
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    HRIS technology plays a very important role in hospitality industry. There is no hospitality management system can be considered complete without an effective HRIS system. This technology manages the recruitment, staff-shifts, time&attendance, and many other aspects of the HR requirements in hotel. It is very useful especially for Human Resources. This tech is also backed up with high quality customer support and service. Some of the support is timely and relevant, ensuring a high degree of usability for our products. It can help us do track record, products overview, folklore attendance software and so on. It can not only drill down to history files, but also provide e-leave application& training management.
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    this article is talking about the Greytip Software. this software has many solutions. it can help the manager monitor the HR activities and payroll activity. using this system, the managers can analyse their hotel attrition rate and make measures in time.managers can easily promote the employee information management, develop training management, create compensation,share benefits, supervise attendance management. this way can save money and time. managers do not need to set up sheets of attendance, employee behavior, punishment or rewards,etc. depended on the computer, the process of management goes more smoothly.
Lu Zhang

E-Commerce News: E-Commerce: Headless Commerce Lets the Product Sell Itself - 0 views

  • Achieving success with digital e-commerce requires a new way of doing things and new level of commerce functionality. The living nature of digital content -- the fact that the product itself and thus the customer can always remain connected to the producer, retailer, publisher or distributor -- enables a powerful new paradigm for a rich, ongoing customer relationship.
  • With digital content, the sale is not over when the transaction is complete. The customer's entitlements live on and must be managed: upgrades sold or authorized, subscriptions terminated or renewed, device or user assignments changed. This management of the digital relationship between seller and customer is not only necessary; it also opens doors to continued revenue and enhanced customer satisfaction.
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    This article discuss about the new approach selling digital products. By this approach the seller will rapidly maximize revenue and earn high customers satisfaction. The digital products, such as software and game, are different from the physical goods e-commerce for the intangible trait. Therefore, the seller don't need to use the traditional sales approach, such as item-based. Instead, in order to increase the revenue and build perpetual relationship with customers, the seller can sell the digital products by various ways or steps, for instance, one article of a e-book at a time, the right to make copies of a game, and time-based rentals of a magazine. When visitors are looking for their products, instead of recommend a specific product, seller should provide a set of related products according to options that visitors choose. This sales approach might need a new technology to manage the website and a platform that support flexible operation. Overall, digital goods seller can take advantage of the special traits of digital content and change the sales way develop loyalty and maximize the revenue.
ivonneyee

Modern Management Technologies in the Hospitality Industry - 2 views

The article talks about how it's worth investing in proximity marketing to increase the speed of a customer's decision, increase engagement, and eloyalty. The article states that marketers who know...

Chengcheng Feng

Global Distribution Systems in Present Times - Four Major GDS Systems; Amadeus, Galileo... - 1 views

  • Among the “shelves” on which buyers search for travel services are world’s global distribution systems and the Internet distribution systems
  • The airlines realized that by automating the reservation process for travel agents, they could make the travel agents more productive and essentially turn into an extension of the airline’s sales force. It is these original, legacy GDSs that today provide the backbone to the Internet travel distribution system
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    October 2002 - The travel marketplace is a global arena where millions of buyers (travel agents and the public) and sellers (hotels, airlines, car rental companies, etc.) work together to exchange travel services. This is a good article talking about four major GDS System companies in the world nowadays. When we do some research in GDS area, it is better for us to know some information about these four companies. They are Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and Worldspan. The author said that Aadeus is Number 1 inlocations worldwide compared to other three companies, Galileo International is a cautions follower when it comes to technology when compared to other GDS companies. Sabre's competitive strenghs are market position, global reach, stable product line, diversification of revenue streams and intellectual capital. And Worldspan has successfully developed the strategies and solutions to ensure the company's long-tern success. After read this article, I think I have the big picture of what GDS System is. The author gave us the strength of different systems. I know what are these GDS companies doing right now in the world. And what is the best is that the author used some accurate data to support the point. So in my point of view, I don't only understand the knowledge related to GDS System, but also learn the way to write my paper, that is using lots of numbers.
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    I don't know why but I was failed to highlight this article. I did it in My Library.
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    It is a great article that provides some detailed information on the four most famous GDS. and it was separated into four parts by explaining the four major GDS one by one. It is talking about the history, current status and development of these four major systems to help readers understand what exactly it is and how it works. I like this because it helps me create an overview of GDS systems.
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    Interesting article that summarize important information about major GDS companies. GDS companies such as Amadus, Galileo and Sabre are platforms in which a range of travel related services are offered through electronic switches and routers .
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    This article introduces four major GDS systems' characteristics and strength. I think these information will be useful for hotels when they choose the GDS systems.
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    According to the World's Leading CRS/GDS System 2011, Sabre is the winner profile. And the Amadeus, Galileo, Worldspan and Zurich Systems were nominated.
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    This is about GDS!
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    In the travel marketplace it is global where buyers and sellers work together to exchange travel services. Global distribution systems and the internet distribution systems have become electronic supermarkets linking buyers to sellers and allowing reservations to be made quick and easy. Travel today is sold most on the internet, it is a vast networks of suppliers and a wide customer pool in a centralized maket. Currently today there are 4 major GDS and they are continuing to grow. This article pretty much summed up what we learned in the past 2 classes
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    SUMMARY A global distribution system (GDS) represents a computerized system used for managing different transactions within the air travel and hospitality industry There are currently four major GDS systems: 1. Amadeus (2) Galileo (3) Sabre (4) Worldspan Amadeus Founded in 1987 by Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa, and SAS, Amadeus is the youngest of the four GDS companies. Amadeus is a leading global distribution system and technology provider serving the marketing, sales, and distribution needs of the world's travel and tourism industries. Its comprehensive data network and database, among the largest of their kind in Europe, serve more than 57,000 travel agency locations and more than 10,500 airline sales offices in some 200 markets worldwide... Galileo International Galileo International was founded in 1993 by 11 major North American and European airlines: Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Olympic Airlines, Swissair, TAP Air Portugal, United Airlines, and US Airways. It is a major player in the GDS business throughout the world: North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia/Pacific region. Galileo International is a diversified, global technology leader. Sabre For more than 40 years, Sabre has been developing innovations and transforming the business of travel. From the original Sabre computer reservations system in the 1960s, to advanced airline yield management systems in the 1980s, to leading travel web sites today, Sabre technology has traveled through time, around the world, and has touched all points of the travel industry. Worldspan Founded February 7, 1990, Worldspan was originally owned by affiliates of Delta Air Lines, Inc., Northwest Airlines, and Trans World Airlines, Inc. It is currently owned by affiliates of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (40%), Northwest Airlines (34%), and American Airlines, Inc. (26%). Since its 1995 advance into the world of Internet technology fo
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    This article is about the GDS system, and it introduced four major GDS system in present times. GDS is a worldwide computerized reservarion network used as a single point of access for reserving airline sears, hotel rooms, rental cars, and other travel related items by travel agents, online reservation sites, and large corporations. The for major GDS systems, Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre, and Worldspan owned and operated as joint ventures by major airlines, car rental comopanies, and hotel groups. GDS is also called automated reservation system (ARS) or computerized reservation system (CRS). Among the four major GDS systems, Amadeus is the youngest one and has done remarkably well during its short tenure. With its strong company infrastructure worldwide, impressive product set, and growing customer base, Amadeus is one of the most significant players in shaping the future of the GDS. Galileo's competitive strengths include market share, well-balanced and global presence, relationships with diverse groups of travel vendors, technologically advanced information systems, highly skilled personnel, and a stable product line. Gralileo is a follower when it comes to technology, but is has established successful relationships with entities such as Go, UK's best low-cost airline. Sabre's competitive strengths include market position, global reach, stable product line, diversification of revenue streams, and intellectual capital. Sabre business model is a strong one, and continues to make significant progress in advancing both its electronic travel distribution and its information technology solutions businesses. The last one Worldspan has a legacy of industry firsts that are not well known. It continues to look at benefits of creating its own consumer brand and has been partnering with different companies to expand the services that it can provide to its customer base.
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    GDS is started on the airline industry. And with it development, the airline company recognized that the GDS is becoming more and more important and necessary. And in my opinion, the GDS can not only focus on the airline. It can be on the internet. That is means they should built some sub-company around the world and it will help to form a kind of net that can cover all over the world. So that it is reduce the pressure of airline and increase the short distance distribution. it will be more efficiency for the guest and less human labor.
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    More and more customers rely on global distribution system to buy hospitality products in present time. This article introduces four major type global distribution systems, Ama dues, Galileo, Sabre and Worldspan. There are also some smaller GDS existed in the world. Amadeus is the youngest of the four GDS companies. Galileo International is a diversified, global technology leader. Galileo's competitive strengths include well-balanced and global presence, relationships with diverse groups of travel vendors, technologically advanced information systems and a stable product line. Sabre's competitive strengths include market position, global reach, stable product line, diversification of revenue streams, and intellectual capital. Worldspan provides worldwide electronic distribution of travel information, Internet products and connectivity, and e-commerce capabilities for travel agencies, travel service providers, and corporations.
Chris Cardoso

Hotel firm upgrades accounting system - 0 views

  • LBA Hospitality Partners with M3 Accounting + Analytics to Enhance Accounting Processes and Increase Efficiencies July, 31 2013 M3 Accounting + Analytics Seeking to update and streamline accounting processes for its 70-plus Southeast properties, Dothan, Ala.-based Larry Blumberg & Associates, Inc. (LBA Hospitality) recently announced an expanded partnership with M3 Accounting + Analytics, the national leader in hotel-specific accounting software, operations reporting, and business analytics. “If we are to continue to be an industry leader, we must have the ability to meet the requirements of our stakeholders and provide accurate, real-time and relevant information for our management team and owners,” said LBA President Beau Benton.  LBA sought the ability to swiftly handle budgets, forecasts, and reports, and to dissect business data, all while insuring that the back-office accounting platform functionality was state-of-the-art and industry-specific.  In choosing M3, Benton cited how the company integrates accounting, business intelligence, and reporting, while eliminating most redundancy, software investment and annual hardware/software maintenance. In addition, Benton and LBA were looking for continual and automatic upgrades, backup and disaster protection, and minimized downtime.  LBA is implementing the full suite of M3 products: accounting through the AccKnowledge platform, time, attendance and labor management through the newly released RightTime solution and LaborWatch, and payroll services through RightPay. The company will also continue to use M3 Link business intelligence reporting, as LBA will be expanding it to bring financial data, operating stats, Smith Travel feeds and guest satisfaction data (including verbatim responses) into one completely customizable dashboard. LBA, which launched its business by developing a Sheraton Inn in 1973, is rapidly growing its management business and securing more and more agreements from sophisticated owners and investors.   Scott Watson, M3 Vice President of Sales & Marketing, said, “While our core product remains our accounting solution, we’ve continued to evolve and offer new products and services that meet the current and future needs of the hospitality industry. It is truly exciting that our product platform will help Beau and LBA achieve the aggressive growth they are anticipating over the next five years.”  The implementation and training process for all LBA properties is expected to be complete by December 1.  About LBA Hospitality Based in Dothan, Ala., LBA Hospitality is a hospitality management company focused on maximizing return, safeguarding assets and enhancing value. Founded in 1973, the company now manages 70 properties throughout the Southeast, from Texas to Virginia. More information is available at http://www.LBAHospitality.com.  About M3 Accounting + Analytics M3 is the national leader in hotel-specific accounting software, operations reporting, business intelligence and analytics, processing more than $8 billion in financial transactions for more than 3,000 properties. M3’s integrated suite of hospitality accounting products includes: AccKnowledge, Link, payroll and labor management services, and document imaging and retrieval – all designed to help provide hotel operators, owners and managers unsurpassed access to the information they need in the most integrated and cost-effective manner. The company was founded in Gainesville, Ga. in 1998, and also has a base of operations in Tampa, Fla. More information is available at www.M3AS.com. 
  • “If we are to continue to be an industry leader, we must have the ability to meet the requirements of our stakeholders and provide accurate, real-time and relevant information for our management team and owners,” said LBA President Beau Benton.  
  • continue to be an industry leader, we must have the ability to meet the requirements of our stakeholders and provide accurate, real-time and relevant information for our management team and owners,” said LBA President Beau Benton.  
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  • “If we are to continue to be an industry leader, we must have the ability to meet the requirements of our stakeholders and provide accurate, real-time and relevant information for our management team and owners,” said LBA President Beau Benton
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    LBA Hospitality Partners with M3 Accounting plus Analytics to enhance accounting processes and increase efficiencies." As an industry leader LBA's Presidents feels they need to ability to meet requirements of their stakeholders and provide accurate real-time information for management and owners. When choosing M3 LBA's president noted how the company integrated accounting, business intelligence, and reporting while removing redundancy, software investment and annual hardware/software maintenance. Part of the requirements for choosing a company was continuous automatic upgrades, backup, disaster protection and limited downtime. LBA chose to implement a full suite of M3 products: Accounting through the AccKnowlege platform, time, attendance and labor management through RightTime solution and LaborWatch and payroll through RightPay. LBA will be expanding to bring financial data, operating costs, Smith Travel feeds and guest satisfaction data in one customized dashboard using M3 Link business intelligence reporting. LBA continues to grow after developing the Sheraton in 1973. Scott Watson of M3d is happy that M3 can meet the needs of their customers even though their core product is accounting solutions. They continues to help companies as they grow. Through this partnership they hope to continue to grow as meet the needs of their guest, investors and team. While it is important to have a core product to offer, I think it's also important to have additional products that meet the needs of your customer much like S. Watson said about M3 continuing to evolve and meet the needs of the hospitality industry. I feel this would make the company more marketing. It looks as if the President of LBA reviewed what the company's needs were and then chose to partner who leads the company in hotel specific accounting software. The president recognized the need to be able to report numbers accurately and forecast real data to its team, owners and investors. When I m
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    The Larry Blumberg & Associates hospitality firm (LBA Hospitality) partnered with a management company, M3 Accounting & Analytics, to integrate new software in it's 70 properties throughout the southwest, fro Texas to Virginia. The services that will be provided by M3 will range from Accounts Payable, to General Ledger, Daily Sales Report, Labor Cost, Check Writing, Cash Management, Forecast, Budget, etc. M3 provides products and services that will continue to evolve and improve to be cutting edge in hospitality. LBA is using M3 to streamline an aggressive five year growth plan. Other hospitality business will begin to incorporate a service provider that can encompass all accounting needs.
kteme001

Environmentally Friendly Computers and Monitors Hit the Market | GreenBiz - 1 views

  • Compared to traditional computer equipment, all EPEAT-registered computers have reduced levels of cadmium, lead, and mercury to better protect human health.
  • EPEAT products are identified as EPEAT-Bronze, EPEAT-Silver, or EPEAT-Gold depending on the number of optional environmental criteria incorporated in the product.
  • EPEAT also makes it possible for individual consumers to review environmental considerations before making their own purchases.
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  • The three-tiered EPEAT rating system includes 23 required criteria and 28 optional criteria.
  • 100 representatives from environmental groups
  • “We recognize the potential human health impacts associated with the materials found in traditional computers. As a result, we are very pleased to be one of the first private sector companies to use the EPEAT green computer standard, in addition to other environmental criteria, in our computer purchasing practices.”
  • Having a consistent standard makes it easier for customers to evaluate the environmental features of the technology they purchase,
  • Dell is pleased to be one of the first manufacturers to register products with EPEAT.”
  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, using very conservative assumptions, estimates that over the next five years, purchases of EPEAT registered computers will result in reductions of: More than 13 million pounds of Hazardous Waste More than 3 million pounds of Non-hazardous Waste More than 600,000 MWh of Energy - enough to power 6 million homes
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    This article talks about the efforts computer companies are making to reduce the negative environmental results of traditional technology equipment. There are more than 60 electronic devices from companies like Dell and HP that are becoming apart of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This is a funded project called EPEAT that has the goal of identifying environmentally friendly computer equipment that still outputs the same level of performance for the customer. This new "green" certification system even provides a list online of the products that meet the standards. EPEAT allows customers to rank computer electronics by their environmental. There are 23 required criteria and 28 optional criteria involved in the rankings. The optional criteria determines if the product is EPEAT Bronze, Silver, or Gold. These standards include having lower levels of lead, mercury and cadmium as well as being more energy efficient so they reduce emissions put into the atmosphere to help reduce the levels of greenhouse gases. These products are also more simple to upgrade and have recycled… businesses actually have to provide safe ways to recycle the products they sell when the customer can no longer use them. Manufacturers think having an even playing field for the customer to be able to view their products by environmental aspect is better and are proud to be apart of something so beneficial to the environment. The EPEAT program was expected to reduce 13 million pounds of hazardous waste and 3 million pounds of non hazardous waste.
smgarcia

Digital Transformation Doesn't Just Increase Revenue, It Can Impact Employee Productivi... - 0 views

  • Lack of proper technology tools can hinder productivity and kill morale.
  • 53% of surveyed employees said they would be more empowered to better manage workflow if they were provided with the needed tools
  • 42% said these tools would not only speed up boring tasks but also result in better worker morale
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  • 38% believe a focus on worker empowerment via IT would allow the company itself to change faster.
  • 76% added that having the digital tools they need at work makes them more productive and more than half, 53%, said it makes them more successful.
  • 31% of the employees said their company has a wait-and-see approach to new technology
  • investment in new technology can lead to higher revenues in the long run
  • 37% of higher-level employees and 47% of white-collar employees said their bosses understand their technological needs.
  • people tend to assume only the youngest workers place a high value on having the technology they need at work. But research reveals that these digital natives are not alone.
  • Half of the survey group said they would find it easier to collaborate with coworkers if their employers’ digital transformation efforts focused more on employee empowerment.
  • Separate research also notes that companies that are digital laggards don’t perform as well as those that embrace digital transformation
  • Technologists at Harvard Business School wrote, “organizations that scored in the top quartile of our digital transformation index obtained much better gross margins, earnings, and net income than organizations in the bottom digital quartile. Other financial and operating indicators showed similar disparities.”
  • not only are most professionals happier and more productive when their employers provide the technology they need, they also feel more connected to colleagues and their companies.
  • 68% of the 18 to 34 age group said having the digital tools they need at work makes them more productive. That’s a significant share. But it’s even higher – at 80% – for the 35 to 54 age group. And a whopping 83% of workers age 55 and older agreed.
  • financial considerations shouldn’t be the sole focus of digital transformation.
  • Mapping out a digital transformation plan should include a critical assessment of which digital tools employees need to efficiently get the job done.
  • experience is the centerpiece of everything businesses do.
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    ROI is not the only consideration for a business when updating technology and software; employee productivity is also a factor. Employees that feel that they have the tools to do their jobs are more likely to be productive during the work day. By increasing employee productivity and happiness, ROI already increases beyond the benefits of having better, quicker technology and software.
jackyreis

The Role of Green Technology in the Sustainability of Hotels Essay - Free Argumentative... - 2 views

  • Throughout the life of hotels— from building construction, operation, maintenance and evolution—the environmental issue is the wasteful consumption of vast amount of resources such as water and energy and accumulation of air, soil and water pollution in a built environment. The unique service function and operations of hotel result to a stronger ecological impact when compared to other buildings used for commercial purposes. (Bohdanowicz, Simanic & Martinac, 2004)
  • It is imperative for hotels to construct buildings, design their facilities, operate, and refurbish structures in a way that causes the least possible harm to the environment. (Straus & Gale, 2006)
  • Protection of the environment through eco-friendly practices by hotels involves a radical change in operations and a long-term impact, which makes this a sustainability-driven strategy
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  • The growing concern over sustainability in the business sector led to developments in innovative environment friendly processes and tools collectively called green technology
  • Green technology enables the eco-friendly practices of business firms.
  • The concept of sustainability emerged in the field of natural sciences in recognition of the scarcity of natural resources and the need to rationalize usage to secure sufficient resources for future generations (Kirk, 1995).
  • The concern of sustainability is ensuring the continuation of the well-being of people and protection of the environment from wasteful use or destructive activities.
  • The implementation of sustainability plans involves innovative methods and tools accessible to hotels and responsive to the multi-dimensional issues including impact of operations on the environment experienced by hotels. Green technology understood as eco-friendly tools and processes or environment friendly products support the successful implementation of sustainability plans in the hospitality industry.
  • 1.      Minimized pollution and rational energy and water consumption. 2.      Respect for culture and tradition. 3.      Community involvement in the hospitality economy. 4.     Consideration of quality instead of quantity in terms of the visitors to tourist destinations. 5.      Economic benefits redound to the community. (Robertson, 2007)
  • In relation to environmental sustainability, there are also considerations for inclusion into the sustainability plan of hotels to ensure that they meet environmental compliance (Butler, 2008)
  • However, even if sustainability planning is a tedious task, the expected outcomes are long-term and compelling because this determines the continuity or viability of hotels, firms whose future survival depends on sustainability (Butler, 2008).
  • 1.      Scale and distribution of operations in a given area. 2.      Hotel demand and means of alleviating the negative effects. 3.      Protection of key assets historic buildings, townscape or coastline. 4.     Contribution to other related areas such as economic development and cultural preservation. (Sharma, 2004)
  • Since the sustainability of hotels spans multidimensional aspects, the contribution of hotels to other areas such as employment or job creation also supports its sustainability.
  • Green technology received recognition as an aspect of human society and therefore part of sustainability. In a sustainability panel of representatives from the hospitality industry, sustainability as a strategy meant addressing today’s needs without adversely affecting tomorrow’s needs (Knowles, 2008).
  • Examples of product enhancement are energy saving appliances and fixtures such as fluorescent instead of incandescent lights or intelligent air conditioning systems that regulate room temperature depending on the presence of its occupant
  • The extent of reduction of waste varies since this could range from minimal to significant decrease in the volume of waste generated, capacity of landfills, and transportation needs. By benefiting the environment, economic benefits also accrue. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)
  • dopting waste management processes and tools accrues financial, economic, and environmental benefits for hotels.
  • Key to these activities is the ability to harness the full functional value of materials and product components at the least possible additional processing cost for recovery and reuse. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)
  • First is design of recycling or the cost-effective manner of recovering and reusing materials. The design provides support during the disposal stage to ensure low added cost for recovery. Second is design for disassembly encompassing the methods enabling the minimization of cost in segregating reusable materials. This leads to savings that accumulate when design interventions are made during the stages of material selection and assembly that already separates reusable materials
  • Third is toxics management comprised of the activities of controlling and eliminating toxic materials that are innate components of products such as cadmium or lead. Excessive levels of these toxic materials are hazards to health and the environment. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)
  • Environmental benefits include reduced accumulation of waste and lesser risk of soil, water and air contamination of toxic production. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)
  • Pollution prevention involves the elimination of processes in manufacturing that cause pollution. This requires change by redesigning the production process in a manner that prevents the accumulation of harmful by-products or the redesign of the finished products so there would be no use for processes that result in hazardous by-products. The prevention of pollution in production design exacts capital investments but the cost of redesign is deemed less when compared to the cumulative cost of controlling pollution, which would likely increase with new regulations imposing more active methods of pollution control. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)
  • Green technology as a process and a collection of tools addresses four objectives, which are a) waste reduction, b) materials management, c) pollution prevention, and d) product enhancement (Billatos & Basaly, 1997). There are processes and tools specifically targeting any one, some or all of these objectives so that the appropriate choice depends on the priority of hotels.
  • The technological development of product enhancement innovations is escalating and promise greater functions for business establishments. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)
  • Utilizing product enhancement technologies influence the sustainability of hotels in terms of savings on operating cost, lesser pollution and waste in the built environment, and value creation for environmental conscious customers (Yaw, 2005).
  • Overall, green technology supports the sustainability of hotels by decreasing a wide range of economic and non-economic costs to support the financial viability of hotels in the long-term and conserving the natural environment on which the hospitality industry depends for the continuity of business. By adopting green technology, hotels gain processes and tools it can use to secure its sustainability.
  • A range of energy saving technologies is available to the hotel industry. These technologies could make hotels green buildings by targeting various areas for energy saving.
  • One is electric heating pumps as alternatives to conventional electric boilers or condensing/non-condensing boilers requiring gas to run. The use of this green technology by a hotel in Hong Kong with a rooftop swimming pool showed a reduction in energy consumption by 26.5-32.5 MWh and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 12,000 kg. When computed over a ten-year period, using this technology would save the hotel HK$226,400 in energy cost savings. The hotel can earn back the cost of adopting this technology in two years. (Chan & Lam, 2003)
  • Building designs able to harness alternative sources of energy comprise green technologies that support the sustainability of hotels. Solar panels continue to gain function in energy saving for hotels (“Building in a green edge,” 2008) although the payback period is longer than expected, the energy saving potential extends to the long-term. The use of building designs that harness natural light such as skylight atriums that do not use artificial lighting during the day are also green alternatives for hotels (Kirby, 2009).
  • Another direction of green technology for the kitchen is the reuse of exhaust heat from the kitchen by harnessing the heat from the exhaust or condensing hot air to produce steam for use in cooking. This is a means of recycling energy. However, this involves the integration of the design in the structure of the kitchen or the building itself, which means greater investment. (Higgins, 2008) Nevertheless, further innovations in this technology could enhance practical value for hotels.
  • In other areas of hotels such as rooms and bathrooms, e-sensor systems and LED lights comprise green technology options. E-sensor systems apply to different systems such as lighting and air conditioning. The e-sensors have the capability to change automatically the lighting or air conditioning settings depending on the area of the room where there are people or temperature changes in the room. LED lights offer greater energy savings than fluorescent lights so this represents the third generation in lighting technology. (Kirby, 2008) Systems thinking in energy management comprise a promising green technology in saving on energy costs (Sobieski, 2008).These technologies are widely available and accessible to different hotels. The energy saving is experienced in the short term and the payback period is shorted. The problem with this is hotel guests tampering with the system leading to added cost for repairs. This means that awareness and information dissemination are important for the effectiveness of these technologies.
  • Another green technology for rooms is the biodegradable key cards. These have the same life span as the conventional key cards except that these are biodegradable or recyclable. (Gale, 2009) These require little cost with high environmental impact.
  • This involves the placement of water treatment plants that recycle water used in baths for flushing in toilets. (Edwards, 2004) These comprise viable and accessible water conservation practices that would contribute savings on the cost of water to rationalize the consumption of water as a scarce resource.
  • One is the conscious involvement of hotels in the protection of the environment since the nature of the business of the hospitality industry and the closely connected industries such as tourism heavily rely on the soundness of the natural and socio-cultural environment for business
  • The other is the investment in environment protection in a manner that secures economic and financial as well as a range of non-monetary benefits for hotels in the long-term (Vermillion, 2008).
  • Energy consumption is also a benchmark of the eco-friendliness of hotels
  • The water conserving technologies provide the process and tools for hotels to achieve this benchmark.
  • Waste and pollution management are also benchmarks of the ecological involvement of hotels.
  • Green technology takes the role as an enabling process and tool for hotels to become sustainable.
  • With hotels competing to maintain its customer base and pull customers to shift to the hotel’s services, green technology could become an enabler for hotels to become competitive.
  • Investing in green technology enables hotels to significantly cutback on operating cost. This enables hotels a wider profitability margin and room to offer promotional prices to attract more customers (Jones, 2002).
  • Green technology has taken a central role in the sustainability of hotels. The concept of sustainability of hotels involves the aspects of environmental protection and business viability.
  • The use of green technology also contributes to the viability of business firms in terms of financial standing and non-financial competencies in the long-term. Going green attracts the niche market of environment enthusiasts that contribute to sales. Using the range of green technologies available would also result in savings from operating costs in the long-term, which increases the profit of hotels and gives them flexibility to invest in marketing activities.
  • It is a sound strategy for hotels to consider green technology as a process and a collection of tools in support of sustainability goals.
ernestbailey

Maestro Users Conference Gives Independent Operators Strategies to Maximize Profit and ... - 0 views

  •  
    Article discusses vendor Northwind's Maestro product which aids Property's reach strategic goals by providing interactive business sessions on improving revenue streams; guest services. ResWave2, Web PRO (Pre-Reg Online), and Big Picture Data are among features included in updated product which allow increase via productivity and profitability. Maestro product includes all-in-one product which allows event management implementation through PMS, but also complements all other facets across platforms including web-based.
khiyara_00

Quality Is More Than Making a Good Product - 0 views

  • Yet 49% of 7,000 consumers surveyed in a separate 1981 study said that the quality of U.S. products had declined in the past five years. In addition, 59% expected quality to stay down or decline further in the upcoming five years.2
  • The first is the greater emphasis advertisements place on the word quality and on such themes as reliab
  • Quality should be primarily customer-driven, not technology-driven, production-driven, or competitor-driven.
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  • a company’s or a product’s quality image obviously cannot be improved overnight
  • d why are they suddenly demanding high
  • how do customers define quality, and why are they suddenly demanding high
  • Product performance and customer service are closely linked in any quality program
  • Asking dealers to conduct a quality audit as soon as the products are received and to attribute defects to either assembly errors or shipping damages.
  • Consumers’ priorities and perceptions also change over time.
  • Companies that try to define their customers’ attitudes on product and service quality often focus too narrowly on the meaning of quality for their products and services; an understanding of changing attitudes in the broader marketplace can be equally valuable.
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    This article provided data on customer's who feel quality of products have depreciated over the years. It also goes to mention how companies incorporate word to make consumers think they have the best quality product although in reality they have done nothing different to make it more reliable. It also goes to mention different ways companies try to retain its customers by offering warranties and other promotional programs.
Emily Bova

E-Commerce News: Ghost of Christmas Past Haunts Amazon - 0 views

  • Amazon's net income was US$177 million, or 38 cents per share, a 57 percent percent drop from a year ago.
  • Sales for the three months before Dec. 31 came out to $17.4 billion, lower than Wall Street expected over the traditionally busy holiday season.
  • Flooding in Thailand slowed down production for many tech companies this year
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  • The company used more third-party vendors than usual, which helps margins but cuts down drastically in revenue.
  • The world's largest online retailer has also been using promotions such as the Amazon Prime program, where customers can pay $79 a year to receive unlimited two-day shipping. The offer draws customers to the site, but over a busy holiday season, the shipping costs hit the retailer hard.
  • lower demand than it expected for video game sales and European currency fluctuations
  • A lot of people underestimate the profit of the e-book. You don't have to pay money for delivering or printing, so you can get tremendous revenue,"
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    In Amazon's last quarter, net income dropped by 57 percent from a year ago. Sales for the three months before December 31 came out to $17.4 billion, lower than Wall Street expected over the traditionally busy holidy season. It is predicted that for the next quarter outlook, there could be anywhere from a gain of $100 million to a loss of $200 million. While Amazon continues to profit in sales of its best selling Kindle devices, there were a variety of factors that contirbuted to its losses. The flooding in Thailand slowed down production for many tech companies. Third-party sellers (which give a 13% commission to Amazon as oppsoed to 100% commission when Amazon sells themselves) were used more than usual. Promotions such as the Amazon Prime program which allows the customer to pay a fixed rate and get umlimited two-day shipping hurt the retailer hard over the busy holiday season with shipping costs. Other reasons were lower demand for skimwords
apembert1920

California's Green Chemistry Initiative: "Work Plan" basics and the 7 product categorie... - 0 views

  • Under the Green Chemistry Initiative, manufacturers of “Priority Products” – product/chemical combinations targeted by the DTSC – must conduct an Alternatives Analysis, evaluating the use of substitute chemicals with lesser environmental harm and reporting results to regulators.
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    This article is about California's newly implemented law called the Green Chemistry Initiative to "increase the regulation and oversight of consumer product chemical exposure". They are the first state to legally force companies to actually be aware of not only what their products are made of but also how it can be hurt the consumer once disposed. The best part is that they force the companies to provide a list of alternatives that will also be reviewed before a decision is made by the Dept of Toxic Control. at the moment there is a short list of products but California would like to expand this initiative. With expansion, my concern would be how many products actually being regulated and would there be enough funding and manpower to conclude these in-depth reviews for them to be accurate?
irinatroitskaya

United Signals It Wants a Better Deal with Reservation Middlemen - Skift - 0 views

  • The reservation services that middlemen technology companies provide to travel agency networks and online travel agencies are a particular sore spot for airlines.
  • Overall worldwide, airline lobbying groups say they pay $7 billion in fees a year to these reservation systems.
  • In the past, non-standard products like that have posed challenges for Sabre, Amadeus, Travelport, and Travelsky to display and distribute to travel agencies.
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  • But beyond monetary concerns, there were antitrust issues at play, with the airlines contending that Sabre had a stranglehold on the domestic U.S. market
  • The distributors say they can accommodate technological requests from the airlines, despite the public skepticism expressed by some airline executives.
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    This article demonstrates the way how relationship between the airlines (United) and the technology companies which serve as middlemen is build. According to the estimations, the airlines pay to the gds's about $18 per round trip ticket reservation, which results in 7 billion in fees that are payed to the gds's annually. The air companies consider these fees unfair in regard of the gds' performance. To compensate for these payments as well as to promote direct bookings, the airlines (namely, Lufthansa) have added a surcharge for any external bookings. GDS's, however, fight back and start litigations against Lufthansa. The decision on this case will either stop such a practice, or force other airlines to follow LH and add surcharges for gds's too. Another problem that airlines experience with GDS's is the presentation of non-standard products that the airlines offer. For example, it took the GDS's several years to correctly display the Ecomy Skycouch by Air New Zealand (buy 3 seats at the price of 2 to sleep across all of them during the long-haul flight). United is going to introduce its Basic Economy Seats with no carry-on luggage and no qualifying miles. However, they are not sure that the GDS' s will be able to display this product to the customers in a proper way so that they could fully understand what they are buying. The reason for that is that GDS's are mainly reluctant to invest in technologies that are focused on product differentation. In this regard, it becomes more difficult to compare fares since different set of services is included in different products. Thus, the customers might be mislead. Moreover, there are antitrust issues with the gds's. The airlines claim that Sabre has a stranlehold on the US domestic market. Such position allows it to ultimatum the airlines and voluntary decide on search display order. The airlines expect the GDS's to be more prone to partnership ralations. This would imply the fair compensation for what they add to the
kmira026

Why You Should Take a 'Wait-and-See' Approach to New-Product Launches - 0 views

  • While most inventors would love to create something completely new, that's not always necessary. Often, it's enough -- and a brilliant marketing tactic, even -- to imitate your rivals and then add a few tweaks.
  • Pandora used imitation and a delayed launch to woo paid streaming-service users with the promise of a more personalized experience.
  • Instead of being first to the marketplace, being last may actually present more opportunities and stability.
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  • Regardless of the solution they eventually offer, entrepreneurs who hang back can avoid early fatal flaws that interrupt fantastic consumer experiences.
  • Poor marketing, uber-techiness and overspending.
  • 1. Watch, look and listen.
  • 2. Use negative sentiment to your advantage.
  • Capitalize on negative press swirling around your competition by waiting to release a similar product.
  • While we love a story of bold innovation, innovation doesn't always keep the lights on. Sometimes, it's far wiser to come in second or third where the spotlight is less blinding -- there, you can see where you're going.
  • 3. Differentiate yourself through great execution.
  • As you read through social media posts and dig into articles on your competition's products, figure out where things went awry. Make sure you don't stumble over the same roadblocks.
  • Apple has merely found a smoother path to streamline a service people want and already use
  • Lyft and Uber have been entangled in a fight like this for a while.
  • When President Donald Trump's travel ban rather circuitously led to #DeleteUber momentum, Lyft took advantage of the opportunity to outshine its rival. Not only did Lyft donate to the American Civil Liberties Union, but it has also enjoyed a 7 percent increase in customers since January 29. Lyft wasn't hasty, and it swung with the popular sentiment pendulum.
  • You might think you have a revolutionary product, but what if the market disagrees? If your top competitor just released a similar product and its sales are flailing, you owe it to yourself to analyze what's happening. Could it be that the market for your product just doesn't exist yet? If so, how can you pivot so you can produce an actual game-changer, not a wannabe?Segway knows all about this challenge: It discovered its product's market was limited by cost and individual desire. By the time it was put to bed, it was no longer a technological marvel -- it was just a punchline. Chances are good that leaders of a company waiting to market a Segway-like creation put plans on hold when they saw the fallout and chose to execute their innovations differently.4. Do the common uncommonly well.
  • leapfrogged over the issues plaguing its competitors, solidifying itself as a smarter, less-glitchy solution for music lovers, thanks in part to what it's calling the Music Genome Project.
    • kmira026
       
      benefit of wait and see approach
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    This article goes into being patient when it comes to launching a new or similar product. Many companies try to be a trendsetter but sometimes taking the backseat is much beneficial. Startup and trial and error runs are ultimately decreased. Reviewing the feedback of others on social media outlets can help make sure you don't stumble over the same issues.
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    This article explains why a wait & see approach is sometimes the best approach for some companies before launching a product in a very competitive market which already has a company providing the same product to consumers. Many companies have waited to see what issues consumers are complaining about when their competitors have launched a product to later launch a better product better than that if the competitors. Such companies are Pandora versus Apple Music, Lyft versus Uber, Apple Cash versus Venmo, QuickPay, and Square Cash.
nixalexa

What is Hotel PMS? | Oracle - 2 views

  • Traditionally, a hotel property management system (PMS) was defined as a platform that enabled a hotel or group of hotels to manage front-office capabilities, such as booking reservations, guest check-in/check-out, room assignment, managing room rates, and billing
  • Traditionally, a hotel property management system (PMS) was defined as a platform that enabled a hotel or group of hotels to manage front-office capabilities, such as booking reservations, guest check-in/check-out, room assignment, managing room rates, and billing.
  • Hotel PMS is now a critical business operations system that enables hoteliers to deliver a seamless guest experience. Hotel PMS now integrates to other onsite services that impact the guest's complete experience, including: Food and beverage operations Housekeeping and maintenance management Sales and catering execution for group bookings and event management Revenue management Distribution across multiple channels Spa management
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  • Faster innovation With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels can bring new properties online more quickly. Each new release brings new capabilities to help deliver great guest experiences, improve operating efficiency, and increase employee productivity. Lower IT complexity and costs With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels can lower upfront capital expenditure on software and hardware. By going above-property, hotels can also reduce IT complexity and IT costs. Increase in RevPAR and ADR With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels can effectively manage rates and allocation of rooms to various distribution channels, helping to maximize occupancy, rates, and revenue. Enhanced customer lifetime value With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels get a single customer master with comprehensive guest profiles that allow them to personalize and differentiate guest experiences.
  • Until recently, hotel PMS solutions were often managed on premises. On-premises solutions include hardware that can take up a lot of space. Resources were needed to manage the systems and software updates, upgrades, and patches needed to be scheduled and installed manually by onsite staff. Cloud-based, mobile-enabled hotel PMS platforms offer hotels an innovative way to engage with guests while enabling hotels to reduce IT costs and simplify their infrastructure.
  • ncrease housekeeping efficiency with instant updates on housekeeping mobile devices when customers check out, freeing up rooms for cleaning
  • is now a critical business operations system
  • that replaced time-intensive, paper and spreadsheet-heavy processes.
  • seamless guest experience.
  • Enhanced customer lifetime value.
  • Hoteliers are challenged with providing a personalized guest experience
  • olutions help hoteliers deliver the experience guests want, while efficiently managing their business.
  • Connect operations and financial processes by leveraging prebuilt integrations
  • Increase room occupancy and ADR through real-time rate
  • ster innovation.
  • Lower IT complexity and costs.
  • aditionally, a hotel property management system was defined as a platform that enabled a hotel or group of hotels to manage front-office capabilities, such as booking reservations, guest check-in/check-out, room assignment, managing room rates, and billing.
  • rease in RevPAR and ADR.
  • OPERA Cloud hotel property management system offers hoteliers capabilities to enhance operating efficiency and deliver exceptional guest experiences. The platform integrates emerging technologies with ease, accelerating innovation to meet ever-changing demands. Hotel PMS Defined
    • sbaut010
       
      Opera, a traditional PMS provider has has invested in cloud computing.
  • With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels can lower upfront capital expenditure on software and hardware. By going above-property, hotels can also reduce IT complexity and IT costs.
  • With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels can bring new properties online more quickly. Each new release brings new capabilities to help deliver great guest experiences, improve operating efficiency, and increase employee productivity.
  • With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels get a single customer master with comprehensive guest profiles that allow them to personalize and differentiate guest experiences.
  • The benefits of cloud-based hotel PMS solutions include:
  • With cloud-based hotel PMS, hotels can effectively manage rates and allocation of rooms to various distribution channels, helping to maximize occupancy, rates,
  • r
  • Hotel PMS now integrates to other onsite services that impact the guest's complete experience, including:
  • T
  • OPERA Cloud hotel property management system offers hoteliers capabilities to enhance operating efficiency and deliver exceptional guest experiences. The platform integrates emerging technologies with ease, accelerating innovation to meet ever-changing demands.
  • Provide anytime, anywhere service to your guests using a mobile-enabled cloud-based hotel PMS.
  • Centralize and secure customer data and improve the quality and accuracy of guest profiles with reporting and analytics.
  • Empower managers to improve ADR with extensive options for setting rates and advanced rate-management features for manual and semiautomated revenue management.
  • With a cloud hotel PMS, hotels get a single customer master with comprehensive guest profiles that allow them to personalize and differentiate guest experiences.
    • nixalexa
       
      PMS is Hotel Property Management Systems to help operate the day-to-day tasks in the hospitality industry, PMS has assisted the process with guests check in and checkout, assistance with assigning rooms, managing room rates and for billing guests, this article also explains how PMS has removed the unnecessary use of paper for these processes as well, which is environmentally friendly! When a guest leaves their room, PMS systems help inform housekeeping that there is an empty room that now needs to be cleaned for the next guest. The article by Oracle also mentions "mobile-enabled cloud-based hotel PMS" which tells the reader that internet is required to function the PMS properly and efficiently. PMS also assists hotels with keeping customer data in their systems so that managers within the property can keep track of guest spending, room rates, guests per night, week or month and help improve how accurate their information is instead of having to keep track of all of this data manually. When speaking of the cloud-based PMS systems the article also states that this helps customers keep track of their own information with a specific company. Like if a customer stays at Marriott hotels, with the Marriott app they will be able to keep track of their stays and reservations they have made in the past as well as existing reservations.
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    Property management systems (PMS) were originally only for front desk needs like booking reservations, checking guest in and out, charging accounts, and managing room assignments. The newer PMS systems have enhanced the check in and check out process, maintenance and housekeeping management, and accounts receivable management. The check in and check out process has been enhanced by the newer cloud based PMS systems by giving the front desk the ability to provide service anywhere and anytime. It is more accessible and can update room statuses in real time. As housekeeping cleans rooms the room statuses are updated through their mobile cleaning device into the PMS system. Also, the PMS system allows the front desk to communicate with the maintenance and housekeeping staff for last minute guest request and complaints. The cloud based PMS system also allows the front desk to have access to revenue management. This way the front desk can have access to accounts receivable and update it as payments come in from previous guest. This enables faster and more accurate billing for guest. As technology advances it is important for the hospitality industry to stay updated so that guest and employees needs are met. Keeping up with the technological trends allows companies to remain competitive.
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  •  
    MS technology changed a lot in the hospitality industry. A hotel property management system is a platform that enabled a hotel or group of hotels to manage front-office capabilities, such as booking reservations, guest check-in/check-out, room assignment, managing room rates, and billing. Hotel PMS now integrates to other onsite services that impact the guest's complete experience. Hotel staff provides a guest experience when operating an effective hotel business.PMS can help hotel staff to manage information more efficiently. hotel PMS can also let hotel employees gain insights into guest behavior and preferences, improving guest satisfaction and enhancing the quality of the guest experience. PMS will develop faster than now and implement their system more efficient. When customers book a hotel room through website hotel staff can know it immediately. It saves time and saves labor cost. Hotel staff doesn't need to write down the information now.
  •  
    A hotel PMS is often defined as the software used to manage bookings, room rates, check-in/check-out times, and much more. However, through the years, hotels' PMS has evolved to better allow for a seamless guest experience. For example, with an advanced PMS, front desk is capable of directly notifying housekeeping employees what rooms need what service and any specifications they might have. In addition, PMS has evolved to be a cloud-based software. This means that hotels can keep up to date with the newest version of the PMS, they lower IT costs, they can more effectively influence room rates and better manage expenses along with income, and they allow them to keep track of all guests and their specific requests to keep the experience perfectly personalized for them each time they come to visit.
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    This articles talks about how the PMS programs are being redefined by new technologies that not only enhance the productivity of the hotel it self but has millions of positive effects, event towards a more ecological and eco friendly environment.
  •  
    This article first introduces the definition of PMS. Traditionally, PMS was defined as a platform that enabled a hotel or group of hotels to manage front-office capabilities. But with the development of science and technology, the function of PMS has been extended. Hotels can get many benefits from PMS, such as improving room management efficiency, more convenient management of customer data, and so on. This article also introduces the advantages of cloud-based PMS over traditional PMS. Such as faster updates, avoiding excessive costs in the IT department. Cloud-based PMS may be an important development trend for PMS.
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    Hotel PMS is a critical business operations system which enables a seamless guest experience. PMS is not just limited to in house; cloud base PMS provides the same benefits with more features.
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    Hotel PMS is extremely important when it comes to hotel management. It provides a seamless experience for not only guests but employees. It provides easier guest check in and out, data that includes accounts receivable, and also helps with maintenance and housekeeping. PMS systems are cloud based and is expensive but will be worth it over time.
  •  
    We look at how the software Oracle is beneficial to a Hotel's PMS system. This software is the middle man between the customer and proving service
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    This article tell us what is PMS and what benefits it can brings to the hotels operation. Automating daily operations and administrative tasks is an important part of achieving customer satisfaction as it helps provide reliable and quality service time after time. A hotel is a complex system that encompasses the activities of many departments, and every operation must be tracked
  •  
    More than a "platform that enabled a hotel or group of hotels to manage front-office capabilities", modern PMS is "a critical business operations system that enables hoteliers to deliver a seamless guest experience" by integrating many other systems. PMS offers many kinds of benefits to hoteliers, including improving housekeeping services and revenue management. The deployment of PMS is also a consideration. While most PMS systems were on-premise, there do have cloud-based ones that reduces cost in an innovative way. It also helps in enhancing customer lifetime value and increase RevPAR and ADR.
Hanlu Hu

E-Commerce for the Hospitality Industry | The Moscow Times - 6 views

  • E-commerce has been defined as "the buying and selling of products and services by businesses and consumers over the Internet."
  • Accelerating Internet usage worldwide The Internet is the lowest cost hotel-booking channel Most travelers research hotel reservations on the Internet Social media and online hotel reviews are an increasingly important decision factor The web is the preferred media source for travel information, favored 17:1 over television and 6:1 over newspapers and magazines.
  • Adding real time search functionality to your site, capability to generate user reviews, launching contests helps to build fresh content and quality links
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  • Heavy graphics, animation and flash demos cause your site to perform slowly. Sites that are built keeping these guidelines in mind will deliver better user experiences, will perform better on search engines, and ultimately drive higher ROI.
  • As things stand now, mobile queries represent about 10% of all queries made on Google. People are using mobile devices to conduct searches, as well as share content, connect with friends and browse the web
  • Embracing social media. 93 percent of social media users expect companies to have a social presence. 85 percent of social media users want companies to interact with them on social sites. A well-planned social initiative can turn fans into brand evangelists.
  • The Internet has consolidated itself as a very powerful platform that has changed the way we communicate, and the way we do business.
  • The growing importance of e-commerce in the modern hospitality industry has created an urgent need for simple solutions to manage companies' online presence. Now that each hotel is involved in e-commerce, why is hotel e-commerce so important today?
  • We forget that the human brain can only consume limited information. It is important to take a holistic approach and prioritize information. Good web site architecture and organized content improves site usability and its efficiency when used with search engines.
    • yan xie
       
      It is true that we always forge how many information the human brain will take at once. Although the e-commerce is the good way for customers to know the new products and new service from the hotels, sometimes the hotels provide so much information to customers. It lets customers confused and does not know what the specifice products can meet their requirements. And sometimes, they feel some hard to understand your service so that they give up hotels service or new products to choose the one they are familiar. So how to make e-commerce usability and efficiency is a new point, which the hospitality industry company need to consider.
  • make sure your ad groups are made up of tightly knit keyword themes and that those keywords are reflected in your ad copy; ensure that your landing pages clearly reflect the offer promoted in the ad copy and includes clear calls to action and conversion factors.
    • yan xie
       
      As the point two mentioned, the customers cannot get so many information at once, and they also cannot search lots of information at once. So the keyword themes is also another important thing for company to do the promotion and ads. This ads need to have the keywords to clearly reflect the offer promoted for customers. In this way, the customers will catch the information as possible as they can.
  • Top e-commerce sites are continually testing new things. It's the only way to achieve continual improvement.
    • yan xie
       
      To do the continually testing new things is always a best development way for the developing company. If the company cannot test the new things in their e-commerce sites and e-commerce process, the e-commerce of this company will be far away from other companies. Company need to have the innovation to make some new things for their e-commerce and do the test all the time to select the best way for the business and customers' expericence.
  • hospitality industry has always been among the first to capitalize on new technologies
  •  
    The hospitality industry along with the resourcefulness of the Internet has allowed the Russian hospitality industry to benefit and grow with the technology of e-commerce. E-commerce is defined as "the buying and selling of products and service by businesses and consumers over the Internet". This technology is significant due to its beneficial factors of lowering costs, accessibility, decision-making, and media exposure. As well, the article provides for methods and advice regards effective strategies to utilize the Internet. Primarily, the speed of the website's functionality is essential, along with providing compatibility of browsers, thus, allowing for a better experience for users. The information in the website should be efficient, allowing for real time search whether using a mobile phone or a computer. It was informative to read the multiple functionality, that social media is playing in the hospitality industry regards the exposure and marketability. E-commerce has change the market of goods and services, from a tangible experience to digital experience, through the use of online shopping estimated at $228 Billion in 2010, a third derived from the purchase of travel and flight websites, thus, demonstrating the importance of the Internet in relation to consumerism.
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  •  
    This article talks about why hotel E-commerce is essential today and how to go about having E-commerce work for your business/hotel. The article says, "The internet has consolidated itself as a very powerful platform that has changed he way we communicate, and the way we do business." This is the reason why businesses need to utilize the internet. According to the article these are the reasons that hotel e-commerce is important today: the internet is being used worldwide, the internet is the lowest cost hotel-booking medium, the internet is used, by travelers, to research hotels and their reservations, the internet is the home of social media and hotel reviews and the internet is preferred 17:1 over television and 6:1 over newspapers and magazines for travel information. It would be at a hotel's detriment if they do not utilize the internet and e-commerce. It isn't enough to use e-commerce for business but there must be an upkeep. It is extremely beneficial to research or monitor how customers and potential consumers are seeking information and what attracts them to a site. According to the article, e-commerce strategies that would 'help get the best from the internet world' are: 1. Search-friendly website design 2. Improving Conversion and Usability 3. Paid Search 4. Real time Search 5. Mobile Device Market 6. Social Media 7. Testing
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    This article mentioned why the ecommerce important for the hospitality industry. And also there are more things they hospitality industry companies need to know. Although the e-commerce is the good way for customers to know the new products and new service from the hotels, sometimes the hotels provide so much information to customers. It lets customers confused and does not know what the specific products can meet their requirements. And sometimes, they feel some hard to understand your service so that they give up hotels service or new products to choose the one they are familiar. So how to make e-commerce usability and efficiency is a new point, which the hospitality industry company need to consider. As the point two mentioned, the customers cannot get so many information at once, and they cannot search lots of information at once. So the keyword themes is also another important thing for company to do the promotion and ads. This ads need to have the keywords to clearly reflect the offer promoted for customers. In this way, the customers will catch the information as possible as they can. It is true that we always forge how many information the human brain will take at once. To do the continually testing new things is always a best development way for the developing company. If the company cannot test the new things in their e-commerce sites and e-commerce process, the e-commerce of this company will be far away from other companies. Company need to have the innovation to make some new things for their e-commerce and do the test all the time to select the best way for the business and customers' experience.
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    This article discusses about the application of e-commerce in hospitality industry. Internet has become a very powerful tool for customers when they are planing their travels. As the same time, it has become an important media for hotelierss to improve their businesses. Internet can provider a lot of online sources to customers when they make any dicisions. And how to make your web site become more competitive and attract more customers is the topic of this article. First of all, a good design for the web site is the most important thing for hotelierss. And the download speed is the basic factor. Quick download speed brings a good experience to users, and improves the ranking in organic search. Secondly, improving usability needs to be focused on by hotelierss. Large imformation may not be took in by users. You need to make your customers seethe most important information first. In other word, you need to prioritize your web site and make the imformation more understood. Paid search and real time search are also focused on by the author. Sometimes, paid search can make your hotel more compelling on the search engine. And some tips have been given in this articel to help the hotelierss to maximize conversions. Real time search is similar with paid search, and it needs compelling fresh content and quality incoming links on the web site. Maps, photo galleries, videos and press releases are creative ways to distrivute content on different channels. With more mobiles customers using, mobile represent about 10% of all queries make on Google. Hotels can exand the mobile market and improve the download speed of their site by avoid heavy graphics and flash, making their site is mobile compatible. Social media is in the same condition with mobile. Customers need more connections on social sites, so they want companies to interact with them through the social media. The last point is testing. Every new thing needs a lot of tests. It can provides changes and improvement for
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    The article discusses power of internet and how different it is from magazine and television ads. "In terms of time your travel websites are available for are accessible for a longer period of time, the flexibility that the content can be changed without asking someone,if you have a content management system." Also travel websites will help your business potentially reach a wider audience. Another big advantage of having a travel website is it's availability even when your business is closed or no one is available to answer your phone. Everyone knows that there are so many time zones, and the visitors can come from any part of the world. So having a travel websites gives your travel business visibility for all 365 days of year 24x7.
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    In hospitality industry, customers are constantly seeking new sources of information to help them make decisions before purchasing services. E-commerce in hospitality industry is about the online buying and selling services. And it's become such an important source for the company and customer. Hospitality businesses are all involved in the trend. Smart hoteliers need to keep a sharp focus on the fundamental shift in ways customers are seeking information and channels that drive maximum return on investment. This article listed several basic e-commerce strategies that will help hoteliers to get the best from the Internet world.
  •  
    As new technological advances are being made, the hospitality industry has always been among the first to capitalize on new technologies. The term e-commerce has been defined as the buying and selling of products and services by businesses and consumers over the internet. Now that hotels are involved directly with e-commerce it becomes even more important today because of the accelerating internet usage worldwide,the internet is still the lowest cost channel for booking, many travelers make their travel decisions via the internet. Embracing social media, 93% of social media users expect companies to have a social presence and 85% of social media users want comoanies to interact with them on social sites. A well-planned social iniative can turn fans into brand evangelists. This article dealt mainly with a brief introduction of what e-commerce is in terms of its defining and what it means to the hospitality industry. With more and more people utilizing the internet each day, the potential to have a person book a hotel room greatly increases. Several search engines have advertisements relating to many hotel companies offering specials and customers will see these ads and book. With more technological advances bound to come into play, its only a matter of time before the practice of e-commerce is taken to another level.
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    Over the last decade the population of Internet users has increased rapidly. The hospitality industry has always been among the first to capitalize on new technologies. E-commerce has been defined as "the buying and selling of products and services by businesses and consumers over the Internet." With hotel e-commerce, the landscape of the hospitality industry is forever changed. Online sales are an important part of the business. The growing importance of e-commerce in the modern hospitality industry has created an urgent need for simple solutions to manage companies' online presence. Now that each hotel is involved in e-commerce, reasons why is hotel e-commerce so important today may because the accelerating internet usage worldwide, the Internet is the lowest cost hotel-booking channel, and social media and online hotel reviews are an increasingly important decision factor.
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    E-commerce has become more and more important in our daily life, because many customers today prefer to use internet to help them make decisions. In hospitality industry, e-commerce also plays an important role, as internet is a very cheap and convenient booking channel and many people use the internet intensively. There are many e-commerce strategies for hoteliers, such as making friendly web site design, embracing social media, etc. As e-commerce has so many advantages, I think e-commerce is an opportunity for hoteliers to grasp. It is important for hoteliers to use different strategies to get the best from the internet world.
  •  
        This article introduced the function of ecommerce and the ecommerce effect for the hospitality industry. The author listed some important reasons about why hotel ecommerce is so important:1)Accelerating Internet usage worldwide.2)The Internet is the lowest cost hotel-booking channel. 3) Most travelers research hotel reservations on the Internet. 4)Social media and online hotel reviews are an increasingly important decision factor. 5) The web is the preferred media source for travel information, favored 17:1 over television and 6:1 over newspapers and magazines. This article also listed some basic e-commerce strategies that will help hoteliers to take advantage of ecommerce from the Internet world. 1) Search-friendly web site design.2) Improve conversion and usability 3) Paid search. 4) Real time search - natural ranking.5) Mobile.6) Embracing social media. 7) Test, test, test. Top e-commerce sites are continually testing new things.      In a summary, the author suggest smart hoteliers need to keep a sharp focus on the fundamental shift in ways customers are seeking information and channels that drive maximum return on investment. Moreover, hoteliers have to constantly learn and look for ways to harness the power of new developments and trends.
anonymous

What's Driving IT Investment in 2011? | News | Hospitality Magazine (HT) - 2 views

  • “Advances in wireless and mobile technologies, products and services are changing the landscape of the hospitality industry and how it operates,” says Craig Mathias, principal, Farpoint Group. “With a demanding client base equipped with increasing numbers of smartphones, tablet computers, notebook PCs and even rugged devices, successful hospitality IT organizations recognize the need to upgrade their existing WLANs to improve network reliability, capacity and coverage to support customer-facing applications, as well as internal services that enable their own mobile workforce and improve the guest experience.”
  • Elevating the guest experience
  • The Motorola Solutions 2011 Hospitality Market Barometer reveals that 91 percent of hospitality decision makers realize the increasing importance of mobile and wireless technology, while 78 percent recognize the role mobility plays in ensuring a competitive advantage for their business.
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  • Enabling operational efficiency
  • Empowering the mobile worker
  • Fifty-six percent of hospitality organizations plan to raise mobile investments to better equip their workforces, improve operational efficiencies and enhance the customer experience.
  • Advances in wireless and mobile technologies, products and services are changing the landscape of the hospitality industry and how it operates,” says Craig Mathias, principal, Farpoint Group . “With a demanding client base equipped with increasing numbers of smartphones, tablet computers, notebook PCs and even rugged devices, successful hospitality IT organizations recognize the need to upgrade their existing WLANs to improve network reliability, capacity and coverage to support customer-facing applications, as well as internal services that enable their own mobile workforce and improve the guest experience.”
  • Improved guest experience is the top driver for mobility investments, cited by 76 percent of hospitality venues surveyed. Hospitality decision makers are investing in mobile technologies to support customer-facing applications that improve guest services by handling wireless email, guest/attendee check-in, table-side order/payment or event ticketing, among others. Sixty-one percent of respondents plan to deploy some form of video capabilities, including video surveillance, video conferencing and streaming video, in public access areas such as lobbies. Fifty-eight percent of surveyed hospitality organizations deploying mobile technology today see improved customer satisfaction. 
  • Key facts from the survey
  • A recent Motorola Solutions, Inc. study uncovered that information technology (IT) spending in the hospitality industry is expected to increase in 2011, with guest experience cited as the top driver for investment.
  • The Motorola Solutions 2011 Hospitality Market Barometer reveals that 91 percent of hospitality decision makers realize the increasing importance of mobile and wireless technology, while 78 percent recognize the role mobility plays in ensuring a competitive advantage for their business.
  • Elevating the guest experience
  • Improved guest experience is the top driver for mobility investments, cited by 76 percent of hospitality venues surveyed.
  • Hospitality decision makers are investing in mobile technologies to support customer-facing applications that improve guest services by handling wireless email, guest/attendee check-in, table-side order/payment or event ticketing, among others. Sixty-one percent of respondents plan to deploy some form of video capabilities, including video surveillance, video conferencing and streaming video, in public access areas such as lobbies.
  • Fifty-eight percent of surveyed hospitality organizations deploying mobile technology today see improved customer satisfaction. 
  • Empowering the mobile worker
  • Fifty-nine percent of respondents currently deploying mobile and wireless technology witnessed an increase in employee productivity and efficiency, while 55 percent saw improved sales results.
  • Currently, the most popular applications on two-way radios are project management (51 percent) and collaboration (41 percent). Unified messaging and remote management/monitoring have the highest rate of planned deployments into 2012.
  • Among survey respondents, tablets and VoIP handsets are the top two mobile devices planned for new deployments by 2012.
  • Enabling operational efficiency
  • Seventy-five percent of hospitality organizations surveyed already have wireless LAN (WLAN) installed in their facilities.
  • “Advances in wireless and mobile technologies, products and services are changing the landscape of the hospitality industry and how it operates,” says Craig Mathias, principal, Farpoint Group. “With a demanding client base equipped with increasing numbers of smartphones, tablet computers, notebook PCs and even rugged devices, successful hospitality IT organizations recognize the need to upgrade their existing WLANs to improve network reliability, capacity and coverage to support customer-facing applications, as well as internal services that enable their own mobile workforce and improve the guest experience.”
  •   More than one third of survey respondents represent companies exceeding $1 billion in revenues. Responses came from the executive suite, IT functions and managers closest to the day-to-day implementation of mobile solutions.
  •  
    "The Motorola Solutions 2011 Hospitality Market Barometer reveals that 91 percent of hospitality decision makers realize the increasing importance of mobile and wireless technology, while 78 percent recognize the role mobility plays in ensuring a competitive advantage for their business. As a result, hospitality venues are investing in new technology, as well as powerful wireless networks to handle greater data volumes and increasing demands for high-speed access from the customer and mobile workforce. "
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  •  
    This is a survey from The Motorola Solutions , it reveals how IT investment is gaining pace in hospitality industry. The resuults reveals that 91 percent of hospitality decision makers realize the increasing importance of mobile and wireless technology, while 78 percent recognize the role mobility plays in ensuring a competitive advantage for their business. As a result, hospitality venues are investing in new technology, as well as powerful wireless networks to handle greater data volumes and increasing demands for high-speed access from the customer and mobile workforce.
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    Widely utilization and application of IT technology especially wireless and mobile technology are expected to increase in recent years.More and more hospitality organizations are realize the important role the mobile investment played in improving operational efficiency and enhance the customer experience. With wireless devices, hospitality organizations can save time of doing guest/attendee check-in, table-side order/payment or event ticketing which will improve operation efficiency and customers' satisfaction. According to survey results, tablets and VoIP handsets are the top two mobile devices planned for new deployments. Furthermore, right IT investment will increase revenues and have a good sales.
  •  
    Motorola Solutions, Inc (MS) conducted a study and discovered that IT (information technology) spending is expected to rise in the hospitality filed in the years to come, practically in 2011. The main reason for the increase in spending on IT is because of the guest experience. According to MS, fifty- six percent of hospitality establishments plan to increase mobile investment to better outfit their workforces, advance operational efficiencies and boost the customer experience. The survey main facts included three areas; One, to elevate the guest experience Hospitality decision makers are investing in mobile technologies to support customer-facing applications that improve guest services by handling wireless email, guest/attendee check-in, table-side order/payment or event ticketing, among others. Two, to empower the employees by giving them the correct tools, fifty-nine percent of respondents currently deploying mobile and wireless technology witnessed an increase in employee productivity and efficiency, while 55 percent saw improved sales results. Finally, to enable operational efficiency, improvement, reliability, and extending range of current wireless data networks are the top three drivers behind 802.11n WLAN adoption - all critical network features to meet greater data volumes and increasing demands for access from the customer and mobile workforce. Seventy-five percent of hospitality organizations surveyed already have wireless LAN (WLAN) installed in their facilities. In North America, approximately one third of these venues have 802.11n, while European venues predominately have 802.11b/g.
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    This article is introducing a survey about information technology in the hospitality industry. It shows that there was a speedy increasing in IT investing which is aiming to improve customers' satisfaction and experience. Almost fifty-six percent of hospitality organizations plan to equip IT devices inside their organizations. Also, ninety-one percent of the hospitality decision makers have realized the importance of the mobile and wireless technology. There are three key facts that show the outcome of the survey. The first is to elevate the guest experience. The hotels are investing mobile and wireless technologies, also the video capabilities to improve customer satisfaction. The second one is to empower the mobile worker. The managers, security personnel and customer services all needs some applications to ensure the work efficiency and keep the management productive. The third one is to enable operational efficiency. It shows that the hotel wants to expand the ability of wireless and data transportation.
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    IT investment becomes a big part of the investment in the hospitality industry. A research had been done in 2011 to find what factors drive IT investment in the hospitality industry. There are three main factors, which are elevating the guest experience, empowering the mobile worker, and enabling operational efficiency. Management finds that improved guest experience is the top driver for mobility investment, and over half percentage of the respondents witnessed an increase in employee productivity. IT investment also enables operational efficiency and it is said that 3/4 of the hospitality organization have WLAN installed in their facilities. In my opinion, I believe it is the trend to invest in IT, because people cannot live without modern technology nowadays, and even if you do not want to change, your competitors will do so, which will ultimately makes you out of the market. So IT investment is very important, and businesses in the hospitality industry need to take more concern on IT investment.
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    The Motorola Solutions, Inc. study exposed that information technology spending in the hospitality industry is expected to increase in 2011, with guest experience cited as the top driver for investment. Mobility investments can elevate the guest experience by handling wireless email, guest check-in, tableside order/payment or event ticketing. Managers can empower the mobile worker by using smartphone. Installing the wireless LAN (WLAN) can enhance operational efficiency. Motorola Solutions conducts market research and provides indicators of the opportunities and challenges that mobility poses to hospitality enterprises.
  •  
    This article shared information from a Motorola Solutions, Inc. study predicting that information technology (IT) spending in the hospitality industry would increase in 2011, with guest experience cited as the top driver for investment. The study revealed that 91% of hotel decision makers recognized the importance of mobile and wireless technology and that they would be focused on enhancing guest experience, empowering the mobile worker, and enabling operational efficiency. Motorola Solutions conducts independent market research and collected surveys from 161 qualified participants. I found this article relevant because guests are now expected the hotels they stay at to be able to meet their technological needs. I attended a conference just this week and heard multiple attendees ask if the hotel had wifi and how/where to access it. Nowadays, it's more of a necessity than an option for hoteliers to make the decision to invest in technology. Not only does this investment meet guests' needs and increase satisfaction, but it also benefits employees. According to the article, over half of the survey respondents who use wireless and mobile technology in their workforce saw increases in employee productivity and efficiency. Often times, if employees are able to be more productive and efficient on the job, there is a positive correlation with guest service and satisfaction. Thus, IT investments are crucial for hoteliers to make.
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    This article is talked about the IT trend in hospitality industry. From a recent Motorola Solutions, Inc. study, it showed that information technology(IT) spending in the hospitality industry is expected to increase in 2011. What is more, 91% of hospitality decision makers realize the increasing important of mobile and wireless technology. Then it introduced some key facts from the survey. They are elevating the guest experience, empowering the mobile worker and enabling operational efficiency. Advances in wireless and mobile technologies, products and services are changing the landscape of the hospitality industry and how it operates. Successful hospitality IT organizations recognize the need to upgrade their existing WLANs to improve network reliability, capacity and coverage to support customer-facing applications, as well as internal services that enable their own mobile workforce and improve the guest experience. This is the information technology trend for hospitality industry. And IT will become an indispensable part in hospitality industry.
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    Just like the saying in the article, in 2011, the investment is mostly focus on the mobile investments. As we know that with the development of the internet, more and more people can not live without the internet. So, it is very important for hotel or hospitality industry to put investments on this section. It is become the necessary part of the hospitality industry. So, increase the investments of mobile and internet will bring a strong advantages for your business and make you stand on the market.
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    The hospitality industry is investing in new technology to satisfy guests demands, it is important for hotels to provide wireless connections that are fast and reliable, this now also considered part of the guest experience.
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    A recent study uncovered that information technology (IT) spending in the hospitality industry is expected to increase in 2011, with guest experience cited as the top driver for investment. 56% of hospitality organizations plan to raise mobile investments to better equip their workforces, improve operational efficiencies and enhance the customer experience. 91% of hospitality decision makers realize the increasing importance of mobile and wireless technology, while 78 percent recognize the role mobility plays in ensuring a competitive advantage for their business. Based on elevating the guest experience, empowering the mobile worker and enabling operational efficiency, a survey about this was set up. With a demanding client base equipped with increasing numbers of smartphones, tablet computers, notebook PCs and even rugged devices, successful hospitality IT organizations recognize the need to upgrade their existing WLANs to improve network reliability, capacity and coverage to support customer-facing applications, as well as internal services that enable their own mobile workforce and improve the guest experience.
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    Nowadays more than ever does technology make a difference in how we run our operations, how effective our operations are which results in how satisfied our customers are. The article What's Driving IT investment in 2011 talks about the advances in the hospitality industry providing us with some important statistics in IT investments. According to the article, technology spending is expected to increase with the focus on customer experience. Fortunately, the statistics shows that 91 percent of hospitality decision makers realize the importance of mobile and wireless technology. As stated in the article, hospitality venues invest in new technologies to improve operational efficiencies and to enhance customer experience. As the survey shows, customer experience is the number on priority and driving force for implementing new technology. Hospitality properties also invest in technologies that enhance the check in procedures, wireless e-mail or table side orders and payments. After implementing new technologies, 59% of respondents to the survey taken could see improve employee efficiency and 55% saw improved sales results. According to the survey that was filled out by 161 respondents representing variety of hospitality enterprises, 58% saw improved customer satisfaction. Even though this article does not state which technologies in particular yielded these results, it is still important to see that investing in IT technologies does make a difference in customer satisfaction, employee efficiency and sales improvement. Many properties are afraid to invest new technologies, as they are unsure of the final results of the investment. I am strongly convinced that in order to keep up with the competition and the supply in the market, business had to take the technology route and use it to their fullest advantage.
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    The article analyzed why hotels do investment to It in 2011. It concluded three main reasons, which are elevating the guest experience, empowering the mobile worker, and enabling operational efficiency. It's already 2013 now and things can become different. Hotels should invent carefully according to its specific necessary and customers' necessary.
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    Dear team! I found an article, very old but to me, very actual and interesting about how the Internet Technology is improving and progressing, and the investment bring benefits only. In 2011 , only 4 years ago, we can see that the companies were having a clear plan to improve the communication system. By introducing wireless, tablets, WLANs , to improve network reliability... Today we have it all on hands. We are using all the devices online , wireless and with no problem to access. No cords on the floor, no telegrams ... Internet technologies is a big progress in our century and is developing and growing, by leaving some of us behind. :)
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