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This article deals with the recent announcement (although in the view of many an illegal announcement) of the Obama administrations one year delay in the employer mandate until January 1, 2015. This announcement leaves still leaves in place the individual mandate. The reason for the delay was to provide time to adapt health coverage and reporting systems while employers are moving toward making health coverage affordable and accessible for their employees. However, there are many points in the ACA that will still go into effect as listed in the highlighted sections of this article. Several business groups are commenting on the delay and providing further direction such as the United Benefit Advisors. The UBA group has posted a listing on what actually has been delayed and what remains a requirement. All groups agree that the added time will give business some breathing room while companies continue to decipher the actual effects and requirements of the ACA. Either way now that the bill is passed and signed into law one thing is for certain, the smoke has cleared and none or the promises made by the administration of what the bill would do are true.

This article discusses the Federal Trade commission's actions against Wyndham Worldwide Hotels. Unsophisticated hackers breached the hotels system and obtained the credit card records of 600,000 guests, causing the FTC to claim that the hotel group did not maintain proper system security. However, several groups file a Amicus Brief that the FTC is not clear as to what security standards they require. Currently the FTC requirements "will depend on the size and complexity of the business, the nature and scope of its activities, and the sensitivity of the information at issue". This means to many in the industry that company does not know if they are maintain proper security in the eyes of the FTC until they are sued by the FTC. The article goes on to say that a company should "Review your privacy policy immediately to insure it is compliant with the most recent standards and that the data security systems in place are actually consistent with the stated policy".

More than half of IT professionals believe that data consolidations and storing is very important for a business. Although almost all agree with it, the vast majority have no plans to consolidate at all. Meanwhile only "a quarter" have completed with consolidation projects. As we have stated previously in past class discussions, the cloud technology/computing/storing is a software that has revolutionized the technology industry. Cloud technology has allowed companies to access and store information, and even share it, in a much quicker and cost-efficient way. Seemingly, still many believe it may be too soon to trust 100% on cloud technology, since security is a big issue. Yes, they are monitored periodically; but hackers nowadays can accomplish a lot. Thus, resulting in a security challenge for many IT professionals. Among many other reasons, companies seem to lack the required staff to implement these methods. Although IT professionals believe in it, at this moment it is too hard to achieve.

It's interesting that they think that consolidation is important yet do little about it. Keeping data safe is critical. To get to my e-mail for work when not at the facility, it requires the 8-digit pin that's in my head, plus a 6-digit key from the secure ID that I carry. That 6-digit code changes every thirty seconds, and the device contains enough codes for five years. If someone is logging in to look at my mail, they can be reasonably confident that it's me, Staff is definitely critical, which explains why so many IT jobs are available these days. If you have all of the IT initials (MCSE,CompTIA, etc) after your name, it's a good time to be in the industry.

I think that it is very important for hotel to go green. Many top hotels are the members of green hotels. That means go green is a trend. Go green could makes the hotel cost savings, competitive advantage, employee retention, customer loyalty, regulatory compliance, decrease risk and it's the right thing to do. When I went to New York, Key West and Boston, I found the hotels where I lived are all green hotels. They use retrofitting light bulbs instead of regular bulbs. But in China, green hotel is not popular. I think that it will be the trend in the future all over the world!

The following article highlights new mobile technology and security within the lodging industry. This new technology is already being implemented in major hotel chains overseas and will soon be integrated in the US. 

The Hotel Industry and its vendors are acknowledging and taking a keen revenue advantage, because their customers are supporting a green environment focus. This green economic revolution has impacted the $90 billion dollar Hotel industry. The article describes a hotel in Austin Texas profoundly in regards to their property having the "largest solar system in the continental U.S.". The hotel goes as far as creating their motto, which gear guest towards a green environment focus; their motto states "Environmental consciousness in action." The hotel grows its own food and vegetables, in which they serve the guest with, and they also give some of their produce to local food banks. The hotel guest often brag about how well they slept in the night, this might be caused by the toxic free chemical environment they are in. The lodging have refrained from using chemical pesticides 20 years ago, which may have added to the result of guest sleeping well; stated the general manager. The Ritz-Carlton program "Jean-Michel Cousteau's Ambassadors of the Environment program" was originally for the children that were staying on the Kapalua in Hawaii. The children enjoyed it so much, and their parents became very inquisitive; that the program emerged into the entire property focus. This program gives guest the opportunity to have involvement with the native forest; native nature walk and the hotel also harvest a native garden. This is almost the same idea as the hotel located in Austin Texas. There are many valid reasons for the reason why the Hotel Industry should be green conscious. The Green Hotels Association states that "Companies with proactive environmental strategies will make 4 percent higher investment, 9 higher sales growth and 17 percent higher operating income growth than companies with poor environmental practices.". If I was a general manager, this would be one of my main concerns and focus. Going green is cost effective, but the ending

nowadays, more and more hotels attending to join the green army. one of the most important reason is this kind of hotel will have a better market. because of the education level of the guests, their invironmental awareness become stongly. so the guests want to do more to make a contribution the the environment protection. on the other hand, the customers all knows that even the price of the green hotel is higher, but it is more health and safe. it will make them feel better and have a good experience in the hotel. as we know, a good experience is the final goal of hotel. so, the green hotel must have a bright future.

The green economic revolution is impacting the $90 billion U.S. hotel industry. There is an opportunity to increase revenue and market share by "going green". Habitat Suites in Austin, Texas is a leader in this area. The hotel's motto is "Environmental consciousness in action." Habitat Suites has an environment that is free of chemicals, has the largest hotel solar system, and uses their own organic fruit and vegetable garden for food in the hotel. Due to this environmental consciousness, the customers are reacting positively. Commenting on how great they slept, due to the ecologically fresh rooms. Many hotel chains are jumping on the green revolution bandwagon. At the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua in Hawaii, they started an environment program that was originally designed to provide fun for kids. But after positive feedback from the children, this has grown from just learning about local marine life to educational nature walks. These walks go through Maui's native forests and a garden that grows native foods and has community engagement in order to preserve their island's culture and environment. The food that is grown in the native garden is used in the hotel to provide guests with a healthy dining experience. Because of this, it has increased guests' reason to eat at the hotel and is 15 percent of the hotel guests' revenue stream. This environmentally friendly program increases the possibility of repeat business and attract new travelers who search for these types of experiences. A report published by the Green Hotels Association states, "Companies with proactive environmental strategies have a 4 percent higher return on investment, 9 percent higher sales growth and 17 percent higher operating income growth than companies with poor environmental track records." Even non-hotel-industry entrepreneurs are realizing business opportunities in the green vacation industry. Patricia Griffin, president of the Green Hotel Association, started the associatio

The "Going Green" trend has been a true blessing since it's marketability took birth several years ago. Many industries are taking advantage of this technological and ecological trend. There has never been a better time than now to turn our business ethics into the direction of a better world. Basic utility expenses at any hotel or business can sometimes make or break their existence. Technology today has given us the tools to give back to both our beautiful Earth and our bottom dollar. Luxury brands and all the like are implementing new green policies and technologies that will cut costs and even beautiful their environments. By the end of 2015 The Intercontinental Hotels Group plans on equipping over 4,000 of their hotels with a system that monitors and assists in energy use and conservation. They have a goal of reducing their overall water use by 12% in California in part due to the severe ongoing drought. The Loews in Santa Monica Beach is investing $96,000 in a laundry-water recycling system. It will recycle nearly 70% of water use and pay for itself in less than 2 years. Apart from it's ability to cut-costs and truly give back to the environment, "going green" is highly marketable. One of the Intercontinental's General Managers was quoted saying "It's not a huge savings. I think it's about sending the right message." I have personally seen many RFPs from large corporate companies that request green-initiatives from hotels. Improving sustainability is important to the customer and the establishment. Around 60% of travelers consider green initiatives when selecting a destination and activity. Of those 60%, over half said they would even pay more to stay at an establishment that respected and helped improve the environment. In a world where we are fortunate enough to live in excess should we choose to, it's a shame it took this long for a global movement to "go green". Sustainability alone has built such a giant indu

Security has different meanings in different countries and is extremely important in creating and maintaining international leisure travel. In the United States this means technology: security cameras and monitoring, rapid communication and response technology. In developing countries such as Nigeria, the security conversation centers around much more primitive ideas. "A hospitality and tourism consultant, Emeka Attamah, has made a case for the establishment of 'Local Tourist Security'…in Nigeria." This idea centers on the belief that locals should be involved in the policing of public places because they are well versed in the terrain and the criminals that operate in these areas and are therefore in the best position to fish them out. After all, the success or failure of a tourism destination depends largely in part on how safe tourists perceive the destination to be. The idea of a Local Tourist Security in countries such as Nigeria means recruiting indigenous youth to provide surveillance and security near tourist sites. There are benefits and disadvantages to this proposal. These individuals will be well versed in the region and the people who live there. Many of them will have lived in the area for generations and have insider knowledge on who's who and where's where of the town in which they are operating. However, these youth would be more malleable and perceptive to outside influence. More than likely they would be easier to pressure into certain ways of thinking or actions than their adult counterparts. In addition, initiatives such as Local Tourist Security seem to potentially promote child labor (although potentially milder than the stigma would have us believe), which is looked down upon internationally. In conclusion, Local Tourist Security groups may be the best answer for areas such as Nigeria at the current time, but security in these countries is still miles behind the developed world. As a result these measure may attra

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

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

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

This is an article that compares the new form of cloud property management systems versus the original installed in the property PMS. It compares the features missing from both ends such as the fact the installed PMS can not get free upgrades but it does not require IT expertise. The article makes a great point in stating that both systems can be great for a small business, where as most people assume only an installed PMS works for a small business because it is the more affordable option but because of the fact that one person is usually running the small business they can benefit from having access to the PMS from anywhere which is only capable from a cloud PMS. It is also important to remember that when moving to a new system it can not be assumed to be exactly like the previous system.

The article highlights the top five risks and security challenges in the hospitality industry. The following are the top five security risks according to the article. 1. Identity theft leading to credit card fraud - compared to other industries, the hotel industry is at more risk for credit card fraud and identity theft. This is because hotels are highly targeted by hackers. Hotel properties for the most part have credit card information for each and every guest that has stayed at a specific property. Hotels must be ahead of the technology curve when it comes to security however this is not always the case. 2. Silent invasions - This consists of all the cyber attacks that can affect a business by infecting the network. As discussed during the first module, hotels run majority if not all of their business using technology. If a hotel were to have their networks hacked it would leave them in a very bad situation. Since hotels operate their entire business using technology and multiple different systems, they would not be able to operate if they experienced a network breach. 3. Longer or no security audit cycles - Most branded hotels are required by the franchise to have consistent security audits done for each property. Independent hotels are deemed greater at risk for a security attack because they are not mandated to have security audits. These hotels sometimes skip audit cycles to save money. 4. Physical crime - This ranges from professional robberies to drug laps in hotel rooms. Hotels are at risk for armed robbery due to to lower chance of security compared to other industries that operate overnight. 5. Reputation risk - Hotels that experience a security breach almost always will see some sort of loss in competitive advantage. Nowadays with social media and the news travelers are more aware with what is going on and they would be more inclined to book their reservation somewhere else if they heard of the property having a security breach.

This article notes that many hotels have been the victims of cyber attacks. For example, in July of this year, the Four Seasons, Trump Hotels, and the Loews Hotels all had customer information hacked because of security failures. Furthermore, many of these resulted from vulnerability from the vendors. To address this issue, the article suggests that hotels should incorporate the following four actions: (1) Review data security policies; (2) Require vendors to take responsibility for their mistakes; (3) Analyze cybersecurity policies; and (4) Require brands and managers to test backup systems.

VivoAquatics, a software to manage water and energy consumption in hospitality organizations, has received additional funding through a software automation company. This investment allows growth for the VivoAquiatics company to not only to provide more conservation methods to the industry, but also conserve the earth's resources. The platform is already utilized by many hospitality attractions such as resorts and waterparks. VivoAquatics is set apart from the competition because of its expensive experience in the market in energy and water conservation.

The article discussed the factors to consider when choosing a PMS system. While they are some factors that were essential there were also some that i had never thought of. Mobility is something PMS systems have not traditionally offered in the past but it is something to consider now, the article did mention that it will enhance the guest experience, I wouldn't consider this a deal breaker. Reporting is a deal breaker the system needs to have advanced reporting and tracking to accurately forecast the future. One of the considerations was also auto function such as auto assigning rooms based on preference, this is actually a great function I never thought of. Overall the article did bring up some great points to consider.

With the demand for sustainability initiatives by consumers, hotel are having to make major changes in order to oblige. Sustainability has become a major concern for many consumers and businesses have taken notice. As a result, major hotel chains across country have begun to put in order plans to make changes to their daily operations. As noted in the article by L.A. Times, changes have been made to features such as water usage, machinery operations and even landscaping design . These changes and updates are in the hopes to attract a wider consumer market which now includes Eco-friendly travelers.

The LA Times article, "More hotels are going green, and not just to save water or money" highlights how an "earth-friendly image" is important to many corporate travel managers. Research suggests that having an environmentally friendly hotel not only aids in decreasing operational cost and avoiding city or county fines but may also be a way to differentiate a firm's brand and compete more effectively in the market. With travelers specifically seeking out eco-friendly choices and demonstrating a willingness to pay extra to accommodate a hotels ability to provide these services; going green could be a strategic solution implemented in a manner that allows for increasing market share while reducing operational cost.

Good Afternoon, It good to see hotels are being proactive about being environmentally friendly. It also great they mentioned that corporate travelers are looking for Eco-friendly hotels. I know a lot of companies require corporate travelers to seek out hotels that meet certain green levels and along with there corporate rates. Hotels are demonstrating that they are willing to invest in green technology not only for money but because it the right thing to.