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This article describes how Paramount Hospitality Management will utilize text messaging into their Property Management System (PMS). This new feature is intended to aid the hotel in informing the customers about property activities beyond just when their rooms are ready. It is projected that this new ability will lead to increased revenues and greater customer satisfaction.

This particular article on hospitality and tourism accounting states that the global travel industry is expanding at an accelerated rate. Although there are high demands in corporate travel and high level of satisfaction in the economy, the ever growing industry is vulnerable to many risks given by its consumers. Just as much as the guests utilizing these hospitality services are becoming more pressing towards great prices and expressing concern in the quality of service they receive, hotel businesses are adamant about increasing awareness in cost and profit. To balance all these exclusive challenges, hotels are insisting on being educated and equipped with the most up-to-date technological advances to keep up with the ever demanding industry. With this in mind, the article states three methods to conquer the challenges faced today. The first method is to utilize a cloud based system to keep track of all the innumerous activities present to keep the business running. Due to the fact that a hotel is run by an overflowing amount of employees, all with different jobs and tasks, all using different systems respective to their departments, and require several types of pay (part-time, full-time, tipped employees) methods, it is a challenge to keep things efficient without a proper system. This is the reason why the article recommends using a cloud based system to keep track of the daily labor costs, overtime management, daily payroll transactions, and incorporate easy accessibility to reporting functions. The cloud based system will be beneficial in keeping everything in record beginning from the moment an employees clocks in to the end where they receive their paycheck, as well as, the ability to manage transactions. The second method is to centralize all the various sources of data. Hotels have a countless amount of data being stored. That can range from guest satisfaction satisfaction survey and comment reports, PMS data, to financial reports. With all these busy ac

The article discusses how hotels can overcome accounting obstacles. Firstly managing payroll is cumbersome, so a cloud-based reporting system can provide an easy way to monitor labour and manage overtime, and daily payroll transactions. Secondly, hotels have a difficult time to read data as data can come from a huge variety of sources: STR reports, PMS data, satisfaction surveys, comments. Hotels need a centralized dashboard which combines all critical accounting and performance data to assist hotels in making better decisions. Lastly, the article talks about hotels needing a back-up accounting team in case of disasters. In-house accounting teams may not be able to tackle on one-time event disasters and there must be a back-up team in place in times of urgency. The author, Scott Watson, executive vice president of sales and marketing at a cloud-based financial platform, sees that hotels are becoming more "cost and profit conscious" and I agree with him. Technology solutions are what hotels are craving right now to increase revenue, minimize costs, and maximize profits without sacrificing service quality.

This article helps guides hotels in how to overcome challenges when it comes to the accounting department in any situation that deals with staff tracking, how to decipher intricate data, and what to do in emergencies. The article details the usefulness of the Cloud and keeping track of staff members that are FOH and BOH that are both hourly and salary. That the accounting department could simply look them up in the cloud rather than searching through paperwork to understand exactly what their role is in the hotel and pay them accordingly. The article also goes over how having multiple centralized data sources can help accountants understand information from reports, guest satisfaction questionnaires, and other forms of reporting to pinpoint exactly what needs to be changed to become more efficient in the company. Lastly, the article covers how having back up accounting teams could be a definite positive just in case of emergencies (i.e. weather) so accounting can still be in progress no matter what situation occurs and the hotel can run smoothly.

This article focuses on new hotel apps, focusing on Recharge, that let you rent upscale hotel rooms by the minute/hour. As the article states, this is not a new concept and has been offered in the pass usually at motels. This app looks to change the demographic of those looking to rent hotels for a small amount of time. The app is already active in popular cities around the world, they aim to only work with 3-5 star hotels. I downloaded the app and thought the pricing was a little concerning, but it goes back to the demographic the app is targeting. Recharge aims to appeal to travelers with long layovers, business people looking for a quiet spot in between meeting, sight seers that may need a nap, and even mothers looking for a safe place t publicly breastfeed. Their pricing is right in line with their target demographic as the cheapest price is usually around $30 per hour, and there is always a service fee; the author of the article talks about staying in a hotel for 15 minutes and paying $65 dollars. Personally the pricing is a huge setback, but business wise it makes sense. You are covering the cost of housekeeping having to go in and reset the room, and front desk reprogramming the keys/ handling check in and check out. While I think the system could create a bit of a challenge for hotels in terms of making if something is ready and clean or not, it is another opportunity to increase revenues. This app especially during the slow season for hotels, could help them fill their less desired rooms, if only for an hour. It is similar to a restaurant way of thinking "How many times can we flip this table (room) in peak hours". I may not use the app, but if I was traveling with friends and splitting the cost, I would definitely take the opportunity to pay a few bucks to nap in a 5 star resort.

This article focuses on millennial's and how dependent they are on technology when traveling and/or exploring places to eat. It is highly encouraged by travel agencies and the food/entertainment indusrty to promote their services through apps and current technological trends. Millennial's like the ability to check themselves in the hotel, book reservations, pay bills, ect. at their convenience. More hotels are implementing radio frequency identification (RFID) key card, which only allows the electricity to be turned on once the key is inserted. This helps in decreasing hotel electricity cost. Not only does it reduce electricity cost, but it also saves energy from our planet. Hotels are targeting business travelers, millenial's, and leisure travelers due to proper mobile strategy in place, a study in 2016 showed that 75% from search and 51% of revenue come from mobile devices. SaaS is increasing in demand, especially from hotels and hospitality companies. Hotels are able to cut down on operating costs since SaaS is cheaper with no initial hardware costs and no need to hire full time IT staff to maintain the system, Hotels and restaurants are going paperless practicing sustainability and going green. Technology is helping elevate the hospitality and tourism world by providing more accessibility and exposure targeted to the specific demands of today's world.

There is a new trend of diners opting to pre-order food through their mobile app and go themselves to pick up the food. This allows them to lower the cost by not having to pay delivery fee, and service charge. It also allows for the food to be more consistent and give them the flexibility to eat wherever the customer prefers either in the restaurant or out. About 20% of diners are using the pre-order option (32% millennials), however only 26% of establishments have the mobile POS technology but 59% of restaurants surveyed plan to add in the next year. About 18% of restaurants have technology allowing customers to order at the table, however 52% said they will add this in the next 2 years. Restaurants are starting to react to the trend from consumers where 53% of millennials mention that the restaurant they choose will base on the digital technology they have including online menu, read reviews, look at Instagram pics, and post their own.

This article discusses how it is difficult for many businesses to get into the e-commerce world the same way Amazon is. It also explains how to develop a successful e-commerce strategy. Every business is trying to achieve the same success that Amazon has, but businesses are struggling. In the article it states, "the e-commerce strategies most retailers employ don't address the root causes of their problems. Their strategies don't address customers' needs, so their customers go elsewhere." This simply means that businesses are trying to fix their issues with different solutions. They are not going into the e-commerce industry with all the right reasons. Some fashion businesses are addressing the customer need for affordable fashion better than other businesses. In order for businesses to tackle the e-commerce world, they must follow the steps stated in the article. Step 1: Identify the targeted customer segment - Businesses need to have the ability to target each customer segment differently based on interests. Step 2: Identify customer needs of the targeted segment - understanding customer needs is one of the most important steps. Step 3: Develop strategies to meet those needs - strategies need to be put into action to be able to satisfy customer needs. Step 4: Enable with technology - It is highly recommended that companies use the right technology when starting their online business. They could either partner with other sites such as Amazon, or use different technology (software) to create it themselves. In the end, businesses need to solely understand the customer needs above all else. Understanding needs will lead the business to know how to sell their products/services online. Businesses will be able to take over the e-commerce world when they apply these simple steps to conduct strategies.

This article describes the top technology trend in 2020 that everyone must be prepared for. The first trend is Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the most transformative tech evolutions of our times. Most companies have started to explore how they can use AI to improve customer experience and to streamline their business operations. Next is 5g data networks which are mobile internet connectivity is going to give us super-fast download and upload speeds as well as more stable connections.2020 is likely to be the year when 5G starts to fly, with more affordable data plans as well as much improved coverage, meaning that everyone can join in the fun. The following trend is autonomous driving, which won't just be cars. Of course, trucking and shipping are becoming more autonomous, and breakthroughs in this space are likely to continue to hit the headlines throughout 2020. Lastly, the extended reality is a catch-all term that covers several new and emerging technologies being used to create more immersive digital experiences. More specifically, it refers to virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. Virtual reality (VR) provides an entirely digitally immersive experience where you enter a computer-generated world using headsets that blend out the real world.

Week 4 Article Summary 15 Benefits of Having Digital Menu Boards in Your Restaurant. This article discusses the positive ways in having a digital menus and explains the benefit it has on the restaurant. The focus of the restaurant should be more on the quality of food being served. Even though there are a lot of restaurant that give you an experience like no other but if the food is not top quality it will be hard to bring customers back. Having this type of digital menus could enhance the guest experience while helping the restaurant increase revenues. Here are ten of the top fifteen positives reasons of having a digital menu boards. 1) Digital menu displays will make communication easier. This starts form the customer directly to the kitchen. It will also allow the establishment to display videos and animations that will catch the eyes of the customers and could highlight specific menu items. 2) Saves time by easy updates on display. The software will allow the restaurant to update the menu very easy. You could add and take away dishes without having to print all new menus. It will also allow you 86 items that are sold out at any time during the shift. 3) Sound Investment of saving money. With the system allowing you to change menus, it will save money because you won't have to pay to print new menus every time you want revise it. 4) Digital displays create a more memorable experience. With having a digital screen, it will allow the customer to stay entertained by having a right mix of graphic videos and allowing them to keep them occupied during down times. 5) Better Visibility of menu. The display on the tablet will allow the guest to see a nice HD screen with colors that will make it easy to see and read. 6) 24/7 support. No matter what time of day, there will be support for mangers to trouble shoot any issues that might be happing at time. 7) Boost sales up to 21-23%. It has been said that having an emenu will increase revenues by allowing the establ

This article refers to the Residence Inn Panama City implementing VingCard RFID locks in their suites and staff only areas. This technology helps improve the hotel and makes it easier to implement future technologies like apps that can be used as the room key. With Classic RFID, the property's staff-only locations can likewise benefit from the latest in encryption protocols to ensure that only those with authorization can gain access. This form of IT helps make this property more accessibly and up to date with technology.

This article shows a different end of an RFP process - the one where the hotel is the vendor. Typically, a hotel that offers meeting spaces can integrate an RFP request into their sites allowing easy access to event planners interested in the hotel. When an event planner submits for an RFP, the hotel has a responsibility to answer in a timely, personalized manner in order to attract the planner. If a hotel has meeting space they would like to sell for business, they should definitely consider a software that allows them to answer RFP's in real time. As the article stated, "By leveraging your CRM, automation, and personalization during the RFP process you will ensure a high-quality sales pipeline and more qualified leads."

This article is about migration, tips for companies when transitioning from the old to the new event management software. It talks about the steps that companies should take in all stages of migration. It shows what to consider when thinking about an upgrade for a better system. It guides event planners in the migration process since the beginning, step by step. This article gives tips and guidance helping to identify the perfect software for your company when the company is ready for changing to a better event management system. This article is very helpful!

A Property Management System (PMS) is essentially a company's accounting system. In an article written by Preno a Property Management System company they talked about the importance of a Property Management System in the Hotel industry. The right property management system plays a key role in the success of a hotel. The right PMS is not only good from an accounting stand point, but also for building the guest experience. The article covered 5 benefits of having the right PMS in your hotel. First, guest's first impression Preno states "having a system that makes front desk workflows easy, will create a seamless guest experience". How frustrating would it be to finally getting to your hotel after hours of traveling only to have the person at the front desk unable to find your reservation in their system? This would definitely paint a bad picture for the guest; however, it would be a much better feeling if upon your arrival your information is already printed and your guest preferences are already noted and your room keys already printed. Secondly, streamlined check-in and check-out. This is important because the hotel industry has made the process so easy by making applications available for your phone or ipads in the rooms or hotel lobby. Third, clear communication. "Having clear lines of communication between all departments of your property and with the guest is integral to a successful accommodation." This is very important especially between house keeping and front desk. Having an effective PMS allows house keeping to clearly communicate what rooms are clean and available for check-in and upon check-out the front desk is able to change that room status allowing house keeping to see the room is ready to be clean. This also work well for room service and room repairs. Fourth, and one of the most important is no double booking. With clear communication from each department the system will be constantly updating, this saves the hotel time and decrease or eli

This article is a big time eye opener how robots are already in place taking away plenty of jobs in every department. I highlighted some of the jobs they are currently doing and how much labor cost money the hotels are saving. Yes we love the new technology but it can also be a little intimidating once they start eliminating jobs. It really points out what we may not find obvious on how majority of the hospitality companies are already in use with artificial intelligence technologies. I believe in 10 years the world will be a complete different place and robots will take over for the most part!

Artificial Intelligence is not widely used for booking travel with multiple complexities such as a hotel, car rental and activities however this is becoming more of a possibility with the advancements of Natural Language Processing (NPL). Over the past year there has been major advancements with NPL due to the pandemic and when combining NPL technology with other AI such as chatbots or voice assistants, these systems become more powerful and will be able to assist in planning more complex travel. These systems can also help a travel agent with more complex bookings by gathering the information needed such as date, locations and points of interest.

According to the article, NRA data shows that 79% of customers say they believe restaurant kiosks make their experience more convenient. However, an MSN poll shows that 78% of diners say they are less likely to eat at a restaurant with self-ordering kiosks. Although a kiosk may make the experience more convenient, are customers ready to give up that personal interaction with the service staff? This could be an issue that is based on the type of service model, with a younger audience or diners frequenting a fast-casual experience not minding the self-service aspect where an older more sophisticated diner frequenting a high-end establishment may want that personal service experience.

In the past 2 years, Latin America has adopted e-commerce. E-commerce is growing from year to year. Social media, and social media marketing are vital in having an online presence. However, so is having a strong offline presence. Technology can impact sales, economy, and growth in the hospitality industry. As technology is evolving, it is also making an impact in online travel in Latin America. The article brings up how hotels must consider a GDS, such as TripAdvisor to bring recognition to bookings. This reminds me of what we learned this week- how GDS can broaden companies global reach.

This article describes the vulnerabilities in the security systems of the hotel Industry. The POS system was recognized as one of the most vulnerable areas that are more targeted by hackers. This is due to the multiple stations where the POS systems are located on the premises of the hotel. Likewise having POS systems independent of the hotels security system left the system open to hackers. Two options to defending the cyber-defense, are digital walls and employee training. Digital walls works by keeping hackers from accessing the systems. Although even with a strong firewall it is recommended to implement point-to-point encryption (P2PE), this encrypts payment information of guest. the other is tokenization. This uses alphanumeric pseudonym to protect data stored for long periods of time. Another way to prevent cyberattacks is employee training, encourage the use of strong passwords an dhow to detect fraud and phishing attacks.

This article details some of the ways Property Management Systems are expected to grow in the next decade through CRM solutions, analytics, automation, & IoT sensors. These measures will reduce time, increase productivity, increase customer satisfaction, and most importantly generate more revenue.

This article highlights a number of reasons for small businesses to have a self-serve kiosk. In the highleighted features, this subarticle talks about the 8 must have features to look for in a good kiosk POS, which as Menu Building, Menu prompts, loyalty, variety of payment options, barcode scanner, kitchen display system support, and customer notifications.