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The impact of global economic recession is taking its toll on the hotel industry. Smith Travel Research has reported a national RevPAR decline of 18.1 percent for YTD September 2009 compared to the same period in 2008.

Percentage of survey respondents who use these services to make travel plans: Online travel agencies such as Travelocity, Orbitz and Expedia: 34% Other Web sites: 27% Personal referrals: 25% Travel company Web sites: 19% Traditional travel agents: 9% Calls to travel companies: 7%

Manager for Colwen Management, said that “People are becoming more and more prudent while also becoming more knowledgeable about the internet; consumers are making intelligent decisions online for the best possible rate

The hotel industry is well aware of this possibility, which is why the big brands are innovating like crazy to maintain an edge over smaller, more nimble lodging industry disruptors. By taking a proactive approach to new technology, brands are able to keep ahead of trends and implement solutions before guests even know what it is, exactly, that they’re looking for

So, how do these big hotel companies implement innovations that, by definition, are disruptive to existing processes, while still providing the best guest experience? It’s apparently a combination of deep research, careful preparation, and closely monitored pilot programs.

For example, if a property receives negative feedback, it can be beneficial to respond directly to the customer, apologize for the experience and emphasize improvements that will be made or have possibly already been made

hile it may not seem important, the act of liking a Facebook page can make a huge difference in promoting a favorable image of your property brand, especially if you offer reasonable promotions as reward for liking your business.

The key to social media marketing is to actively engage

Last year, #MURTEC introduced MURTALKs, concise 20-minute presentations that deliver big insights. On March 8, 2017, Stephanie Nardini, senior director of IT, Jersey Mike’s Franchise Systems, will deliver one such MURTALK as she describes the agony, ecstasy, risks and rewards of going all-in with a large-scale technology project in her presentation titled: "Thinking Big with IT: Implementing Large-Scale Projects."

She will illustrate how to take a company-wide initiative from inception to successful implementation, all while navigating proprietary technology, vendor partners and multiple stakeholders.

Now in its 22nd year, the Multi-Unit Restaurant Technology Conference (MURTEC) produced by Hospitality Technology, has become the “Gold Standard” event for education and networking in the restaurant technology industry.

Shifting spend from maintaining old POS and back-office systems to next-generation omnichannel customer engagement, ordering, and loyalty systems. Today, actionable analytics and segmentation is a challenge for many operators. Restaurants need to invest in the expertise required to make the transition if they are going to keep pace.

The fast food giant is now playing catch-up on mobile ordering, mobile pay, and curbside pickup, which won’t be rolled out until the end of 2017.

capturing guest data across all signals and using this data to drive spend, frequency and brand loyalty. For example, by analyzing all orders – in-house and third-party data, restaurant operators can segment and market to their guests. They can personalize and upsell in real-time using location-based / check-in features. They can recognize and reward their loyal customers.

Fast forward to today and there is no shortage of next-generation PMS solution providers promising to empower hoteliers with the ability to drive ever-increasing levels of efficiency and effectiveness.

Focus on building the guest database.

Focus on technology integration.

“Specials and Discounts” cannot be the only reason you send an email to your hotel database.

It’s not practical or advisable to send out emails from your own server.

Instead, go with tools that let you send emails the right way, give you excellent analytics, and help you grow your list effectively.

The data breach hitting Marriott Hotels Group was huge. The joint-second largest to have ever taken place, in fact, after Yahoo’s disastrous 2013 breach (and on par with Yahoo’s 2014 breach). While the amount of data that was taken from Starwood Hotels’ reservation systems (a company acquired by Marriott in 2016) was vast, what’s most staggering is the fact the breach went undetected for four years, and an acquisition also took place but the alarm still wasn’t raised. Since news originally broke of the release, it’s also been revealed that the hotel group’s own security team was hit by an attack in June 2017. Clearly something has gone amiss.

The issue is compounded by the fact that security is still not high enough up the list of priorities for business leaders. Despite well-known organizations frequently hitting the headlines for data breaches (in 2018 alone we’ve had Ticketmaster, Quora, British Airways, Under Armour and plenty more) and a ‘when not if’ warning  being peddled by the security industry for years, many businesses still haven't got to grips with just how critical proper security is. The fact that reviewing security may not have been part of the acquisition process of Starwood by Marriott – and if it was, not well enough – is further evidence of this apparent blindness to the impact of poor security. So, what’s going wrong? A research report from security company Bromium earlier this year suggested that the average large enterprise spends $16.7 million per annum on security, with the vast majority found to be on ‘the human cost of maintaining cyber security systems’. While most firms clearly aren’t 2,000 people sized enterprises, the research provides a good indication that spending on security isn’t the issue. Instead, it’s people.

We need to look at different approaches to skills development and, in many ways, imitate cyber criminals themselves who are continually iterating ideas to solve problems, rewarding perseverance and curiosity as well as encouraging further development. The ‘white hats’ need to approach their roles the same way – not rely on what they heard in a classroom six months previously.

First impressions count. Guests form an opinion of your hotel as soon as they try to make a booking. By making that process as swift and painless as possible you will see improvements in your number of direct customers.

the average basket abandonment rate in e-commerce is around 65%, in travel it’s over 80%.

Some experts estimate that for hotels specifically the rate of booking abandonments reaches over 90%.

performers and venue operators also enjoy the benefits provided by constant connectivity and interactivity, particularly the revenue generation digital technology brings to live events. 

Besides enhancing the overall fan experience, the technology presents new and more targeted opportunities for teams, performance acts and venues to generate revenue. 

etworked displays are critical in a large public venue in various use cases, including digital menu boards, concourse advertising, suite entertainment, wayfinding [helping guests find venue amenities and attractions], interactive touch experiences and scoreboards

Fortunately, new technology lets restaurants adopt some of ecommerce’s best practices. From an IT perspective, this requires four key elements:   A system to close the loop at the guest level on promotional offers. It’s not enough to have a POS discount key for “Father’s Day promo” anymore. You need to know which dad (or mom!) responded to that offer, what they bought, and who they brought in with them.   The ability (either directly or through your credit card processor) to access payment data in order to identify individual guests when they return. This data set is essential – it’s the lifeblood of ecommerce. Fortunately, the ecommerce players have pioneered safe, secure ways to get at data without compromising PCI safeguards.   A guest-centric data warehouse to store all the key data sets — check level POS data, payment data, marketing data, loyalty program data if available, reservations, online ordering, guest responses, and third party data such as Prizm or Mosaic.   An analytics layer. The requirements here go way beyond static or standardized reporting. Marketing needs to be able to cut data in an ever-changing variety of ways to identify key patterns and segments.   Marketing, in turn, must partner with IT on determining goals. What is the restaurant trying to accomplish and what can be left out? Take joint meetings with IT to look at vendors to help give a sense of what’s possible. But then let IT do their job. Next, build the business case. Moving to a data driven marketing strategy will require shifting budget from other media, or finding new budget dollars. Determine appropriate metrics and the desired payoff. Setting up high level, high visibility “report cards” is critical. For example, “Our 2015 goal is to grow the annual spend of our top three customer groups by 4%, thereby delivering $17.5M of incremental sales.” That will get the CFO’s attention and the goal is doable. Finally, design and execute the marketing plan. That will likely require a trained data and analytics expert, and/or a close partnership with a company that analyzes data 24/7. Either way, it’s important to not over-reach in the beginning. Year one is about becoming familiar with the data, drawing insights, and learning a new language—segments, deciles, annual spend, customer acquisition costs, and lifetime value. The good news is there is usually a great deal of quick wins, such as offer optimization.     Introducing data-driven marketing may seem like a daunting task, but the ability to predictably drive sales should incent even the most cautious. The benefits of bringing an early mover are huge. These restaurants will have more data to work with two to three years out. More data, gathered over a longer period of time, becomes its own competitive advantage. Just ask Amazon.

Building and maintaining strong customer relationships is crucial for long-term success in the hospitality industry. To seal customer loyalty, hospitality businesses of every type can now take advantage of a wide range of affordable, easy-to-deploy technologies that result in a competitive advantage and meet guest expectations for quality, value, promptness, responsiveness and flexibility.

"Today, technology is enabling the industry to offer guests an immersive, personalized experience like never before, from wayfinding and push notifications based on their location and personal preferences to simplified check-in/checkout and a more 'homelike' experience while they're traveling,"

"Technology is no longer just about infrastructure; it is a true enabler for offering the traveler a 'wow' experience in every step of their journey."

One of the latest trends to impact hotel marketing and the guest experience is the iBeacon, which sends a Bluetooth push notification to guests’ mobile devices when they come within close proximity of the iBeacon. This presents an opportunity for on-the-spot guest marketing. Beacon technology is the key to improving guests’ experiences. It can help you streamline check-in and check-out, guide guests around the property, and notify them about targeted offers at your restaurant, bar, or spa.

Beacons are a super effective source for gathering customer insights. By measuring things such as dwell times, how much time guests spend at certain areas in the hotel, and which areas of the hotel are the most popular during specific hours of the day, hotels can plan reward offers accordingly.

Beacons also are useful in measuring and enhancing staff productivity. For instance, beacons can alert housekeeping staff to service a room when the guest is out or to not disturb a guest when she is in the room. No more door hangers!

In the world of information technology (IT), the green movement is taking shape.

Technology is a tool to provide solutions, but regrettably, technology can also be a source of the problem due to factors like energy consumption and the environmental impacts when disposing of obsolete or broken technology (i.e., e-waste).

Like any business initiative, green IT projects will require strong commitment from an organization’s top management and investment in time and resources at all levels.

The current dynamics of the Hospitality Industry indicate the need for a more tech-savvy approach towards enhanced customer experience. Resorting to complex spreadsheets and documentation is definitely not a favorable idea in this case. The implementation of a highly effective Hospitality Software can help elevate the business standards of the hotel and tourism industry. The use of this software will definitely provide an immense boost to the performance levels and financial profits in any Hotel.

The Hospitality Software provides seamless integration of various processes related to the hotel business. The modules and the support system in the software enable excellent productivity levels in a hotel organization, thereby establishing the best business standards. This software is a highly recommended solution for revolutionizing the hospitality industry with streamlined business processes, excellent efficacy levels and greater financial rewards!

Hire a well-trained staff and a knowledgeable IT manager.

Refine the process.

. Demand timely output