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tredunbar

Restaurant Tech Investment And What it Means For the Industry - 0 views

  • Investment in restaurant tech has the potential to transform how chains operate, manage staff, create value, and increase sales
  • half of restaurant operators describe their use of tech as “lagging
  • The sheer scale of options, from upgraded POS systems to automated kiosks, makes it tempting for CEOs and other chain executives to leave tech to the experts.
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  • cost and the time it takes to implement new systems
  • an integrated guest experience enabled by the technology and ultimately powered by something else: operational execution and capability
  • one in four guests factors in technology when deciding where to eat
  • startups will continue to unveil the capability to solve problems unique to the restaurant industry
  • chains that best harness those capabilities will create significant value and differentiate themselves, while others will increasingly find themselves at a disadvantage
  • the best indicator of success is the commitment of company leadership
  • The challenge will be tying two very disparate industries — tech and food service — together
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    This article details the importance that investing in new technology has on the restaurant industry. Many restaurant concepts like Panera Bread have made it their focus to drive new technology in their restaurants and have seen an incredible and continuous ROI. The article cedes that those who take a "wait-and-see" approach will find themselves playing catch up. Attributing to this is the fact that technology is generally considered old by the time it has worked out any potential issues.
ovila009

Proximity Marketing Examples: 28 Retail Companies Nailing it with their Campaigns | Bea... - 0 views

  • Unacast’s latest Q4 Proxbook report confirms that beacon deployments are on track and the numbers align with ABI Research’s forecast of 400 million beacons to be deployed by 2020
  • we bring you a comprehensive list of 28 retail companies that are making a mark with their proximity marketing campaigns via beacons.
  • Eat touted this move as a “strategic pillar” in its communications because it allowed the company to access more information about customer behaviour and drive business intelligence to make precise decisions about how consumer behaviour can be influenced.
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  • As a part of this program, the chain tapped a popular Turkish loyalty app called Shopping Genie, to target customers while they were around the premises of a local McD Café.  Customers got mobile coupons, via the app, which prompted them to purchase a coffee and receive a beverage from the new drink line for free. This proximity marketing campaign via beacons helped McDonald’s achieve 20% conversion rate with 30% of users who received the promotion!
  • Bluetooth beacons were deployed at the point of purchase, where customers were waiting in line to pay or just moving around.
  • These beacon notifications offered two Red Bull cans for $4! Apart from making a profit out of campaigns, Red Bull also monitored the entire campaign in real-time and captured customer behaviour.
  • The retail giant used GE light bulbs to house beacons and send push notifications of specials and discount coupons to in-store customers. These beacon-equipped LED bulbs can track shoppers within a store by using the beacons hidden inside them
  • Carrefour has extensive iBeacon networks in all 28 of its hypermarkets in Romania through which the retail chain offers its consumers a simple, intuitive, and fun app for orientation inside hypermarkets from area to area
  • The retailer’s beacon-enabled app automates the commercial content delivery and collects essential data about in-store consumer behaviour. Its proximity marketing campaign keeps consumers informed about the products, services, and actual special offers from each of the store departments.
  • Popular convenience store group Nisa piloted iBeacon technology to track its shoppers by attaching Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to trolleys and baskets
  • These sensors picked up the signals emitted by beacons and collected location data which was then fed to a cloud-based server for analysis.
  • used iBeacon technology to gamify the Ladies’ Night event with brands providing offers, discounts, freebies, and prize giveaways. Many retailers such as Hotel Chocolat, Krispy Kreme, Cath Kidston, and House of Fraser, participated in the event
  • The event was highly successful as it saw more than 500 app downloads within the first three hours, with over 500 offers redeemed. All 120 hotspot offers were redeemed within the first 52 minutes of the event.
  • Best Buy implemented a beacon strategy to help boost sales and improve personalisation of experience. The retail giant chose to use their own application as well as Shopkick retailing app to offer rewards to shoppers, simply for stepping foot in the door.
  • Hammerson rolled out beacons across their shopping centres to improve personalisation of consumers’ shopping experience. Their beacon-enabled Plus app was initially trialled at Les Terrasses du Port in Marseille and it ranked among the top 10 lifestyle apps in France.
  • UK supermarket giant Tesco launched its “biggest trial” of iBeacon technology, in partnership with consumer goods company Unilever, by deploying beacons in 270 stores across London. They launched the ‘Mpulse app’ as a part of the Pink and Black marketing campaign
  • UK supermarket Waitrose started using iBeacon technology at its relatively new experimental Swindon store to deliver price promotions to consumers when they were near a particular aisle or food counter
  • The app also allows a consumer to call for assistance. A member of the staff receives the request informing them that a customer is waiting for help
  • using beacons to target passers-by based on their interest. They change campaigns based on distinct seasons including prom season at colleges
  • Supermarket giant Woolworths successfully completed a beacon trial with one store using iBeacon technology to improve customer service around click-and-collect. Thereafter, the chain announced that they are looking to roll out beacons across all of its 254 click-and-collect stores with the aim of allowing consumers to place their order online and pick them up in-store
  • Amazon, the retail giant started a new convenience store in Seattle, U.S. in Jan 2018. Amazon Go is an 1800 sq feet mini market filled with food and technology. They have deployed an array of cameras, beacons and other proximity sensors to make the store one-of-a-kind
  • World-famous brands such as Hamleys, Armani, Longchamp, and Hackett form the 80% of the retail companies that have deployed beacons in their Regent Street stores with the aim of pushing exclusive and personalised marketing messages to customers via iBeacon technology. Shoppers receive alerts and tailored content about everything, from new in-store promotions to exclusive offers only available for visitors to Regent Street, as they pass
  • Neiman Marcus, the high-end retail chain, piloted beacons at three stores—Austin, TX, Walnut Creek, CA, and San Antonio.
  • Rite Aid has installed beacons in over 4,500 US stores for retargeting and personalization of user experience. This large-scale beacon deployment by the Pharmacy chain is the largest beacon installation program in a retail setting till date. In fact, it has even surpassed the one undertaken by the famous Macy’s
  • a collection of beacon-level proximity data to strategize their retargeting plan and achieve personalization capabilities similar to those that have been used in e-commerce
  • Walgreens has innovated considerably in the mobile retail space by using iBeacon and other technologies at over 7000 locations.
  • leveraged iBeacon technology at ten of its stores to boost its loyalty program.
  • Target, the second largest general merchandise retailer in the US, announced that it will start testing beacon technology in 50 of its stores nationwide.
  • The recommendations may appear both as push alerts and in-app updates on the Target app’s “Target Run” page, which is designed like a social media news feed offering deals, top-pinned items on Pinterest, and more
  • beacons to bridge the gap between online shopping and in-store experience. Their beacon-enabled app notifies consumers if any item in their mobile shopping bag is in stock,
  • The store has deployed beacons with individualized campaigns for each department, which makes the customer experience interesting and focussed
  • Macy’s expanded its beacon program to all stores nationwide, by installing more than 4,000 beacons. This step was a part of the retailer’s efforts to make bigger investments in omnichannel retail technologies. This Thanksgiving, Macy’s also used a beacon-triggered mobile app game at its 700 stores, to engage shoppers
  • Urban Outfitters announced that they will be rolling out beacons at 15 of their stores located in Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Atlanta, New Jersey, and Delaware, more than a year ago. The US multichannel fashion and homewares retailer decided to take a different route unlike the conventional route of using aggressive promotions.
  • Kenneth Cole is using beacons to create more compelling, personalized customer experiences with an aim to “provide value and offer at the time of need when customers are in the store
  • launched beacon networks in more than 100 of its top-performing stores located in states such as Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York, and San Francisco. The idea was to implement iBeacon technology at the stores with the highest traffic levels and best traction with Shopkick.
  • Oscar Mayer worked out an interesting deal with the supermarkets which would allow them to place beacons at the deli counter. This location helps them convince shoppers to buy the specials of the week while waiting at the counter.
  • it has decided to distribute free BLE beacons to about 150,000 gas-station convenience stores in the United States and Canada
  • Alex and Ani used beacons in all of its 40 stores to optimize store layouts and product placement. Contrary to popular belief that beacons are only for ‘pushing’ ads, the popular Rhode Island-based jewellery brand used beacons differently in its trial period without using them to promote flash sales and other discount promotions.
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    the article gives examples of retail stores and how they use proximity marketing to promote their products
akallison93

Hotel Distribution - Why you need to be "agile" as a hotelier « Sabre Hospita... - 1 views

  • The need for agile hotel distribution is more important now than ever, as the hotel industry continues to strategize and map out roads to recovery across every segment of the market amidst Covid.
  • We, as an industry, should look at this as an opportunity to better position ourselves, while thinking about both short- and long-term distribution strategies.  Hoteliers’ abilities to quickly move – and fail – then pivot, will help lead the way for our industry’s recovery.
  • Instead, what does come to mind is the brain power and wealth of tribal knowledge that hoteliers will need to leverage over the next few quarters and years to optimize revenue.
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  • The first step in getting your organization to wrap their heads around an agile distribution framework is getting buy in from leadership and owners. For any agile strategy to be successful, the organization must require patience and execution across all levels of the organization.
  • Your goal is to build distribution and channel strategies for profitability. Hoteliers should look at net revenue per available room (Net RevPAR) or gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) instead of RevPAR when making this analysis.
  • hoteliers should analyze the total cost of a direct booking by including costs of loyalty programs, website development and maintenance, marketing and social media campaigns, and call centers.
  • the who, where and when, but to truly optimize channels for profitability, you must get the “why”. The “why” offers insights on path-to-purchase behavioral data and conversion metrics, which allow customer segmentations for a profitable and deliberate distribution strategy.
  • hoteliers should look at the full contribution from each channel and prioritize channels that bring guests with the highest ancillary spend – think Total Revenue Management.
  • Hoteliers that stay agile and attentive on pulling the inventory levers within their distribution and channel strategies will lead the way (and lead with rate) to recovery.
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    This is an informative article, published by Sabre, on how to utilize certain technologies and stay agile during Covid-19 in the hotel business. It emphasizes how to keep and maintain a hotel during these trying times. Never stopping trying to improve and to keep an eye on all aspects of sale, occupancy, and position in the GDS. It's important to keep everything in the perspective of short and long term solutions.
cleon087

19 Event Trends You Need to Know for 2020 | Social Tables - 0 views

  • Planners should adjust budgets to a
  • nticipate higher rates, and book event space as early as possible.
  • This year’s mantra is “book now!” The longer you wait, the more you’ll pay. Or even worse, you won’t find a viable space for your event.
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  • Planners will try to book events further in advance. This leaves hotels and venues in a pickle: Taking early bookings could mean missing out on higher-value events later.To avoid missing out on revenue, hotels and venues need to segment business intelligently. That way, you can avoid the pitfalls of traditional lead-scoring biases that hurt RFP management.
  • In 2020, brands will invest in events as a marketing channel. In fact, in a recent event marketing survey, 52% of respondents said that event marketing drove more business value than other marketing channels. (Only 8% said it drove less business.)
  • Planners should create ample private meeting spaces and “collision spaces.” Some events do this by providing fewer chairs than attendees. With fewer empty seats, they’re encouraging movement and interaction.
  • Large, minimalist spaces with easily accessible bars are the perfect recipe for a networking event. Venues like this can use the networking angle to promote event space to corporate clients.
  • These attendees blend the worlds of business and leisure. It’s given rise to a new, multi-generational segment that drives destination decisions. (See: our Hotel Market Segmentation Guide for more on this.)
  • Attendees want more control over the event agenda. In fact, 96% of the Social Tables audience believe events are expected to be more personalized than ever.
  • While you don’t need to offer 11 choices for every hour, you can empower attendees to mold the event to meet their individual needs.
  • For proposals, try showcasing multiple event-specific variations. This adds value for the planner by helping them better meet their event objectives, while adding value for the hotel or venue as an upselling technique.
  • According to Billboard, there over 800 annual music festivals in the U.S. alone, and they attract 32 million attendees in total. 14 million of those attendees are (surprise, surprise) millennials.
  • At smaller levels, adding performances to the agenda can go a long way in engaging attendees. However, for larger events, creating a festival-like atmosphere requires access to a variety of spaces that are exclusive to one group.
  • A bigger focus on wellness could revolutionize F&B — replacing beef with the proverbial Brussels sprout.
  • 16. Sustainability will be center stage at events.
  • Sustainability initiatives are your chance to make a positive impact while painting your brand in an equally positive light.
  • Demand will continue to outpace supply
  • Industry Performance TrendsAttendee Experience TrendsMeeting Destination TrendsEvent Technology TrendsMeeting Design Trends
  • Meetings are growing and evolving rapidly, and each is an experiment in applying new methods to find a perfect formula.
  • be dynamic, you have to be flexible, and–above all–you have to be in tune with attendee desires.
    • cleon087
       
      This takes a special person and not everyone can so this.
  • Meetings are growing and evolving rapidly, and each is an experiment in applying new methods to find a perfect formula.
  • predicts 5-10% growth in demand. At the same time, the development pipeline is slowing.
  • It’s also the spontaneous conversations that come with serendipitous networking.
    • cleon087
       
      It's important to be connected because that is what sets you apart.
  • nticipate higher rates, and book event space as early as possible.
    • cleon087
       
      Rates constantly vary and it is important to be up to date and book ahead of time.
  • At the same time, face-to-face time takes a hit — making it a more treasured commodity in our modern world.
  • redict it’ll grow about 2.41% in North America. CWT expects an even higher hike of 3.7%.
  • Planners should create ample private meeting spaces and “collision spaces.” Some events do this by providing fewer chairs than attendees. With fewer empty seats, they’re encouraging movement and interaction.
    • cleon087
       
      I like this idea because it makes people talk to each other and not be seating all the time.
  • everage lobbies, rooftops, and other communal areas for networking events.
    • cleon087
       
      Depending on the type of the event, is what makes you decide what to highlight about the space or not.
  • For events — especially large-scale events — sustainable initiatives are now the expectation.
  • Fast, reliable WiFi will soon become the norm, opening up new engagement opportunities and nontraditional venues for events.
  • “I think many hoteliers will be unhappy with the significant investments they are making now into cabling that will become obsolete just as soon as 5G launches.”
  • Apps present an opportunity for personalization and engagement at each stage of the event lifecycle.
  • Hotels and venues are developing sophisticated apps that enhance the in-venue experience. Whether it’s Wembley Stadium’s virtual tour guide or Marriott’s sophisticated in-app chatbot functionality, branded apps are adding value in multiple ways:
  • Why? Well, take the speed of your current 4G LTE smartphone internet and multiply it by 1,000. (Think: putting the Millenium Falcon into hyperdrive.)
  • Because today, 86% of consumers expect companies to act on social and environmental issues — and they’re more than ready to vote with their dollars.
  • 0% of event planners reported that their jobs require more experience creation than just 2-5 years ago
  • Content:
  • Destination
  • Technology:
  • 90% of respondents stated that event security should still be a top priority for the industry.
  • That could mean avoiding coastal destinations during hurricane season or avoiding certain areas of the city to ensure safety outside of event hours.
  • . Event diagramming software can help in this regard by allowing venues and planners to collaborate on a single source of truth
  • Security is a significant value add and a key selling point in initial communications.
  • you’re providing any personnel, such as security, custodians, and administrators.
    • cleon087
       
      It is also important to put this in your contracts and to initially discuss it as well.
  • Have evacuation plan
  • reate a step-by-step safety checklist for execution during on-site setup, and another safety checklist for the day of the event.
  • Less is more when it comes to the material.
  • It’s a movement that stands in direct opposition to the gaudy ballrooms of old
  • ess furniture, fewer seats, smaller portions, less irrelevant decor… you get the picture. A
  • c, open floor plans that make minimalism a possibility.
  • lassic combinations of whites and greys
  • ewer seats means more mingling.
  • lutter-free to promote a clean, open feel that keeps the focus on content.
  • Hotels, however, may find themselves scrambling to reinvent their event spaces. It could be time to rethink these spaces — along with lobbies and other communal spaces that set the aesthetic tone for the hotel at large
  • Larger chains should look to boutique hotels, which create visual identities that are often more closely aligned with the appeal that nontraditional venues offer.
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    The article talks about major trends in tourism events, ranging from green initiatives through F&B to the 2nd largest reason people go to events is networking opportunities and providing quiet areas where people can network in is a good idea. More events are being planned so it is necessary to book event venues early.
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    According to the article, in 2020 event planners will have to be more alert and ready. The need for events and meetings is growing rapidly. Due to this, planners need to be more alert and ready to book group event spaces. It would be wise to increase rates to guarantee a profit out of it. Apart from this, planners would need to book months in advance to guarantee a good spot and a decent rate. Planners now need to be open to networking and face-to-face meetings to be able to get good rates, meet more clients, and find good venues to use. A new trend occurring is how people now want their trips or days to be planned out to every detail. Event planners need to be aware to book accordingly and create am agenda for their clients.
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    Like everything nowadays is evolving, also the meetings are evolving in order to stay trendy and appealing for consumers. Meetings are growing exponentially YOY at a rate of between 5-10% according to the prestigious CWT meetings and events company for 2020 (without counting coronavirus). The reality is that the meetings industry also needs to evolve in order to stay in business with the new trends, clientele and times. This list provides 19 trends that every event planner needs to consider to make their event a success, including but not limited to the new demographics in the world (millenials).
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    This article is about 19 event trends that event planners should be informed about. People are expecting different things from events that in the past years where not expected. Trends have changed, for example, it is a trend now to have minimalistic events instead of gaudy ones. Now people also expect creativity out of the event and to have a unique event. People also care about security of the event and fast WI-fi. All these trends are important to know and will continue changing with the years.
laurenperdomo

What Is Cybersecurity? - Cisco - 1 views

  • A successful cybersecurity approach has multiple layers of protection spread across the computers, networks, programs, or data that one intends to keep safe.
  • a cybersecurity attack can result in everything from identity theft, to extortion attempts, to the loss of important data like family photos.
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    This article talks about what cybersecurity is and shows you how a cyberattack can unfold. Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks. These cyberattacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information, extorting money from users, or interrupting normal business processes. Technology is essential to giving organizations and individuals the computer security tools needed to protect themselves from cyber-attacks. Three main entities must be protected: endpoint devices like computers, smart devices, and routers; networks; and the cloud. In today's connected world, everyone benefits from advanced cyber defense programs. At an individual level, a cybersecurity attack can result in everything from identity theft, to extortion attempts, to the loss of essential data like family photos. Everyone relies on critical infrastructures like power plants, hospitals, and financial service companies. Securing these and other organizations is vital to keeping our society functioning
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    This article explains what is cyber security and why it is essential. Not securing our important data can have negative outcomes such as loss of identity, financial damage, and potential lawsuits.
Rochelle Perez

Communication Agility is Key to MOHG's Ability to Continue to Deliver Superior Service ... - 0 views

  • araschiv: How is Mandarin Oriental using technology to assist you operationally during these unprecedented times? Luthje: From the onset of the pandemic, we as hotel operators had to ask ourselves two important questions: 'How do we keep guests and colleagues safe?' and 'How do we stop the spread of COVID-19? One avenue and tool that helps us achieve these goals is simply 'Digital Communications.' While many of our hotels remained open, some closed and teams were furloughed. We knew we needed to stay engaged with our furloughed colleagues to keep them updated on the company and re-opening plans, etc. Fortunately for everyone at Mandarin Oriental, we have been using the Beekeeper employee communication platform for more than five years. Through the app, colleagues can access an RSS feed from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to keep apprised of new guidelines and they can receive alerts from us showing the many layers of protection we are putting in place with our "We Care Program" to keep them and our guests safe.
  • Luthje: Because of our digital communication strategy, we don't have employees who want to cut corners on the new procedures; instead, they are more engaged and prouder to do their part in keeping everyone safe. Many offer ideas on how to improve processes. We attribute this success to Beekeeper; the platform really makes a difference in empowering our colleagues to deliver a delightful and genuine guest experience. We can explain in the app how colleagues can find the tools they need, and in return, they tell us what we can do to make processes better. Being agile is key.
  • Paraschiv: How is technology helping employees to do their jobs right the first time? Luthje: Beekeeper offers failsafe communication in how tasks need to be performed. If a colleague forgets how to do something, they can open the Beekeeper app and see what needs done. To go a step further, Beekeeper integrates to other technologies like LUA (formerly Whispr). LUA provides digital checklists in the user's own language to personalize the room cleaning experience. Housekeepers see step-by-step instructions on how to perform each task on the list. It also forces accountability by requiring housekeepers to confirm when tasks are complete. This tool is also a big help in public area cleaning. Management can use it to provide checklists for cleaning public restrooms. A rule can be set that every 20 minutes an attendant must refresh the space. If 25 minutes have passed and the bathroom attendant has not confirmed cleaning, management will get an alert.
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    An explanation how the Beekeeper platform has assisted a hotel group during COVID-19
anonymous

Ditching direct: It may be time to reconsider your GDS and OTA connections | PhocusWire - 1 views

  • Interactive television, the internet and the rise of online travel, suppliers push for direct business, direct connects, alternate accommodations, among other have all driven the market to predict the demise of the GDS.
  • can your direct connect handle the requirements of personalization?
  • he GDS deliver some of the most valuable customers for hotels; business travelers, who tend to spend more on premise and pay a higher average daily rate (ADR) than their leisure counterparts.
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  • As it turns, out the cost and effort of maintaining a direct connect to the GDS may have been more than hotels had bargained for.
  • Look-to-book ratios are skyrocketing
  • Travelers are said to visit 38 websites before making a choice, but a traveler coming to your brand.com likely know what they want and often make the booking right there because of brand loyalty or previous rate comparisons on 3rd party websites.
  • look-to-book ratios can exceed 25,000:1 on these indirect channels.
  • First, creating the infrastructure that can handle this traffic is not easy or cheap. Second, unless you have advanced cache functionality, all that traffic hit your CRS which can fail to meet the demand at peak traffic times.
  • Lost bookings and another hidden cost of your direct connect.
  • In 2017, GDS hotel reservations exceeded 68 million, a two million increase over the previous year,
  • the industry is still managing around amenity fields with character limitations where there’s just no room to fully describe that amenity, e.g., “GYM” vs. “Spacious recreation facility with state-of-the-art work out equipment.”
  • limitations mean that you need to be able to normalize and standardize the field values in order to successfully distribute.
  • it’s a labor-intensive and never-ending task without powerful and specialized software at your disposal.
  • never-ending task of monitoring and making sure your content is used as you intended it and is consistent across both GDS and other channels.
  • without consistency and the right change management processes, your personalization is likely to fail.
  • If you’re going to maintain a direct connect, knowing how it performs is critical to its success.
  • It is simply that, as always, the world evolves. With this evolution, we are seeing a renewed interest in technology provider approaches, as opposed to DIY. 
  • there are many drivers behind this:  the realization of the costs and complexity of connectivity, the growth in shopping volumes, the requirements of personalization and the data necessary to manage that, and the desire of hotels to focus on what they do best.
  • Interactive television, the internet and the rise of online travel, suppliers push for direct business, direct connects, alternate accommodations, among other have all driven the market to predict the demise of the GDS.Yet, the GDS remains, and bookings are growing.
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    GDS systems have been helping customers book hotel rooms, flights, and vacation packages for nearly two decades. This increases the convenience factor for the customer. Companies may be paying more to maintain a direct connection and may want to start reconsidering utilizing a GDS system. GDS systems do have limiting qualities such as character limitations within text fields, which can lead to unforeseen issues for companies looking to personalize filed values. Even though this issue may provide limitations for companies, the cost of maintaining connectivity, increased shopping volumes, and personalization issues are driving companies to ditch direct.
jchac014

3 Hotelier Spaces to Dominate, Keeping You Ahead of the Curve and Delighting Your Guest... - 1 views

  • If the hotel's offering is not competitive and is unable to evolve with customers' expectations, success is unlikely.
  • The hotel industry is worth $199.3 billion in the United States alone and has been around for thousands of years.
  • With the introduction of AI, the reception will soon be optimized, making guests' experiences more efficient and personalized to their individual preferences.
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  • tailor-made activities in the local area to be digitally presented before or during their stays. In turn, it will give them a greater sense of personalization, and potentially open up a new stream of advertising revenue for the hotel.
  • Modern technology will be able to complete tasks in their entirety, end to end, tapping into a digitally omniscient network of the hotel. By unifying these systems, hotels can manage more information, faster and with great clarity over profitability.
  • By allowing technology to perform the simple tasks, such as automatically entering a guest's information into the system, the duties of the employee at the front desk will shift to a more involved role.
  • Beyond loyalty, independent hotels across the globe will integrate into hospitality platforms, helping hotels amplify their overall digital experience.
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    This article highlights 3 ways hotels can dominate with technology. AI can optimize reception experience, making it more efficient. Modern technology is to be used to complete service tasks, managing information better. Hotels should also focus on amplifying digital presence.
sharline86

The Line Between Social Media and E-Commerce Is Beginning to Disappear - Fashionista - 0 views

  • With mobile shopping, peer-to-peer e-commerce and influencer marketing continually on the rise, social commerce is finally becoming the next wave of retail.
  • a new shopping feature that would allow users to shop and purchase items on the platform without leaving the app.
  • "Shopping will continue to be an investment for us, and we're excited to continue to listen to feedback from our community on how they want to better shop on Instagram,"
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  • One example that Napoli finds interesting is how retailers are teaming with influencers to co-create exclusive collections. (Think Something Navy's success with Nordstrom). "Those kinds of partnerships allow the influencer the ability to reach out to their following," says Napoli. "Not only is the influencer co-creating with the brand or retailer, but also really leveraging Instagram tools, which are polls and submitting feedback, to determine what to create next."
  • new apps are starting to pop up with social commerce at the core of their business.
  • Each brand or store on Countr, including Bloomingdale's, Outdoor Voices, Aritizia and hundreds more, is personalized with product recommendations based on the user's social activity.
  • "Starting Countr came from the realization that online shopping is still really inefficient and, more importantly, shopping is fundamentally a social experience,"
  • In January, Eric Senn launched Storr, another app in this space that essentially turns people into retailers. "We're really excited about the potential that Storr has to revolutionize traditional retail and capitalize on the social commerce movement in a way that empowers people to make money that would normally go to traditional retailers," says Senn.
  • "We're moving away from channel-first commerce to people-first commerce."
  • "Along the way, we lost the social experience that shopping can be, which so many people have enjoyed throughout the history of commerce."
  • "What Twitch did was it created not only a livestream experience, but a meaningful interaction through that livestream over a shared experience."
  • Creating a space that's a one-stop shop where people can have a community and share images of items they may be able to purchase back and forth with friends — there's a real ROI to that. That's the revolution here."
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    A look at what we can expect as social media begins to play a big factor in the growing future of e-commerce. By leveraging social media tools and focusing on a people-first commerce approach.
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    Facebook marketplace, instagram links, pinterest links, poshmark, etc..
anonymous

Tablets - T-Commerce: Innovative Guest-facing Applications | hospitalityupgrade.com - 0 views

  • The use of tablet computers in business, referred to as t-commerce, involves pad-like mobile units functioning as a product information kiosk, point of sale terminal, digital display, inventory monitoring device, Web access tool and a variety of related applications.
  • T-commerce components are capable of engaging, mobilizing and reconciling hospitality guest-facing transactions resulting in more techno-savvy industry practitioners and consumers.
  • For the hospitality industry, there have been many pioneering uses of tablet devices as industry operators were among the earliest adopters to recognize the design features leading to improved service and self-service applications as well as robust employee assistance capabilities and back office functionality.
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  • Such guest-facing applications as hotel room amenity menus, digital food and beverage presentation, detailed wine inventory navigation, and account settlement contributed to the rapid success of t-commerce applications. In addition, monitoring of guest requests and staff responses, goods and services promotions, recipe content and nutritional analysis, e-couponing, and back office flash reports have become part of the lodging and foodservice toolbox.
  • For the hospitality industry, the goal of t-commerce is to apply tablet devices in a way that technology complements service, not replaces it. Hotels, restaurants, bars and private member clubs have become better able to manage a variety of operations via tablet devices as the following sections delineate.
  • Guest-facing applications, which typically integrate directly to the hotel’s property management system (PMS) and/or property website, form the basis of a data warehouse of aggregated information ripe for data mining. Such factors as guest preferences, purchasing habits and service requests can be tracked and analyzed.
  • Sales Management For more than a year, hotel sales managers have been using t-commerce equipment, often in combination with cloud computing, to capture, process and record hotel bookings.
  • Order Entry A highly effective digital menu should provide the guest an ability to perform an item search by a variety of criteria (e.g. allergens, dietary restrictions or other factors). Once a menu item is identified, the guest should also be able to initiate order entry.
  • POS settlement is an important aspect of t-commerce as intuitive functionality and lead through programming can provide reconciliation while providing real-time report generation, at a fraction of the cost of a traditional fixed POS terminal system. In addition, a mobile POS device removes the need to allocate space and personnel to a dedicated cashier station.
  •  
    This article introduces the application of tablets in hotels, including Lodging Management, Restaurant management, Beverage Management, Club management, etc. This article also introduces the important role of tablets and T-Commerce as a PMS medium in hotels.
cleon087

10 Property Management Systems To Look At In 2019 | By Matt Pliszka - Hospitality Net - 0 views

  • With more than 65% of reservations made online, so many channels available to distribute your hotel services, and online aggregators, it's especially important to monitor and manage your hotel or resort's online presence.
  • Booking calendars
  • Displaying bookings in one place can save a hotelier a lot of trouble and effort.
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  • Channel integrations.
  • oftware Integration
  • Automation and analytics
  • Hospitality management software
  • BedBooking - best for calendar & mobile app
  • Cloudbeds - best for an advanced property management system
  • LiveChat - a software to chat with customers visiting your booking page Buffer - software to manage and schedule your social media postings MailChimp - a software to automate your email marketing campaigns Pipedrive - a CRM to handle sales of your hospitality business Slack - an obvious-choice tool to help you communicate with teammates at your hotel
  • Hostaway - best for booking websites
  • yieldPlanet - best for channel manager
  • Smoobu - best for dashboard view
  • Stardekk - best for restaurant module
  • Hotelfriend - best for built-in CRM
  • Avail - best for rentals & leases
  • Tenant Cloud - best for accounting
  • Guesty - best for messaging automation
  • vast amount of problem-solving features in one place,
    • cleon087
       
      It makes it so convenient to have something all in one place. Especially with what is happening now with Covid-19, it is important for employees to be able to login from home.
  • rooms' management, channel management, booking engine, payment processing & analytics.
    • cleon087
       
      This keeps it organized because you have all your things connected. You want it all to be on the same page because you do not want a room to be double booked.
  • a simple calendar app, letting you sync your calendar reservations from Booking.com & Airbnb, solving one of the most common hotelier's organizational problems which are visualizing your property's schedule in one place. It provides an outstanding calendar app which can help you manage everything on the go.
    • cleon087
       
      This is important because your GM can access this from their own phone and be constantly updated.
  • e software integrates with many different solutions, including Zapier, letting you set up automated workflows in your business.
    • cleon087
       
      This is crucial for people that manage more than one property or have to keep up with a large hotel. It makes it easier to solve issues because you have easy access to information.
  • Guesty will let you set up automated messages, depending on the timing or other triggers such as cancellation or changes to the reservation system.
    • cleon087
       
      This adds the hospitality to things, you want your guest to know that you care. This is sometimes difficult to message all your guest when you have a large hotel.
  • c between numerous distribution channels in one place.
  • ou dive deeply into the competitiveness of your pricing of
    • cleon087
       
      This helps in setting the prices depending on the month and the day and on facts.
  • l your reservations available at a glance by using a single cockpit/dashboard
  • oftware solutions provided by Stardekk, you will also find a restaurant module, letting you manage a restaurant within your hospitality business.
    • cleon087
       
      This is great for establishments like an hotel that also has their own restaurant inside.
  • Hotelfriend offers an all-in-one hotel management solution with the focus on letting your sales team send and manage personalized offers for your hotel services
    • cleon087
       
      This is a nice feature because you can target people like businesses and large groups that need a special deal.
  • it's free to use in its basic version.
  • Something you should definitely be looking at if you're a smaller property management business, not able to set up a more advanced custom website
    • cleon087
       
      I like this because it is a program that makes it easy for family owned hotels or small hotels that need help.
  • Using the best technology out there will never mean you will suddenly turn your business into a successful one.
    • cleon087
       
      I really like the point that was made here.
  • Use the right property management system
    • cleon087
       
      I also like this point because it is important to find the fit for your business and guest.
  • LiveChat - a software to chat with customers visiting your booking page Buffer - software to manage and schedule your social media postings MailChimp - a software to automate your email marketing campaigns Pipedrive - a CRM to handle sales of your hospitality business Slack - an obvious-choice tool to help you communicate with teammates at your hotel
    • cleon087
       
      This makes it easy to reach your guest and maybe answer questions that will determine whether they stay at your hotel or not.
  •  
    A rather new article set up as a guide to help anyone in the hospitality industry regardless if they are in lodging, hotels, restaurants, etc. this article describes different property management systems that facilitate everyday service. Throughout this article the different systems express their main usage and recommendations on how to remain more organized are addressed. Mainly, this article shows how to properly " operate a variety on online tasks," while remaining organized and doing it the most convenient way possible.
  •  
    This article is about different PMS, and what they can offer for your company. It includes features that would be good for a property that is large all the way to one that is small. It mentions different PMS that can send automated but personal messages to your guest. This article highlights the importance of picking the right PMS for your company because it all depends on the culture and guest that you have.
shannaton

Hotel Property Management Systems: A New Beginning - 0 views

  • A new beginning starts with throwing out our preconceptions of what matters most and what a hotelier needs to be successful in the current highly competitive environment. The main challenges that hoteliers face need to be addressed, and today, one of the leading challenge
  • is delivering a memorable guest experience that is tailored to the unique needs/wants of each individual guest
  •  As a hotelier, you need a system that pushes you to stay current and remain flexible enough to implement any number of new systems at any given moment to meet your goals.
  •  
    This articles outlines the needs of of keeping up with current technology. PMS has been around for a very long time, but it has'nt evolved very much over time. Hotels are no longer constrained by their technology they are now unrestricted and free to do whatever they want to do.
augu010

ROLE IMPACT AND IMPORTANCE OF MIS - 4 views

  • The role of the MIS in an organization can be compared to the role of heart in the body. The information is the blood and MIS is the heart.
  • The system ensures that an appropriate data is collected from the various sources, processed and send further to all the needy destinations. The system is expected to fulfill the information needs of an individual, a group of individuals, the management functionaries: the managers and top management.
  • The MIS helps in strategic planning, management control, operational control and transaction processing.
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  • providing the operational data for planning, scheduling and control , and helps them further in decision-making at the operation level to correct an out of control situation.
  • Disciplined information reporting system creates structure database and a knowledge base for all the people in the organization. The information is available in such a form that it can be used straight away by blending and analysis, saving the manager’s valuable time.
  • plays a vital role in the management, administration and operation of an organization.
  • marketing, finance, production and personnel becomes more efficient.
  • helps the middle management in short term planning, target setting and controlling the business functions.
  • It helps indirectly to pull the entire organization in one direction towards the corporate goals and objectives by providing the relevant information to the organization.
  • It will be observed that lot of manpower is engaged in this activity in the organization. Seventy (70) percent of the time is spent in recording, searching, processing and communicating.
  • information is doubling up every two or three years
  • a manager has to process a large voluminous data; failing which he may end up taking a strong decision that may prove to be very costly to the company.
  • today MIS is considered to be of permanent importance, sometimes regarded as the name centre of an organization
  • It has been well understood that MIS enables even small organizations to more than offset the economies of scale enjoyed by their bigger competitors and thus helps in providing a competitive edge over other organizations.
  •  
    This is a great article which breaks down the MIS and their role. The MIS is an important factor to help build a productive business. Companies should take into consideration the hiring of a MIS personnel.
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  •  
    What a perfect analogy - the MIS can be compared to the role of the heart in the body. While large corporations are able to afford this, what I would consider a luxury in my world, I think most Executives or Directors find themselves playing this role without the desire to, or the recognition - and of course not to the level a MIS can produce/process I am sure. The MIS holds so much weight, it really could make or break your fiscal year should the wrong decision be made. This article is great at summing up such an important and not really spoken about position.
  •  
    Thank you for the great read. I enjoy how the article compares the MIS function to the heart in the body. With this direct comparison, we see how important MIS is to an organization. These systems ensure that data is properly collected and stored to be made available to any manager or executive level employee.
  •  
    Agreeably, MIS is the heart to any successful business in today's era. MIS impact productivity and performance. Processing/filtering information which is transmitted into and out of one's business is key for reducing security breach.
jamigovaerts

How Mobile Technology Elevates Hotel Communication and Operations - 1 views

  • Despite the proliferation and availability of mobile technology, many hotel operations continue to rely on outdated methods of team communication. Together, panelists shared ways to improve guest experience in hotels through enhancing operations and employee experience – and that mobile team communication is the definitive catalyst for best delivering on these goals.
  • - Immediate notifications. No more printed out, or pen and paper announcements. - Housekeeping can turn rooms over more quickly. Most guests simply leave in the morning without staff contact. There’s no way of knowing when the room is ready to be cleaned. With faster occupancy updates, the room conversion process is made more efficient. - Improved access of guest information. Real-time, mobile team communication means better personalization of guest experience and management of expectations.
  • There are many lost opportunities in the hospitality industry when it comes to the connection between hotel guests and employees, but investing in employee communication with a mobile team communication appprovides the following benefits. 1. Allows for consistent, daily information sharing across shifts and hotel team 2. Creates a highly-visible platform to illuminate best practices 3. Facilitates recognition of hotel workforce high achievers
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • "The experience at a property makes or breaks a guest’s stay. That experience is dependent on the human interactions with your staff as soon they walk in the door of your hotel. If you set your employees up for success, so that they are happy, engaged, and loyal to your hotel, you stand a much better chance of delighting a guest."
  • Targeted emails, accessible via their mobile device, can then be sent out that offer a customized menu of activities and upgrades at your hotel according to their preferences. Mobile hotel communication systems also give your hotel a distinct brand advantage; consumers view mobile-savvy companies and technologies more favorably.
  • How Mobile Technology Elevates Hotel Communication and Operations
    • jamigovaerts
       
      Module 2 Article: With an emphasis on telecommunications, it is only fitting to focus on mobile communication as referenced in this article. As referenced, this article describes the main advantages to mobile telecommunications between guests and staff. By using immediate notifications through text or email it eliminates the carbon foot print of paper, as well as keeps guests more informed on the hotels offerings. In regards to the staff, the housekeeping team is able to turn over rooms quicker as the technology alerts the staff the guest has left. In addition, these items allow for higher guest satisfaction as the information being collected and shared is consistent among all guest and staff view platforms.
mserr078

Hotel Software: The Most Important Software Solutions for Hotels - 4 views

  • Hotel software allows hotel owners or managers to streamline their administrative tasks while cutting costs and increasing bookings at the same time.
    • nicoleastete
       
      Hotel Software is a multi-use software that can be used by administration, employees, and also other staff. There is a variety of different software that can be used based on the capacity and need of a hotel for day-to-day operations.
    • nicoleastete
       
      Hotel Software is a multi-use software that can be used by administration, employees, and also other staff. There is a variety of different software that can be used based on the capacity and need of a hotel for day-to-day operations.
  • If the current software you are using for your hotel is out of date, it may be holding your business back and stop you from gaining productivity.
    • nicoleastete
       
      Innovation in the Hospitality industry is something that is continuously changing. Technological advances in software/hardware play a big role in how efficient a hotel can be run. Bookkeeping and administration for big hotel chains are managed through their software "cloud based".
    • nicoleastete
       
      Innovation in the Hospitality industry is something that is continuously changing. Technological advances in software/hardware play a big role in how efficient a hotel can be run. Bookkeeping and administration for big hotel chains are managed through their software "cloud based".
  • This software allows the hotel owners to process e-payment collection and manage room inventory for accurate allocation. This last feature prevents over-bookings or even duplicate reservations. It is also possible to use a PMS system to send confirmation emails to customers after they make a booking
    • nicoleastete
       
      This Feature of the PMS software is very important as it allows hotel owners to manage room inventory and booking/reservations. This allows the inventory management of rooms and the availability that sync online with customer request based on what is available for booking in realtime.
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  • The purpose of an RMS software is to improve pricing strategies in order to sell more rooms at optimal rates. Since the hotel industry is highly dynamic, it is crucial to use a revenue management system. Some of the main advantages of this hotel software include strategic pricing and higher revenue, but there are many more benefits that hotels can make use of.
    • nicoleastete
       
      Having an RMS system is crucial in the hotelier industry. A RMS software allows you to play with strategic pricing and room value depending on room occupancy, room cost and seasons. Revenue Management system ensure a success of revenue based on capacity.
  • A channel manager helps avoid overbooking and prevent other costly mistakes since it has the ability to report booking sources. The hotel owner can then determine which online channels or portals are the best fit for their niche market.
  • Reputation and review management software is designed to track online users’ feedback on services and products. It is a system that helps spread the customer’s positive reviews through the relevant online platforms.
    • nicoleastete
       
      A Reputation review management software is highly used in the hospitality industry overall. It's super essential to track online user's/ guests feedback based on experience, service and products. Building a reputation online is important for branding and allow you to have more online exposure and foot traffic coming in.
  • As different technologies in the hospitality industry are constantly evolving, it becomes almost obligatory to choose the right hotel software for improving service and making the process to run smoother. W
  • Hotel software allows hotel owners or managers to streamline their administrative tasks while cutting costs and increasing bookings at the same time.
  • PMS is a system that facilitates the booking management and admin tasks of a hotel. A property management system doesn’t just automate operations across the various departments in the hotel.
  • It has now developed into a platform that helps hotels gain more visibility and enables them to reach out to audience in order to increase bookings
  • RMS lowers costs as it takes into account the room rates during the low and high season. As a result, the hotel manager can plan in advance and lower costs by avoiding unnecessary expenses.
  • This hotel software has the benefit of simple graphics and easy-to-use reporting tools that help hotel owners optimise room rates in line with demand.
  •  
    Overall, the hospitality industry has seen tremendous growth over the year. However, utilizing these new software systems and their easy updating features can benefit these hotel properties in a major effective way. These features allows staff members to monitor, easily adjust and plan lower costs, and monitor social media marketing for future hoteliers.
  •  
    When I was looking through the news, I knew that hotel software would have positive influences based on costs. They are enhanced with developed tools. I like the view that hotel software would take more trends within account retrieving and customers opinions. I think no matter what happened hotel software should be valid for hotel owners to hire. It is innovative. Furthermore, I would make assumptions about estimated future processing. It should be risk free to keep an example while hazardous events happened. It probably costs more like hurricane is running thorough for a hotel. Whether should they run a PMS and RMS are good reasons to concerning about more clients. Whether the chopsticks could be electronic one to apply for a utensil is a wondering. The conclusion I think is a must that I like the article about hotel software.
damanigoode

Environmental Sustainability in the Hospitality Industry: Best Practices, Guest Partici... - 0 views

  • To learn about guest participation and satisfaction in sustainability programs for over 89 hotel brands, we draw from a broad survey of 120,000 customers in the J.D.Power database over a period of five years, 2006 through 2010.
  • Hotel operators are well aware of the potential ben-efits of sustainability, and many of them publicly promote resource conservation.
  • Guest satisfaction with hotels’ sustainability programs is seen as essential for their success
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • Based on these surveys, the most effective and widely used environmentally sustainable best practice among resorts is towel and linen reuse programs.
  • Offering sustainable programs does increase guest satisfac-tion, but the effects are modest, as shown in Exhibit 7, which shows the statistical effects by segment and overall.
  • Although studies from the general sustainability and marketing literature suggest that consumers do value envi-ronmentally sustainable products (although with limits), we believe that the relationship between hotel’s environmental sustainability-related initiatives and customer satisfac-tion measures reported by hotel guests remains uncertain.
  • Although hotels’ sustainability efforts are essential for saving energy and resources, a key element of any green program is guests’ reaction and participation.
  • The traditional drivers of satisfaction (room, facilities, and food and beverage quality) still overwhelm the effects of green operations. That said, green programs do not diminish guest satisfaction, so hotels may consider their cost-benefit analysis, potential for improved employee relations, and reduced risk in addition to “green” satisfaction to determine whether these investments are beneficial.
  • The LEED certification system’s new v4 scorecard is specifically designed for the hospitality industry and is intended to create incentives for new lodging construc-tion that meets sustainability criteria.
  • It has also been found that water-saving notices in bathrooms that encourage custom-ers to regulate their water use are effective.
  •  
    This article shares results from an environmental sustainability study of 100 US resorts and a separate survey of 120,000 hotel guests. It discusses a variety of sustainability initiatives such as water and energy conservation, recycling and waste reduction, LEED construction, and guest engagement. While guest engagement was significant, indicating 75% of guests surveyed actually participated in sustainability initiatives during their stay, the effect on guest satisfaction is modest at best. At best, only 0.6% of guests selected specific properties based on environmental sustainability. Guest participation in sustainability efforts were highest at extended stay locations, followed by luxury and upscale properties, with economy properties placing last. The most effective and commonly used aspect of sustainability efforts was towel and linen reuse, showing up in 91% of the survey responses. Overall, while the traditional drivers of guest satisfaction remain consistent across brands and property types (room, facilities, food and beverage quality), sustainability programs do not lower guest satisfaction, but are increasingly becoming a standard expectation of both guests and employees, and have significant cost-savings potential when implemented and managed effectively.
cleon087

Three Ways to Overcome Hotel Accounting Challenges - 3 views

  • Adopting a cloud-based reporting system can offer seamless labor monitoring and management from clock-in to paycheck while giving hoteliers on-demand management of earnings to manage transactions in real time.
  • Adopting an operations management platform that allows hoteliers to import data into one centralized dashboard combines critical accounting and performance data to aid hoteliers in identifying trends and making more informed decisions.
  • . The global travel industry shows no signs of slowing down any time soon, so hotels must incorporate cutting-edge technology to streamline operations, optimize labor management, and access critical data while preparing for the next unexpected event.
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  • Whether the needs are short-term or necessitate a longer plan, hotel-specific accountants can scale on demand to offer the needed expertise and ramp up quickly.
  • oteliers are turning to robust accounting tools and hotel-specific accounting partners to balance these challenges. Below are three ways that smart accounting solutions can address unique needs of hotels.
  • Most hoteliers have access to an array of data sets, including STR reports, PMS data, guest satisfaction surveys, comments, and financial data from multiple properties.
  • Managing payroll is a constant challenge, so it’s critical for hoteliers to have a way to monitor daily labor costs, manage overtime, oversee daily payroll transactions, and have access to simple reporting functions
  • Hotels live or die on the ebb and flow of fluctuations in their business. In-house accounting teams are regularly affected by a variety of foreseeable events such as seasonality, portfolio turn-over, and one-time events, but also unexpected events such natural disasters.
  • fastest growing sectors in the world
  • to threats from multiple fronts
  • ncreased importance on price, quality, and the level of services
    • cleon087
       
      They're looking for more value for their buck and being more critical.
  • can help increase revenue, minimize costs, and maximize profits without affecting service quality.
  • . One hotel can have part-time, full-time, and tipped employees
    • cleon087
       
      This is what makes our business so unique. Every employee, even IT should be prepared for interacting with a guest.
  • Hoteliers may have a difficult time deciphering what story the data is telling and which levers to pull to remedy an issue or to replicate success.
    • cleon087
       
      Sometimes too much data can also be a negative thing. You want to focus on the numbers that are crucial.
  • Adopting an operations management platform that allows hoteliers to import data into one centralized dashboard combines critical accounting and performance data to aid hoteliers in identifying trends and making more informed decisions.
    • cleon087
       
      Receiving the information in one place can really impact the business for the better in order to make better decisions.
  •  
    This article jumps into some challenges facing the hotel industry with respects to accounting. It touches on various topics we have gone through as a course, and ends with an emphasis on technology.
  • ...6 more comments...
  •  
    Thank you for sharing. I found it a good read as it gives a brief description on some of the different platforms that are out there.
  •  
    The article goes into detail about ways to overcome accounting challenges in the hotel industry, ranging from Cloud based programs to report labor, to having back-up accounting teams as workloads can increase due to seasonality and holiday stays.
  •  
    Due to the changes in the industry the accounting branch of hospitality has had to encounter several changes. They are turning to robust accounting tools and hotel-specific accounting partners in order to figure out all aspects. Accounting information is now mostly online and all digital therefore changes need to be made since the common way of keeping records was papers.
  •  
    Hospitality businesses are becoming more and more profit-focused and guests are thinking that higher prices mean higher level of service. This simply isnt so. Perhaps not all hotels have the same amenities and activities, however, all hotels and resorts should have more or less the same exemplary service so that prices become less of an issue in the future.
  •  
    This article is about the hospitality businesses are becoming more cost- and profit-conscious and guests are placing increased importance on price, quality, and the level of services they receive. These unique challenges require hotels to be nimble, educated, and equipped with the latest technology to streamline processes and drive financial performance. Owners rely more and more on financial benchmarking data to ensure they are getting the most out of each asset and each management contract. Hoteliers are turning to robust accounting tools and hotel-specific accounting partners to balance these challenges.
  •  
    Accounting for hotel properties is the backbone that holds the property to its up filling standard in the hospitality industry. These departments are often faced with major setbacks on a daily bases that require special attention, whether its to balance book, handle unexpected turn overs and natural disasters. However due to many technology advances many properties are installing software that easily and better assists the accounting department from constant overwhelming situations. Systems that allow other department to help with monitoring overtime, payroll and transactions.
  •  
    This article talks about the need for hoteliers to be up to date with technology. By having systems that have all the data in one place, helps owners make better decisions. Also having an accounting system that helps with making decisions and offer the proper tools is imperative. When it comes to accounting it is important to be prepared for the worst case scenario.
  •  
    Although I'm not a 100 percent fan on the cloud base systems, technology is ever changing and i somewhat believe that we should keep up with it providing that it is in out best benefit personally or from a business security point of view. We see how this article reveal to us challenges and how technology helps alleviate some of them.
shannaton

4 hotel accounting challenges and solutions | Hotel Management - 0 views

  • Adopting solutions that are developed by hoteliers exclusively for hoteliers gives users a critical leg up over their competition
  • From the front desk and housekeeping to security and management staff, it seems like hotels have infinite types of employees
  • “Adopting a solution that incorporates job standards, in addition to budget numbers, allows operators to ensure that proper staffing is in place based on the previous night’s stay and circumstances,
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  • With the industry constantly claiming it must have data, the challenge then becomes how to best decipher that data to determine the story being told and then how to read the story to best react.
  • Managing the challenges of finances and accounting is no exception here, he said. While Watson said outsourcing isn’t for everyone, it can be an efficient and cost-effective solution for some
  • management companies work for multiple ownership groups that often have a variety of differing expectations and timelines
  • The solution: Partner up,
  • As a result, through month-to-month subscriptions, all hoteliers, from single-location owner operators to large-scale portfolio-management companies, can leverage best-of-breed accounting and financial technology at a fraction of the cost of ownership
  • It is critical for hoteliers to establish a balance between monitoring daily labor costs, managing overtime, overseeing daily payroll transactions and accessing simple reporting functions
  •  
    This article describes the challenges that hoteliers face when it comes to accounting principles. There are four major issues that arise: Enterprise Resource Planning, Staff Variations, Data Overload, and Core Challenges. Choosing the proper system to manage your finances is an important issue when dealing hotel accounting. Taking into consideration your varying staff levels into the financial arena is also important. In addition you must choose what data is important to your financial success. Once you determine the data to use its very important on what you do with it. Its important to have someone on staff that will understand how to interpret the information and make it useful. If no one is on staff then the choice to outsource the task will be the next option.
  • ...3 more comments...
  •  
    The first challenge is Enterprise Resource Planning - Following through with solutions specifically for hoteliers made by a hotelier is the most effective. The second challenge is Staff Variations - Cloud-based tools will be a hoteliers best friend in managing earnings and transactions. The third challenge is Data Overload - When there's just too much data, hoteliers have to find a way to have an analytics tool that will show where improvement is needed. The fourth challenge is Core Challenges - To focus on core challenges, although this may not work for everyone, outsourcing can be a good way to save on costs and it's an efficient method.
  •  
    It's no secret that hotel finances and accounting can be complex and come with their own unique sets of challenges. And those challenges often arrive during times when hoteliers are already stretched thin in terms of time and resources.
  •  
    This article explains the 4 types of challenges within Hotel accounting. It briefly describes each item with their pros and possible or actual challenges that may be presented. It gives the reader a more balanced idea as to what that option is capable, in addition to its limitations. Some solutions may work for certain types of hotels, while other options are simply not viable, or within the best interest of the company. Accounting options will have some sort of customization, depending on the property, it's the size and whether or not is a branded location.
  •  
    Every hotel company would like to build their own enterprise back-office system. It is more cost effective solution would be to partner up and invest in hotel sector specific technologies. With needs to staff variations real-time monitoring of labor is essentially in reducing labor cost. Another cost-effective and efficient solution is to outsource any finances and accounting practices that the hoteliers can't perform themselves
  •  
    Its no secret that a hospitality companies financies and accounting tools can be complex with there own unique challenges. Cloud based reporting tools are there to help manage and monitor transactions in real time through an array of data sets.
marble_bird

Roche2016_Article_RecreationalDivingImpactsOnCor.pdf - 0 views

shared by marble_bird on 07 Jul 20 - No Cached
  • Recreational diving on coral reefs is an activity that has experienced rapidly growing levels of popularity and participation.
  • the potential role of dive impacts in contributing to coral reef damage is a concern at heavily dived locations. Management measures to address this issue increasingly include the introduction of programmes designed to encourage environmentally responsible practices within the dive industry.
  • Coral reefs are a threatened, but globally important ecosystem, providing key services to local communities such as coastal defence, sediment production, and fisheries benefits
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  • The role of dive supervision was assessed by recording dive guide interventions underwater, and how this was affected by dive group size.
  • Over recent decades, tourism activities benefiting from the pleasing aesthetics and biodiversity of coral reefs, primarily SCUBA diving and snorkelling, have experienced rapidly increasing numbers of participants globally
  • We found evidence that the ability of dive guides to intervene and correct diver behaviour in the event of a reef contact decreases with larger diver group sizes. Divers from operators with high levels of compliance with the Green Fins programme exhibited significantly lower reef contact rates than those from dive operators with low levels of compliance.
  • Damage to corals on dived reefs often occurs as a result of skeletal breakage, particularly in branching species (Guzner et al. 2010;H a s l e ra n dO t t 2008). Tissue abrasion can also result from diver contact (Hawkins et al. 1999), and a recent study reported a higher incidence of coral disease in areas heavily used for recreational diving
  • It is possible that other diver characteristics such as qualification level or dive experience may affect the ability to respond to dive briefings, although several studies have failed to find a correlation between divers’ reef contact rates and experience
  • Due to the difficulties of effectively addressing global stressors, an emerging recommendation is the focus of coral reef management on local scales (e.g. Anthony et al. 2014). A frequent challenge facing managers and policy makers at local levels relates to the maximisation of tourism benefits whilst simultaneously reducing its environmental impacts
  • Alternatively, previous experience and possible affinity and attachment to a specific dive site may influence how closely divers follow pre-dive briefings and affect their behaviour underwater, as suggested by place attachment theory
  • The methodologies which have been developed to minimise the environmental impact of SCUBA diving on coral reefs can be summarised as follows: (1) managing or restricting diver numbers, (2) regulating the locations in which SCUBA diving activities occur, (3) regulating the types of equipment used, and 4) implementing programmes which seek to manage the methods used by the dive industry in providing their services. Restricting diver numbers is based on the concept of a reef dive site’s ‘carrying capacity’; a level beyond which diving impacts become readily apparent.
  • Restriction of SCUBA diving equipment has focused on banning the use of accessories believed to increase reef contacts within marine protected areas such as gloves, muck sticks, or underwater cameras; however, such regulations are often unpopular within the SCUBA diving community
  • Governments and reef managers seek evidence that the effort expended in implementing programmes translates into measurable benefits; however, research into the effectiveness of such programmes at influencing diver behaviour and reducing diving impacts is limited.
  • In this study, we focused on dive operators participating in the Green Fins diving programme at three major dive locations within the Philippines.
  • Nonetheless, levels of dive supervision underwater would intuitively appear to be linked to rates of reef contact, and when examined, the willingness of dive guides to intervene in correcting diver behaviour underwater has been found to significantly reduce diver contact rates
  • Malapascua Island, Moalboal, and Puerto Galera.
  • divers may have been aware that a Green Fins compliance assessment was taking place, but they were unaware that diver contacts with the reef were being specifically recorded. Green Fins environmental assessments and diver observations were conducted simultaneously.
  • Dive guides and guest divers from 44 dive operators participating in the Green Fins programme were followed
  • Diver characteristics with potential to influence underwater behaviour were categorised as the following factors: diver qualification level (three levels), dive experience (five levels), and previous number of dives at site (three levels).
  • Divers were assigned a unique diver number, and then followed and observed underwater for the entire duration of their dive.
  • If the overall group was very large such that the dive guide could not be seen from the rear of the group, the pair immediately behind the dive guide was selected.
  • Compliance with the Green Fins approach was determined by utilising diver contact rates and dive guide intervention rates as at the dependent variables of interest, and by defining dive operators according to those who had received a high score (above the median score) versus those with a low score (below the median score) on the most recent conducted Green Fins assessment
  • The part of the body or item of equipment making contact with the reef was recorded as follows: hand, fin, knee, camera, muck stick (a handheld stainless steel or aluminium rod approximately 30 cm in length) and equipment (e.g. tank, submersible pressure gauges, octopus regulator), and multiple (parts of the body and equipment simultaneously). The time during the dive at which the contact occurred was also recorded.
  • If observable damage (i.e. breakage, obvious physical damage, or injury) occurred as a result of the contact this was recorded, together with the apparent awareness of the diver to the contact, regardless of damage caused.
  • Interventions were defined as an event in which the dive guide intervened in diver behaviour through signalling or demonstrating correct behaviour in order to minimise or prevent contact with the reef.
  • A total of 100 SCUBA divers were observed at three diving locations within the Philippines (Table 1). The majority (72 %) of these divers were male, and diving experience ranged from those completing diving training to those who were instructors elsewhere with experience of hundreds of dives.
  • Following dive completion, divers that had been observed underwater were asked to complete a survey to determine diver characteristics.
  • Most contacts were made with fins (45.5 %, n = 261); however, hands (19.5 %, n = 112) and dive equipment (15.9 %, n = 91) were also major contributors to the total number of contacts
  • Contacts made with a camera (77.7 %) accounted for the highest proportion of contacts which resulted in damage, followed by contacts made with the knee (43.3 %), multiple body and equipment parts (38.2 %), equipment (30.7 %), fins (29.8 %), hands (24.7 %), and muck sticks (23.5 %).
  • A total of 81 interventions were observed (in comparison to 573 reef contacts—see Fig. 4 for the distribution of contacts and interventions);
  • Camera systems were carried by 55 % of divers; camera-wielding divers accounted for 52.7 % of the total contacts made with the reef. Of divers who utilised a camera, 35 % carried a non-specialist compact type and 20 % carried an SLR type within a specialist underwater housing.
  • Mean (±SE) dive time was 49.3 ± 0.42 min. A total of 573 diver contacts with the reef were recorded during all assessed dives.
  • The difference in the frequency of interventions was statistically significant (ANOVA, f = 4.81, P = 0.03)
  • although a significant portion (36 %) appeared unaware of the contact they made with the reef.
  • In addition to overall contact levels, some studies have also quantified reef contacts either as the mean number of contacts per diver over the duration of a dive or the diver contact rate per minute of dive time. The mean contact rates of 5.7 contacts per dive, or 0.12 contacts per min, which we observed at dive sites in the Philippines are lower than those previously reported
  • All divers observed within the present study were diving with operators participating to various degrees in the Green Fins environmentally responsible diving programme.
  • Identifying factors and policy measures which influence SCUBA diver behaviour underwater can help coral reef managers determine where to most effectively focus effort and funding with respect to dive management. In this study, we found that 88 % of the divers observed made at least one contact with the reef at some point
  • Divers who are more conservation aware and who contact the reef less may preferentially choose to dive with environmentally ‘accredited’ dive operators; indeed, this assumption partially drives dive operator participation in such programmes.
  • Underwater interventions by dive guides have been suggested to be the most successful deterrent to diver contact with reefs (Barker and Roberts 2004). In this study, there was no significant difference in the intervention rates between dive centres of high and low Green Fins compliance. Therefore, we cannot attribute the observed difference in diver reef contact rates to differences in intervention rates between these two groups.
  • Studies examining the effect of carrying camera equipment on the frequency of diver contacts with the reef have produced conflicting results.
  • Additionally, the administration of a pre-dive briefing can influence diver contact rates underwater (Medio et al. 1997). The Green Fins programme incorporates the use of a pre-dive briefing that emphasises the importance of refraining from contacting the reef, which would be expected to result in lower diver contact rates.
  • A concern amongst representatives of the diving industry is the use of muck sticks to manipulate animals unnecessarily—pushing animals out of holes for better viewing, stressing animals to show customers their stress behaviour (e.g. an octopus changing colour), and physically breaking hard coral to be used in photographs.
  • When examining the part of the body or dive equipment which made contact with the reef, we found that the majority of contacts were made with fins, in agreement with Krieger and Chadwick (2013) and Rouphael and Inglis (1998).
  • It has previously been noted that dive guides customarily perform different roles at dive locations globally; at some locations, they act primarily to lead the dive group around the reef, whilst at others, pairing with and closely supervising individual divers throughout the course of a dive
  • this suggests that dive guides carry out the closest supervision during the initial phase of the dive and then switch to a ‘dive leader’ role at the front of a dive group.
  • This study provides evidence that the effective implementation of environmentally responsible practices, via programmes designed to reduce diving impacts, may translate to reduced diver reef contacts.
  • Many diver characteristics which might intuitively be expected to impact reef contact rates, such as level of qualification and overall experience, were not significant influencing factors in this study, and high versus low levels of Green Fins compliance did not influence the number of interventions made by dive guides underwater.
  • For continued economic benefit and conservation of Philippine reef dive locations, we recommend that management measures facilitate high levels of compliance with environmentally responsible diving programmes to reduce the impact of diving on coral reefs.
  •  
    This article discusses a study performed at various diving locations in the Philippines to determine whether or not measures taken by Green Fin diving guides were effective in reducing contact with coral reef systems. The study also recorded the average number of contacts with the reef during a dive, as well as the equipment or body part which came into contact with the reef most often, and which actions resulted in the most damage. The study finds that adherence to Green Fin standards or other policies may significantly impact diver behaviors and reduce the level of contact with sensitive coral reefs during SCUBA dives.
anonymous

E-Business: The New Management Challenge - A Peer-Reviewed Academic Articles | GBR - 2 views

  • The Internet is turning business upside down and inside out.
  • This article will examine the roots of this e-business movement and the key challenges it creates for managers who must move rapidly to adapt to the new competitive forces of the network era.
  • Fed-Ex was an early mover in implementing this concept when it initiated the service that allowed customers to track their packages on the Web.
  • ...23 more annotations...
  • E-business is an evolutionary step in the convergence of the business process redesign movement
  • By linking retail data directly to the manufacturing site
  • lowering inventory costs and eliminating the risk of stale products on the retailers’ shelves.
  • The Web now provides a new channel of distribution that allows producers who formerly had to go through retailers to reach the end user directly.
  • new online stores have, in turn, increased demand and the number of users, putting pressure on traditional retailers to create an e-commerce presence as well.
  • Management Issues
  • Developing a corporate climate for adapting to the network era.Understanding customer expectations.Analyzing the firm’s ability to manage information technology.Recognizing the time frame in which these changes must be made
  • “anytime, anywhere;”
    • anonymous
       
      Tis is defiantly the mentality of people raised around technology. If I can't get what I want , when I want, then I DO NOT WANT IT.
  • new pragmatic issues to address
  • Providing security for the customer is crucial,
  • Fraud is higher in cyberspace than in traditional retail and harder to detect.
  • the Net is giving rise to numerous “infomediaries” – some of whom play the role of “information broker” or “market maker” and others who perform information-handling tasks.
  • eWallet acts as an information-handler by providing online purchasers a way to automatically provide their information to any vendor.
  • almost all E-business success stories are characterized by new ventures whose founders recognized the vulnerability of going concerns that were not adapting to these opportunities.
  • E-commerce continues to expand consumer choice by providing the tools for them to switch suppliers instantaneously, including the ability to quickly and easily make price comparisons.
  • Web technology is characterized by rapid breakthroughs in software and hardware.
  • application solution providers (ASPs) who offer an opportunity for firms to outsource their IT management.
  • benefits include the option of developing a number of applications concurrently instead of being limited to in-house resources
  • experience with Internet initiatives has been the urgency to develop and implement competitive Web strategies.
  • Similarly, Barnes and Noble took a “wait and see attitude” toward Amazon and now finds itself having great difficulty in increasing its market share of Web sales.
  • the cost barrier to entry in the web market is virtually zero
  • small new companies do not have a formal infrastructure through which strategic ideas get squandered.
  • The management task is to leverage these opportunities quickly to sustain or enhance competitive advantage.
  •  
    This article talks about the importance of having an online presence. It is imperative that businesses leverage their business opportunities online before they are gone. It talks about key issues managers deal with during this network era. Such as "understanding customer expectations", "analyzing a firm's ability to manage information technology" and moving quickly enough to implement the changes necessary to actually benefit the company. In 2020, if businesses do not have an online presence they might as well not exist. Especially when customers have a "right now" mentality. This article helped me understand the issues that are arising with companies not being involved in e-business.
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